Removing the Spirit
Which is stronger: love or hate?
Is anyone else becoming increasingly aware of how much of what is happening around us is getting more and more extreme… or is it just me? It seems there is a new war, or conflict, or terror attack, or invasion, or mutilation, or some other grotesque thing exploding onto the news cycle nearly daily. We have a Middle East war raging currently that is being fueled by extremism. The pro-Palestinian folks think that Israel has been an extreme oppressor which required them to extremely retaliate. The pro-Israeli crowd sees the extreme barbarism perpetuated by soul-less terrorists in Hamas and demands a WWIII-sized retaliation of a scorched earth campaign in Gaza. To the majority of the, “pro,” people on both sides, their side can do no wrong and the other side can do no right. There is nothing stronger in our cosmos than the forces of love and hate working in an uncontrolled soul.
The reason I use the terminology of, “uncontrolled soul,” is because the Spirit of God would actually bring divine balance to these consuming forces in such a way that their near-infinite power could be wielded for benefitting humanity instead of energizing more death and destruction, as we see in nearly every realm of society. I often catch myself misusing language and expression in this way because we have been so immersed in this way of thinking and communicating that it is such an easy snare to be caught in. We almost do not have the ability to properly and rationally convey our thinking or to recount a situation without amping it up for notches on the decibel scale. It has become expected for one’s emotions on a subject to be maxed out one way or another, otherwise, you are indicted as someone who is a feeling-less and insensitive monster. The fact of the matter is that without a healthy and active relationship with the Spirit of God, and the Word of God, it is becoming increasingly impossible to avoid to noose of, “extremism.”
Look at this incident in 2 Samuel 13 (ESV):
Now Absalom, David’s son, had a beautiful sister, whose name was Tamar. And after a time Amnon, David’s son, loved her. And Amnon was so tormented that he made himself ill because of his sister Tamar, for she was a virgin, and it seemed impossible to Amnon to do anything to her.
Verses 1-2
Notice the biblical commentary on Amnon’s condition. He, “was so tormented that he made himself ill because of his sister Tamar.” That is extreme. If you were there, and you had a chance to chat with Amnon about this because you recognized that something was a bit off, he would tell you about how much love was compelling him. He would go on and on about his powerful feelings and maybe even drop in the old adage, “God gave me this love.” It was so real and palpable that it was actually creating a physical nausea, verifying the authenticity of how deeply this was rooted in his soul. This was not a puppy-love teenage temporal “phase” that Amnon was being naively affected by. This was real… raw… strong… motivating… and overwhelming.
This was love, in extreme.
Song of Solomon 8:6-7
For love is as strong as death, its jealousy as unrelenting as Sheol.
Its sparks are fiery flames, the fiercest blaze of all.
Mighty waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away.
If a man were to give all the wealth of his house for love, his offer would be utterly scorned.
God is love. Love is good. Love is the energy that launched the Gospel story as enumerated by the universally famous John 3:16 declaration that it was God’s enormous love for mankind that He did the over-the-top thing of sending Jesus who would eventually die from that great love.
So how could something so good be so bad?
Without the control offered through the Spirit of God, any good thing can be weaponized.
What did this extreme, uncontrolled love in Amnon eventually descend into?
Then Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the food into the chamber, that I may eat from your hand.” And Tamar took the cakes she had made and brought them into the chamber to Amnon her brother. But when she brought them near him to eat, he took hold of her and said to her, “Come, lie with me, my sister.” She answered him, “No, my brother, do not violate me, for such a thing is not done in Israel; do not do this outrageous thing.” … But he would not listen to her, and being stronger than she, he violated her and lay with her.
Verses 10-12, 14
This is quite literally one of the worst things any man could ever do as a violator. Only the most detestable fringe of men can intentionally hurt a woman or a child. When we comment on the depravity of individuals and the degradation of society as a whole, few other wicked examples can top rape. Let us not forget how the story began: love. Amnon loved Tamar, that is what the Holy Scriptures rightly said. So how could the story ever possibly get to such a place, an “outrageous” place, that one of the most egregious instances in scripture, and in human brokenness, was the progressive outcome of something as good, and as Godly, as love?
Whenever the Spirit of God gets pulled out of something, it loses the divine part and then has to be energized by some other, “breath or wind.” Those are definitions of the Hebrew word for, “Spirit” which is, “Ruach.” It is hard to define because those two descriptors are not the same. We have to think a bit deeper to see why the Spirit is connected to these two other obscure definitions. It is because all three of them are invisible forces that create life, create movement, and create the unseen energy that moves all things. When the Spirit is removed, all you have remaining is movement or life in a way that was unintended by God. Love with the Spirit removed is uncontrolled and extreme. Love with the Spirit removed is rape.
