Christian pastor and author Tyler Staton says that the Holy Spirit, third person of the Trinity, is far too often misunderstood and sadly, maybe even dangerously put on the sidelines, in Western Evangelical Christianity. Because of this, Staton said he believes many brothers and sisters in the faith neglect the Holy Spirit, giving themselves a disadvantage when it comes to battling sin, temptation, and trying to grow in maturity.
“There are dual misconceptions about the Holy Spirit,” Staton, the lead pastor of Bridgetown Church in Portland, Oregon said in a recent interview.
“Some of us think that the Holy Spirit is a force or a box of magical powers by which God is proving that the Gospel is true to the watching world, or others believe the Holy Spirit was that, and now we’re beyond the need for that today,” he continued.
“But when Jesus talks about the Spirit in John 14-16 […] He repeatedly references the Spirit as the One who will not teach anyone anything new, but remind them of the things that He has been teaching them. The Spirit, therefore, is the kind of translator between the head and the heart and the modern disciple,” Staton explained.
In Staton’s new book, “The Familiar Stranger: (Re)Introducing the Holy Spirit to Those in Search of an Experiential Spirituality,” the author addresses these misconceptions and help fellow Christians go a bit deeper into a real, authentic relationship with the Spirit. He also puts forth a case that Western culture, which Staton believes places a heavy emphasis on cognitive learning, has created an environment within the church where theological knowledge and understanding takes a higher level than lived spiritual experience.
“Staton, who also serves as the National Director of 24-7 Prayer USA, attributed much of the modern church’s difficulty engaging with the Holy Spirit to cultural and historical factors,” The Christian Post said.
“If the primary way the Holy Spirit teaches is not cognitive learning, but through experience in relationship, then I would say we have been culturally set up with bias against the Holy Spirit and bias toward the Holy Bible,” he said during his conversation with CP.
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“The pastor, who has studied under theologians including Tim Keller, contends that this bias has led to an over-intellectualized Christianity, where ministries can flourish and seem ‘successful’ due to numbers and programs without an evident reliance on God’s presence and power,” the article continued.
“It is very possible to do all of that without actually needing God to act in any clear or decisive way,” he said in a warning to the church. “It’s hard to choose to put yourself in the vulnerable place of need, when you are willingly choosing it, not desperately choosing it, and that’s where we’ve been in the last couple hundred years of the American church.”
Staton’s book also takes time to trace the role of the Holy Spirit throughout the pages of the Bible, pointing out specific verses and passages that contain metaphors that showcase the Spirits nature and role. Within the chapters of the book, readers will learn how the Holy Spirit helps provide them with discernment, gives them access to the power of God, and enables them to work alongside God to accomplish His rule and reign on earth.