As a parent of two young children the concept of Radical Change - the title of todays blog lives with me. Parenting children, especially in the first few years is all change - all the time.
This journey is peppered with first moments, each milestone a vivid memory in the mind of a parent. Ask any young parent about their child and you are sure to be be told about the most recent - perhaps a first step, first solid food, first words or like in our family with our second child a first full sentence uttered.
To my mind the most critical of these moments is when a child begins to crawl. It’s easy to emphasize the first steps, yet the initial crawl is where true change begins.
I recall our child first child, transitioning from a stationary baby to who for all intents and purposed was basically a small baby shaped paper weight in one moment upon learning the vital skills needed to propel himself, 'the destroyer of worlds’, a label we would use to mark his newfound ability to explore and, inadvertently, wreak havoc.
For us as a family this was the inflection point - from now on everything would change. No longer could we assume that when we turned our back our little boy would remain where he was placed - and no longer could we assume that our house and everything in it would remain as we had so carefully curated it. Truth is that we were terrified.
This radical change is intimidating for parents. Suddenly, the world becomes a place of chaos where everything needs safeguarding.
This is why in our series ‘Come Holy Spirit’, we continue to explore the profound impact of welcoming the Holy Spirit into our lives. The Holy Spirit is not a passive comfort but he is a force that prompts significant, sometimes uncomfortable, changes.
The early Christians, who were accustomed to a culture of structure, rules and order, found themselves perceived as unruly, a clear indicator of the radical transformation led by the Spirit.
We read in Acts 2:1-13 that they had to be ready to become uncomfortable.
This leads us to the question: DOES THE HOLY SPIRIT NEED TO SHIFT US OUT OF OUR COMFORT ZONES TODAY?
I am reminded of a metaphor used to explain to me what life with the Holy Spirit should look like. When I was a young Christian it was explained to me that we often saw that Holy Sprit as a thermometer. A thermometer tells us what our temperature is - it lets us know if we are in a good place or not - it gives us a measure - is it too hot? Too cold? Basically it is about who comfortable we are.
However the truth is that the Holy Spirit when active in our lives is not a thermometer, rather he is a thermostat. While we might be content with passivity, the Holy Spirit aims to actively set the temperature, pushing us beyond comfort to trust in His transformative power.
In Romans 15:13, we find encouragement to trust in the Holy Spirit’s power to radically change our lives, filling us with joy, peace, and hope. This journey with the Holy Spirit requires continual trust, especially as we face changes and challenges.
Just as a child’s first crawl signifies a shift towards greater interaction with the world, inviting the Holy Spirit into our lives represents a commitment to being shaped and influenced by God.
This relationship is far from passive; it is life-changing and requires our willingness to be moved, to break from comfort, and to embrace the discomfort of growth and change.
Our worlds are crying out for Christians who have the Holy Spirit inside: Why? Because when we invite the Holy Spirit in, and let him change us and activate us we stop being motionless - like the baby that can now move, we begin to have a real impact on the world around us.
As a church, and as a community we can do any number of things, many of them good - but without the Holy Spirit's active involvement all these works will be fruitless. The world around us - our families, friendship groups, workplaces and all manner of connections are in desperate need of Christians who are willing to get a little uncomfortable so that they can see change!
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