Jesus is the Center of All the Spirit Says and Does

In the first three churches I attended as a young person, there were almost zero manifestations or demonstrations of the Spirit. But that was not the case in the first Spirit-filled church we joined. There were demonstrations and manifestations that abounded in every service. I needed discernment to know which of these demonstrations and manifestations were of the Lord and which were just people’s flesh. The principle Paul addresses next has been a major revelation that has helped me greatly over the years in making this distinction. 

Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3). 

There are several things we could take time to unpack from this verse. But the key principle or takeaway is Jesus is the center of all the Spirit says and does. In other words, all of the gifts and manifestations of the Spirit will ultimately magnify Jesus and draw attention to Jesus, not ourselves. If a manifestation or demonstration centers on and draws attention more to you and me than Jesus, it is a manifestation of our flesh, not the Spirit. This is the primary determining factor of whether a gift is of the Spirit or of the flesh. 

…For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy (Revelation 19:10). 

The Spirit, through His various manifestations will always reveal some facet of Jesus—His love, nature, character, and power. True gifts of the Spirit in operation through you and me will testify of and point people to Jesus, not us. They reveal Jesus’ mind, purpose, and heart of love toward people. The gifts are actually all different manifestations of His love for people and His desire for them to walk in freedom and intimate relationship with Him. 

However, when He, the Spirit of Truth, has come…He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you (John 16:13–14). 

Jesus is telling us here that the Prompter and Initiator of all the gifts, the Holy Spirit, will not prompt us to say or do anything that doesn’t glorify and magnify Him. These Scriptures I shared with you make it very clear how we are to determine whether a gift is manifesting from the initiative of the Spirit or from someone’s flesh. Is this manifestation or demonstration drawing attention to Jesus or the individual manifesting it? That is such a simple but very powerful truth! 

It is also helpful for us in learning to cooperate with the Holy Spirit and submit to spiritual leaders in operating the gifts in biblical order. This is a much better option than remaining zealous to operate in the gifts but ignorant and becoming part of the abuse and mess pastors have to deal with when the gifts are allowed to function out of order. Understanding this principle helped me tremendously as a pastor to establish an environment where the gifts functioned in biblical order while not quenching the Spirit.

I am going to share a few examples of manifestations that occurred in our church over the years we determined were out of order. Understanding this principle that Jesus is the center of all the Spirit says and does was key to helping my leadership team and I know what to address regarding these manifestations in our church.

One Sunday morning during our worship time, one of the ladies in our church went to the front of the auditorium and began to dance and twirl across the front of the stage. I noticed she had a different type of dress on than she normally wore—one that was more formal and one that allowed her more freedom to twirl and swirl around while she danced. She danced throughout one worship song. I didn’t think much of it until the next Sunday morning, she got up again at the same time during worship and had on the same dress. This time she danced, twirling and swirling, during two worship songs. And of course, she did this in front of the church down by the platform. 

I still didn’t think or say much about this demonstration of dance she had done the past two weeks. The first time it seemed to bless the people, but the second time it seemed a bit weird and strange to me. The following Sunday, she came down to the front again in the same flowing dress, dancing and twirling and swirling to her heart’s desire through two worship songs and half of another. By this Sunday morning service, all eyes in the church were on the dancer, not the Lord, and I knew I would have to address her in private. 

Again, I took some time to pray and seek the Lord about this and also received counsel from my staff and elders. I wanted to make sure it was impacting others the same as it had me. Each church leader I spoke with about this, as well as my wife, agreed we needed to address this lady regarding her choice to dance at the front of the auditorium during worship every service. We decided to ask her to dance in the back of the auditorium any time she felt the Lord was leading her to dance rather than the front so as not to distract people in their worship.

I asked an elder and his wife who had relationship with her to speak with her about this. She did not take it well. She wept and wept and told my elder and his wife we were grieving the Spirit by asking her to do this in the back of the church auditorium. She used the Bible example of David dancing before the Lord and said the Lord led her to do this. She said she was worshiping the Lord through her dance and was influencing many more people in our church to worship than had engaged in worship prior to her dancing up front. Essentially, she had taken it upon herself to become the new worship leader to promote worship in our church through her dance. And she justified this because from her perspective the percentage of individuals engaging in worship was not where she thought it should be.

She and her husband eventually left the church offended over our request to operate her gift in the way we believed was best for our church. Let me make it clear: I am not against dancing before the Lord either privately or in public as a form of worship. I have done that personally in both settings. My heart and the heart of the leaders in our church for individuals engaging in worship is a priority to us. One of the words for worship in the Greek language is proskuneo. It means to advance toward as if to kiss. Ephesians 5:22-32 provides a strong analogy between the marriage relationship and our relationship with the Lord.

