How to NOT hear the Holy Spirit

I’ve recently written that you must ask, seek, and knock to hear from the Holy Spirit, which manifests as discernment to act in ways commensurate with love. 

The key to an effective conversational relationship appears in Matthew 5:48 and James 1:4. Jesus, and his copycat brother, say that we have to be “perfect.” No problem; right? The concept of perfect can easily be misunderstood here. This is perfect as in singleness, complete, undivided, or, in this context, single-mindedness. In the Sermon on the Mount of Matthew 5-7, it appears in ideas like:

• One audience for worship, prayer, and fasting
• One master (i.e, God rather than money)
• One pursuit (i.e., the kingdom and God’s righteousness)
• One way (i.e., the narrow way, the way of love)
• One foundation

James is more direct, adding the word “complete”as a synonym and “double-minded” and “unstable” as antithesis.

So, what’s this boil down to? If you really desire to enter into and live in the narrow way, without meandering in and out of it for your own benefit, you will receive what you ask for. It’s the person who pursues his own kingdom part time that fails to hear. That’s the surefire way to NOT hear.

The Veritable Smorgasbord of Love Manifestations

The way of love encompasses a veritable smorgasbord of manifestations. When people think of love, they most readily think compassion, pity, mercy, kind, polite, and etc. The most compassionate and merciful effect you can have on somebody’s future might appear harsh.

Most of us would agree that Jesus ALWAYS and without fail walked in the way of love . . . that narrow way. We see several different  manifestations of the narrow way in his example

The Compassionate Jesus

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. (Matthew 9:36 ESV)

The Indignant but Patient Jesus

And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. (Mark 10:13-14 ESV)

The Angry Jesus

And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. (John 2:15 ESV)

The Avoiding Jesus

But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man. (John 2:24-25 ESV)

The Frustrated Jesus

Jesus answered, “O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you and bear with you? Bring your son here.” (Luke 9:41 ESV)

Help me categorize this one?

There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” (Mark 7:15 ESV)

Really now . . . he’s talking about poop. Is that a loving thing to do? Do you reckon maybe he has a sense of humor?

Though the list goes on and on, I end with the Sarcastic Jesus

And he answered, “It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.”  She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table.” (Matthew 15:26-27 ESV)

True, love is not rude . . . 1 Corinthians 13 . . . but can sarcasm be the best way to love somebody? I have to watch the sarcasm myself; many people frown on that. It’s a difficult restraint to avoid talking the way I think. In my last job I was getting good at restraint in the workplace. Then we added a young woman to the staff as a part time employee. The first time she cut me with some sarcasm . . . I was shocked . . . she was good at it! . . . it caught me, yes . . . even me . . . off-guard. Then I quickly realized . . .  YES; I love it! It was a relief to me to not have to take all things so seriously all the time. Sarcasm might be the right thing for a degenerate like me.

It may be that Jesus lightened the burden with a little sarcasm . . . which Jesus’ interlocutor was apparently adept with herself.

The narrow way meanders widely between “judge not” and “withhold from dogs and pigs.” The manifestations of love are a veritable smorgasbord. Be prepared to bring any Holy Spirit directed option to bear.

Aha, "Judge not"

“Judge not . . .” is a well-known passage . . . even by not-yet-Christians. How many times have we heard not-yet-Christians, with an index finger wagging in the air and an “aha”, remind us? Though Matthew 7:1-5 is well-known, verse 6 is much less known:

“Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.(Matthew 7:6 ESV)

The fact is, verses 1-6 form the complete idea. What happens when you take them together? Let’s put the two together in abbreviated form:

Wait now; if we’ve just determined that somebody is a dog or a pig, did we not just judge? And Jesus, of all people, compels us to withhold from these people. Does this seem contradictory?

[I can put silly stuff on my blog since only 5 people read it]

Let’s examine the “Judge not” idea first.  If we look at this parallel saying in Luke 6:36-38, we can see that this “judge not” saying happens in the context of granting mercy. Without going into a long explanation here (go to my “Measuring by Mercy” post for more on this), I’ll suggest that this means something like “ don’t judge them unworthy of the same mercy that you rely upon.”  So, on the one hand, we look at a person, no matter how harried the situation, and know that he needs mercy upon mercy . . . like me.

Now let’s take a look at the “dogs and pigs” idea. I think it’s as simple as this: “don’t grant scoundrels who defame The Gospel the courtesy of hearing truth that they then only defame. . . i.e., keep your mouth shut.”

I just wrote “as simple as . . . .” Is it ever simple to know what to say, how to say it, or if to say it? Not so much. This is the reason it’s not simple: Theses two saying represent two sides of an issue, two extremes, one juxtaposition.  I view it like this:

Someplace in between the two extremes is the right way to respond to people and circumstances. This situation calls for mercy upon mercy.  That situation calls for you to say nothing. Those situations call for a rebuke. Others call for a silent hug. Who knows? God knows. How do you know?  ASK, SEEK, KNOCK. The Holy Spirit will tell you where the Narrow Way is right now, with this person, under these influences, and in this circumstance. Don’t try to figure it out yourself. The way is too narrow, variable, and circumstantial for you to find it without asking. 

Loving does not look like the same thing in every case, not even with the same person the next time. It will turn out closer to one side of the juxtaposition or the other.

It always sounds like the Way of Love

When we hear the Holy Spirit, it always sounds like the “way of love.”  Note that these verses follow the “Ask, Seek, Knock” sequence that procures good things/Holy Spirit/wisdom:

“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. (Matthew 7:12-14 ESV)

As you ask what to do or what to say regarding circumstances and situations at hand, the Holy Spirit will supply you with wisdom/discernment to deal with it.  It is very unlikely that you will know all of the circumstances and factors contributing to the situation for which you are seeking wisdom, so what you hear or are led to do may surprise you.  God's loving acts encompass a wide range of forms. Remember to trust that God most definitely wants to speak to you and that it will likely be through your thinking.

Getting the Conversation Going

Matthew 7:7-8	“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
Luke 11:9-10	And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
James 1:5	If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

Ask.  Never stop asking.  Ask through your intellect.  Ask with your mouth.  Ask via your heart.  Remember . . . God absolutely wants to speak wisdom into your being so you will know how He would have you respond to people and circumstances.  If you ask and know that He wants to and will give you this wisdom, trust that you receive wisdom in your innermost being to respond to the world around you.  Trust that your thoughts are not yours alone at the asking.

This asking is intended to go on nonstop.  Do not ever think that you will one day wear out your welcome in the conversation, saying “Now I have asked for one too many things one too many times.”  Jesus never did anything except what he heard the father saying (John 5:30) and saw the father doing (John 5:19).  Did he wear out his welcome in the conversation?