Steroids & Holy Spirit Empowerment 2

Recall my previous question:

What keeps someone from looking at the Holy Spirit the same way we look at steroids?

Well, I now feel like I’ve got something resembling an answer to the question. The worry was, if we look down at steroid users because they’re accomplishing things only with the help of another substance, why don’t we look down on believers that do great things with the help of another person (the Holy Spirit).

First, if we understand the fall as man losing the capacity to live life as he was meant to live, then we can say that through (and only through) the Holy Spirit we are able to live that life again. Sans the fall, we all would have been able to worship God purely and would have loved our neighbors as Christ loves us. But, when sin entered the picture, we lost that ability. As you may have noticed, this still does not answer the question. Why is it a good thing for us to get credit for something the Holy Spirit is doing? This leads nicely into a second thing we must not forget.

We have to remember that we live our life for God’s glory. Showing compassion to an enemy, assisting the needy, honoring your spouse, etc. are all things that bring glory to God. As I live as God would have me to live, he is further glorified. If I can’t live that life on my own, and need the Holy Spirit to help me, then it only further glorifies God. He not only wants us to live a certain way, he also helps us to live that way. (And not incidentally, that life also is the best life we could live here and now.)

One way we can see the difference between using steroids and being empowered with the Holy Spirit is to think about one’s motives. Why did Barry Bonds use steroids (or Roger Clemens if the Mitchell report is correct)? This is the land of conjecture, but I think it’d be safe to say that Bonds used because there was something he wanted for himself: more respect within the baseball community, more recognition outside of it, more money, or just plain more glory for himself.

On the other hand, why would someone want to be empowered by the Holy Spirit? Again, there could be many specific reasons, but the general reason is to bring glory to God (and if it’s not that, would the Holy Spirit actually empower the person for impure reasons?).

Finally, we see in Christ’s time on earth that he modeled this attitude. When Jesus healed someone and people were amazed, how did he respond? He didn’t say “Thank you, thank you, I’m such an awesome guy” but instead something like, “It was not me but the power of the father within me.” Each time he performed a miracle, he pointed the glory to God. If you continue on in the New Testament, you see the apostles doing the same.

Steroids & Holy Spirit Empowerment

It’s generally agreed that Barry Bonds used steroids. We may not have a courtroom conviction, but we also don’t have one of those for O.J.

Why do we (or at least people that think like me) think it is such a bad thing that Bonds used steroids to enhance his career? Almost everyone agrees that Bonds would’ve been in the hall of fame before he started hitting so many home-runs, so why does it matter if he enhanced those abilities? One reason is that it seems there is an unfair advantage between him and everyone else that didn’t use steroids. Bonds supplemented his hard work with things not (legally) available to others. A second reason is that we feel like it wasn’t Barry that performed these amazing feats, but the steroids within him. Bonds is getting credit for something he didn’t do. I think these two reasons are broad enough to capture most people’s feelings about the issue.

How the Holy Spirit relates to this

Recently a friend and I began to discuss the Assemblies of God (AG) and their position on Holy Spirit baptism. The AG teaches that not all Christians are baptized in the Holy Spirit (and all that are baptized have spoken in tongues). The AG does not teach that you have to be baptized to be saved, but that baptism is a subsequent act to salvation. This baptism brings an empowerment for Christian service. When you are baptized in the Holy Spirit you acquire a new power to serve God in ways you otherwise would not be able to (e.g. hear God’s voice better, witness more effectively, be more compassionate, etc.). My friend then asked a question that I’ve never heard asked before. He asked me,

What keeps someone from looking at the Holy Spirit the same way we look at steroids?

If we look down on steroid users for the reasons I stated above, then why don’t we look down on those that do great things because of the Holy Spirit’s empowerment? How is Holy Spirit empowerment different from steroid empowerment? If I am able to live a more compassionate life because of the Holy Spirit, then why is my compassionate life praiseworthy if it’s just the Holy Spirit acting within me?

