Millennials are a generation that prides themselves in the notion that authenticity is of the upmost importance. There are clear indicators of this type of emphasis: the sexual revolution, subjective morality, the feministic movement. All of these feats, in one way or another, are attempts at expressing oneself in a manner that is befitting of the individual. The personal expression of the autonomous self is the dominate theme that runs throughout the American culture. The establishment of YouTube, the addictive nature of Facebook, and the narcissistic tendencies of internet bloggers (I am guilty) speak to the fact that our society hungers for an outlet that will allow creativity to showcase the uniqueness and peculiarity of individual talent. This, in the culture's mind, is authenticity! This war is mounted upon the notion that certain persons despise the limitations of the proverbial box. They are unwilling to allow labels to limit or curb their particular brand. This box, whatever it may reference, is symbolic of a restraint that encompasses a suffocating dilemma.
The fight for authenticity is rooted
in the notion that certain persons do not want to be limited to the proverbial box.
Yet one could argue that without the box per se, an individual would not necessarily have a starting point to base their ingenuity. The box is not meant to be restrictive in nature, but rather foundational. The box could be perceived not in a manner of coercion, but formulating a platform. Similarly, authentic Christianity is built upon solid groundings. D. A. Carson, a New Testament professor at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois, comments
"Authentic Christians" are not those who are merely very sincere and who call themselves Christians. If "authenticity" is to retain any utility in this discussion, the "authentic Christian" is the one who is most shaped in thought, word, and deed by Christianity's foundational documents, by Christianity's Lord, by Christianity's creeds.1Limitation or Identification:
Much of theological thought, in regards to pneumatology, is conjoined to the notion that God is confined to a doctrinal box. The aim of many within this generation is to set Him free from the rigidness of fundamental orthodoxy. Hyper-charasmatics would want the Spirit to maneuver in free reign over the emotional ecstasy of mystery while negating the divine self disclosure of the Scriptures. But what would happen if the foundational guardrails were undone and the definitive authenticity of this age were to set the course? The basis to discern the Spirit's working, in my estimation, would be severed.
Though it can be philosophically argued that the triune God is beyond the scope of the canonical Scriptures, the church would be ill advised to assume that the Lord is any less than what He has revealed to His people through the text.
Therefore, it is rudimentarily clear that in order to think outside the box, the community of saints must begin to discern the box. Though it can be philosophically argued that the triune God is beyond the scope of the canonical Scriptures, the church would be ill advised to assume that the Lord is any less than what He has revealed to His people through the text. The biblical documents must be the undergirding foundation for the people of God to ascertain the Spirit's movement. The premise of this blog, then, is to advocate for two (2) main components in appropriating the ministry of the Spirit: the Spirit is intrinsically linked to the Word and the Spirit's aim is to glorify the Son (for the sake of space/time I will not hit on the edification of the church).Word and Spirit:
There is a strict correlation between the appropriateness of the Spirit and the surfacing of the proclaimed Word. Simply put, where the Word of God is proclaimed the Spirit is maneuvering and where the Spirit of God is working the Word, in conjunction, surfaces. The Old Testament is marked with individuals who were filled with the Spirit and, in turn, prophesied by saying, "Thus saith the Lord." Upon the ascension of Christ the inauguration of the Spirit emboldened the disciples to courageously preach the Gospel message. Thomas R. Schreiner notes that "the filling of the Spirit leads to the proclamation of God's Word, to testifying about what God has done in Christ. . . In every instance the filling of the Spirit is related to bearing witness and speaking out the prophetic Word."2 The biblical theme which run throughout the Old and New Testament is the conjoining work of the Word and the Spirit.
Simply put, where the Word of God is proclaimed the Spirit of God is maneuvering and where the Spirit is working the Word, ultimately, surfaces.
This notion should not be easily dismissed. The Spirit, who is the divine author of the Scriptures, does the work of illumination in which the human heart is opened to the truths of the triune God. Salvation is not encapsulated by the intellectual arena, but rather is compounded through the Holy Spirit in divine revelation. Paul is adamant that the apostles proclaimed a Gospel "not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual" (1 Cor. 2:13). In order to positively respond to the Word the Spirit must quicken the dead heart which, in turn, awakens the will to affectionately respond to the Lord Jesus Christ. A. W. Tozer comments on this in saying,
It is quite plain in the scriptural revelation that spiritual things are hidden by a veil, and by nature a human does not have the ability to comprehend and get hold of them. He comes up against a blank wall. He takes doctrines and texts and proofs and creeds and theology, and lay them up like a wall—but he cannot find the gate! He stands in the darkness and all about him is intellectual knowledge of God—but not the true knowledge of God, for there is a difference between the intellectual knowledge of God and the Spirit-revealed knowledge.3
In this case, the Spirit of God opens the eyes of our hearts so that we "may know what is the hope to which He has called you, what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints" (Eph. 1:18). The mark of the Spirit's work, or rather the confines of His box, is to enlighten the eyes of the elect in order to grasp "the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Cor. 4:6). Glorify the Son:
If the work of the Spirit is to illumine the eyes of the elect to the glory of God in the face of Christ, then the aim to which the Spirit maneuvers is to bring glory to the Son. Jesus affirms this notion by saying, "[The Spirit] will glorify Me (Jesus), for He will take what is mine and declare it to you" (Jn 16:14). Yet the question remains: how does the Spirit practically glorifying the Son within everyday ordinary life?