In my marriage relationship with my wife, whenever I advance toward her to kiss her, I am not thinking about you or anyone else. My focus is on her. In a similar way, our worship time with the Lord should be unbroken intimacy with Him where He is our primary focus. As spiritual leaders, it is our responsibility to make sure our corporate worship times facilitate unbroken intimacy with the Lord for the people. Anything that disturbs that intimacy or draws people’s attention off the Lord needs to be addressed. 

That is what we did with this precious lady. We did not question her heart of worshiping the Lord through her dance. But it became evident to all except her that her well intentioned efforts to draw people into worship were actually drawing people’s attention off the Lord and toward her dancing. It became a show instead of worship. Remember I said anytime a pastor or spiritual leader addresses someone about operating the gifts in a way they determine is not centered on Jesus, they have to be willing to lose that person out of their congregation. It is not that they are trying to run people off. But these types of confrontations are necessary to establish an environment where the gifts operate in order.

A number of months after this event there was a new couple who began attending our services who had recently come out of a denominational church that did not believe in the gifts of the Spirit. They were both recently filled with the Spirit and were ecstatic about their discovery of the gifts available to them. They were also thrilled about their newfound freedom to operate in the gifts as we gave liberty for people to do so. The husband, I will call Monty, was especially bold to step out in giving messages in tongues.

Monty started giving out messages in tongues in the small group they were attending. His small group leader did not tell me initially about the problem we discovered later in the way he delivered these messages in tongues. The first time I heard him do this was in a Sunday evening service that was designated a worship night. In these services we would spend time in the presence of God, worship, and allow the gifts to flow through the people. When Monty delivered his message in tongues it was very loud and given in a harsh and angry tone. Then he seemed overcome with emotion and exhaustion like he had just finished a 5k race.

After observing this I spoke with his small group leader and asked if Monty had been giving out messages in tongues in his group. He told me he had done that every meeting since he began attending. I asked him if there was anything unique or different about the way he gave these messages in tongues from his perspective. He described the same things I had observed—loud, angry tone, and overcome with emotion. I asked him what impact or effect this seemed to have on the people and the meetings. He said it seemed to bring a heaviness over the people and it would take a while to turn things around spiritually.

I decided to wait and pray over this before saying anything to Monty. The next Sunday morning he gave a message in tongues again and it was the same thing—very loud, harsh and angry tone, and when he finished he seemed exhausted and overcome with emotion. I watched the response of the people after the message was given. Though the interpretation was good, there wasn’t the uplifting or encouraging spirit that tongues and interpretation in tongues or prophecy usually has on the people and the service. The overall impact of Monty’s use of tongues was it did not manifest or represent Jesus well and it was not benefiting the people.

We established gatekeepers in our church services who were mature men and women of God, usually elders and recognized and proven leaders. The congregation knew if anyone had a word, a message in tongues, or something they felt led to share with the body they should go to one of the gatekeepers and run it by them first before sharing what they sensed they had from the Lord. I asked one of the gatekeepers and Monty’s small group leader to meet with Monty and help him grow in his use of the gifts. Monty’s first response to them was he could not control himself. He said he had to do it the way the Spirit was moving on him. They shared the following Scripture verse with him:

And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets (1 Corinthians 14:32). 

It is clear from this verse we can control ourselves. The Holy Spirit does not move on us in such a way where He either forces us to speak or pushes us to do things beyond our control. These two leaders were able to let Monty know though his heart was right he was not manifesting Jesus by his delivery of the gifts in an angry, harsh tone. They also let him know the impact this was having on the people was not positive. They spent time meeting with him and discipling him. Thankfully Monty began to grow in his understanding of the operation of the gifts and his ministry to others. He learned Jesus is the center of all the Spirit says and does in the church. And his operation in the gifts later became a great blessing to others.

There is an important principle I want to point out here if you desire to flow in the supernatural and move with confidence in operating in the gifts. An individual’s personal liberty to operate in the gifts is not a trumping value over love. In other words, your right to operate in the gifts is not greater than what is in the best interest of the whole body. Whether you are part of a small group or a large church, it is the pastor or spiritual leader’s responsibility to regulate the manifestations of the gifts. 

I encourage you to make it your goal to bless others with your gifts by making Jesus the center of all you say and do and by submitting to mature, spiritual leaders in your life. 

Adapted from Greg Mohr’s book, Flowing in the Supernatural

Watch Pastor Greg’s television series on Living a Supernatural Life to learn more.