I’ve thought about this for a couple of weeks now and will post my thoughts (however nebulous they may be) sometime Friday. While I continue to think about this, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the issue. Do you think the AG position is crazy? Do you think it’s right to look down on steroid users (like Bonds)? Do you think there are differences between the Holy Spirit and steroids? If so, what are they?

Emotional Immaturity?

As I type this OU’s defense just gave up another touchdown to Texas Tech. OU finally had the opportunity to control their own destiny when it comes to being national champions again, but in their first game with this new found status they blow it. Sure they could come back and win the game, but that is highly unlikely. What does that mean? Well, it means we’ve blown it again.

After much yelling at the t.v. I’ve calmed down and am beginning to accept the fact that there’s zero chance for us to win it all this year. Turning off the t.v. and turning on some classical music has done much to lower my blood pressure and bring me back to something of a clear mind. But now, there’s something bigger that is beginning to bother me. Why is it that I have so little control over my emotions when it comes to things of no lasting value?

Sure another National Champions sign would look good at Gaylord Memorial Stadium, but does that really matter when we think about it? Florida won the national championship game last year and no one really cares anymore. That was last year. I think any rational person would recognize the little importance of winning games, and I like to think I’m a rational person, yet I still get entirely too carried away in following my favorite sports teams.

This horrific loss at Tech (like all OU losses) causes me to ask all sorts of question about my own spiritual and emotional life. The first one that often comes up I’ve already alluded to above. Why do my emotions run out of control when my team loses a game? If I was still 16 or 17 I could just chalk it up to my young age, but at 27 that’s no excuse. I’m beginning to think that though I’ve grown older, I haven’t grown in maturity. When I think of the man I’d like to become, I never envision him reacting this way to a football game. Are there deeper issues lying under the surface that I need to deal with?

A second question that has begun to haunt me is closely related to the first. Why is it that I don’t get this upset at the sin in my own life or its effects in other people’s lives? No matter how angry I get, I can’t do anything to make OU football or Dallas Maverick basketball any better. I want to, believe me I want to scream at Stoops to JUST GIVE MURRAY THE BALL, but of course I can’t. What if instead of being so angry at our losing a game what if I were angry at the things that anger God? Perhaps I could make use of that energy and do something about it. Perhaps my anger would drive me to pray more, study harder, and engage God with all that I am, all the time. Perhaps it would lead me to do something about those being exploited and oppressed. Perhaps it would motivate me to put to use the gifts and abilities that God gave me.

But instead, I just throw the remote at the couch and yell.

God, please forgive me and give me the strength to look deep within myself and begin to search for the answers to these very questions. Amen.

Sooner Sports

Well, I think the transition is finally over. Last week I found myself rooting for the OU Sooners over the OSU Cowboys in round two of this year’s Bedlam series. Many of you know that I grew up an OSU fan and have always rooted for them to win. This was especially true in basketball because they were almost always pretty good (at least) in basketball. Football was always an up and down thing. They’d be good for a few years and then bad for a few. So I never got too attached to their football program, but still always rooted for them to be OU each year. Their basketball program, on the other hand, I was much more attached to.About a year and half ago I started a Ph.D. program at OU and found myself rooting for them more and more. I decided that I had no real reason for rooting for OSU but had plenty of reasons to root for OU. Growing up I pretty much liked to annoy my older brother so I started pulling for OSU. It eventually stuck. Now that I’m getting paid by OU to get my doctoral degree and live a mile from campus, it’s hard not to root for them. The first year was difficult to root for OU against OSU in football, but the national implications of the game made it a bit easier to do so. I couldn’t bring myself to root against OSU in basketball though, but that all changed this year. I started watching the OU/OSU game and just found myself cheering when OU would hit a shot or make a defensive stand. It was amazing. I really don’t know what happened. I guess it’s just that Sooner Magic wearing of on me.I know many of you Cowboy fans are greatly disappointed in me. Well, I’m sorry. I don’t know what to say. I didn’t really intend to start rooting for the Sooners, it just started happening. Maybe this is an example showing that our beliefs are not under our direct voluntary control.Go Sooners!