If the work of the Spirit is to illumine the eyes of the elect to the glory of God in the face of Christ, then the agency to which the Spirit maneuvers is to bring glory to the Son.
The central component in the Spirit's movement through the life of the disciples is rooted in the Johannine corpus; the Upper Room Discourse (John 13-17). The introduction of the Paraclete (Jn 14:16) is cosigned to the abiding notion of the Word (John 15). Jesus clearly states, "[whoever] has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him" (Jn. 14:21). This abiding endeavor associated with the Word is not meritorious as in to favor works salvation, but is the fruit of the salvific work in Christ through the Holy Spirit. Schreiner adds,
The Spirit does not provide an independent access to truth to the disciples. He does not summon them to learn mysteries that are gleaned through some special channel of private revelation. He witnesses to the words of Jesus and reminds them of His words and teaching. They will recall everything that is necessary and crucial from Jesus' teaching, but not in their own capacity.4
The commandments of Christ are not impersonal statements to follow for the sake of following. "As we come to the Word of God," according to Tozer, "we do not come just for information; we come for an encounter with the living Word of God."5 The Spirit works through the vehicle of the Scriptures to conform us into the image of the Son (Rom. 8:29). This sanctifying work is not merely to terminate on becoming a better "me" per se—though uniqueness to our createdness is essential—Christ conformity guides humanity toward its intended purpose. Marcus Peter Johnson captures this theological notion well when he says,In the incarnation, God disclosed Himself perfectly through the Son; Jesus Christ is the fully human being, the perfect image of God. To restore us to our blessed state of true humanity, God joined us to His true image, and so we begin again to be who we were created to be. And this astounding, breathtaking turn of events lies at the root of our holiness: the essence and goal of our sanctification is reflecting the image of Jesus Christ.6The Spirit's glorifying work of the Son in the heart of the believer is to connect the saint to the agency of the Word to which he/she will be conformed into the image of the Son.
The God-Shaped Box:
The tendency to think outside the box has a correlation with current society's aim to define any particular topic on their own terms. This has relative merit. But upon the understanding of the Spirit, the saints will not properly grasp the complexities of Him or His work outside the self disclosed agency of the canonical text. In order to think outside the box, the church must discern the box to which God has arranged Himself in through special revelation. In other words, He has spoken anthropically in order that His people might understand Him and, in turn, determine His transcendence. To think outside the box has the potential of setting the church on a trajectory that would leave them devoid of the very agency to which we are allowed to know the Spirit's work within the triune God.
To think outside the box has the potential of setting the church on a trajectory that would leave them devoid of the very agency to which we are allowed to know the Spirit's work within the triune God.
The proverbial box may embody negative connotations within the cultural make-up, but conservative evangelicals must strive to ground all theological endeavors within the Scriptural text. With the rise of moral relativism and social movements which highlight the autonomous individual, the church must discern the patterns of this world and give insightful with Gospel engagement. The inability for the church to root themselves in the Truth will be the downfall to her own vitality and witness to a broken and depraved world.
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*footnotes
1. D. A. Carson, Christ and Culture Revisited (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2008), 121.
2. Thomas R. Schreiner, New Testament Theology: Magnifying God in Christ (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008), 444-445.
3. A. W. Tozer, The Counselor (Chicago: Moody Publisher, 2015), 25-26.
4. Schreiner, New Testament Theology, 468.
5. A. W. Tozer, God's Power for Your Life: How the Holy Spirit Transforms You Through God's Word (Ventura: Regal, 2013), 171.
6. Marcus Peter Johnson, One with Christ: An Evangelical Theology of Salvation (Wheaton: Crossway, 2013), 135.
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McYoung Yang (M. Div., The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary). He is the husband of Debbie Yang and the father to McCayden (9), McCoy (8), McColsen (5), and DeYoung (2). He is an Assistant Professor of Theology at Crown College in Saint Bonifacius, MN and is currently serving as a Counsel member of the Youth Ministry of the Hmong District of the C&MA. McYoung is continuing his post-graduate studies at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, MO where he hopes to obtain his PhD in Theology. He hopes to use his training and platform as a means to serve the local church in living life through the Gospel lens. McYoung enjoys reading/writing, sports, and playing with his children. 
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