A revelation that has brought me much convicting pain and blessed success come from a way over-cliqued place in the Bible, in Galatians 5, commonly called, “The Fruit of the Spirit.”
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Verses 22-23 ESV
I am quite certain that these words are in your home somewhere. We have them as wall decorations, refrigerator magnets, throw pillow stitching’s, bookmarks, and every other church-i-anity iconography we can wallpaper our lives with. Yet, how many of us have actually thought the words all the way through? I am suggesting, based upon our world overflowing with extremism, and being justified by the extremists and their, “pro,” fans, that very few people have really understood these well-worn words.
We start off with the word fruit. Fruit is singular here, not plural. What that means is that the Spirit is producing these nine virtues equally and perpetually. They are not separate, stand-alone virtues that we need to, “work on,” in order to develop. Fruit is a product of root. Apple tree roots make apples… banana tree roots make bananas. Not complex, but it seems to me that many self-justifying people ignore the simplicity of that truth. They make excuses for having an apple when they should have a banana because, “my intentions were good.” Our intentions matter little compared to the fruit. I cannot eat your intentions, only your fruit.
“So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.”
Matthew 7:17-20 ESV
Those words are in red, they belong to Jesus. It would be good for us all to assume He is probably right. It is WAY better than the alternative.
In the list of Spiritual fruit, back in Galatians, the ninth virtue is, “self-control.” If we would really meditate on that, we would likely conclude some important summations:
- Self-control comes from the Spirit, not behavior modification.
- I cannot control self without the Spirit.
- Self is the whole reason we all got into our jacked-up messes to begin with.
- If self is the reason for my problems, then to trust self to get me out of my problems is ignorant.
- The ONLY way to control self is by the Spirit…
That means that a buncha self-help books just became obsolete… (except for the millionaires writing them who get TONS of benefits from other people’s problems). Self cannot help self because self is the problem. Only the Spirit can actually control self. If we take the Spirit out of ourselves, we are left with extreme self. We become an Amnon who is justified, empowered, and energized to just take anything we want because it is all about love… hate… or any other motivator screaming down the race track of life with no guard rails.
The church, the Ekklesia, is referred to as the Bride of Christ. We are the ones that Jesus greatly loves, we are His Beloved. This connotates that Jesus is the groom who is energized by love. So, a Spirit-controlled love of a, “man,” for his object of affection looks much different than Amnon’s broken version. Jesus loved His bride in a selfless, sacrificial, and covenantal way that any person who truly understands the story is radically and eternally impacted by it.
There is an extreme to God’s love, but that extremity is controlled by the Spirit of Holiness. Hate is another potentially dangerous force that has been utilized to advance the truth and the Kingdom. Jesus was a, “hater,” but what He hated was the things (entities) that were hurting the ones He loved AND His hatred was under the submission and control of the Spirit.
But about the Son He says:
“Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever, and justice is the scepter of Your kingdom.
You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You above Your companions with the oil of joy.”
Hebrews 1:8-9 BSB
Jesus was able to be fully trusted with love and hate because of His submission and deep reverence to His Father.
In the days of His earthly life, Jesus offered up both [specific] petitions and [urgent] supplications [for that which He needed] with fervent crying and tears to the One who was [always] able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverent submission toward God [His sinlessness and His unfailing determination to do the Father’s will].
Hebrews 5:7 AMP
His desire was to ALWAYS please the Father.
So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing on My own, but speak exactly what the Father has taught Me. He who sent Me is with Me. He has not left Me alone, because I always do what pleases Him.”
John 8:28-29 BSB
We can and should be mature and humble enough to be entrusted with love and hate. Sadly, when we look around, even in, “Christian,” environments, we see very few people who are faithful enough to steward these virtues.
His master replied, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master!”
Matthew 25:23 BSB
- Done (not start, not attempt, not try)
- Faithful (a character trait more rare than rocking horse manure)
- Servant (in the opposite direction that personal ambition tempts us)
The Great Awakening is going to be led by, stewarded by, and discipled by these people. I believe that the Father has called us to be the remnant people who embody these virtues. I believe He has called us in the high calling to develop our submission to the Spirit which will in turn make our hearts like the Garden of Eden and bring forth the fruit of the Spirit.
Beloved, this is our time to make the main thing the main thing.
I love you!
Steve