A new house and other miscellany

1) My wife, Tina Marie, and I closed on a house this morning. We’re pretty excited about it and can’t wait to start moving into to it. The whole process has been so smooth and stress-free, it’s amazing. I can’t believe I’m old enough to buy a house and finally in a place to afford one (that last part is mostly due to my sugar-momma [who is not yet a momma!], remember grad students don’t get paid much). I bought a really nice 2 wheel dolly from Home Depot today; the beginning to my new tool collection!Here’s one pic of the house from the realtor website we found it on. Once we take our own I’ll post some more.2) Game 1 of the NBA Finals is tonight. I’m in shock that the Mavs made it. I’ve been wanting this for so long I can’t believe it’s happening. I really don’t like Shaq, Gary Payton, or Pat Riley and love Mark Cuban, Dirk-the-German-wonder, and Avery Johnson so I’m sure you know who I’m pulling for. I really hope the refs don’t decide the series either way. The NBA is very susceptible to having games ruined by ticky-tack fouls (or fouls only going one way). I’m hoping for another good series with no external influences.3) I submitted my general exam reading list today and promptly realized that I left out Leibniz’s contribution to the problem of evil debate. That’s a big mistake that I’m sure I’ll hear about from my committee. Oh well.4) I started painting this huge house in OKC this week and it’s going to be a killer. Its a 2 1/2 story wood paneled house that has like 45 foot gables. Me and a good friend from the philosophy program are painting it together. This week we worked 7 to 5 and will probably keep that schedule most of the summer so we can actually finish it. I’ll post a pic of it when I can.Well, that’s about it for now.

My conversion story

Many of you know this about me already, but after emailing a friend the other day I decided to publish a story about my conversion experience. To set the stage, it began approximately 8-9 months ago, but has really taken hold of my life in the past 2-3 months. I know, I know…you thought that I was ‘converted’ several years ago, back in high school. Well, this is a conversion of a different kind. What follows is the email I sent my friend Steve (who, you will see, is a former graduate of Miami University), I hope it explains a bit more about who I am.

How’s it going man? Things are going well out here in OK, but I have a confession to make. Most of my life I have pulled for OSU (but never really wanted OU to lose, unless they were playing OSU). After a lot of soul searching, I decided that I have more reasons to be an OU fan than I do to be an OSU fan. I’ve been wooed. I know I know, this is unthinkable for you, but remember I was never a ‘die-hard’ OSU fan in the same way you are a die-hard Miami fan. If I liked OSU as much as you like Miami, I would probably wear a “THE SOONERS SUCK” shirt everyday, but I’m not. I thought, they’re paying for my school, they’re paying me a yearly stipend to go to school, and my wife is a full time employee as well…it’s hard to not start pulling for them. We spend more of our time on the OU campus than we do off campus, and let me tell you, Sooner Magic isn’t just alive when OU’s trailing a game. There’s something about being on campus, I’m sure if I attended OSU, I would have much different feelings. In reality, the only reason I started pulling for OSU was to piss off my brother. So, there you go…rip, ream, and make fun all you want. I feel like I’ve ‘come out of the closet’, but now have a clean conscience. 

So, this may be shocking to you, but it does feel nice to get it off my chest. Well, now you all know that I am a University of Oklahoma fan. It’s still hard to call myself a Sooner, for now I’ll just stick with being an OU fan. The ‘Sooner’ will come someday, just not today.

It’s a One-Pete!!!

OH I FRICKEN LOVE IT!!!!! The only thing that could make this better is if I were in SoCal right now listening to all the USC fans bitchin’ and moanin’ on ESPN Radio AM 710.