Stop grieving God

Tucked away near the end of Ephesians 4 is a verse that loud, red-faced Pentecostal preachers love. It’s short and to the point, and is usually screamed more than spoken: “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit.” (Ephesians 4:30)

Judging from the way it’s usually preached, you’d think the way we grieve the Holy Spirit is by not being open to the gifts that He wants to pour out on the body. I guess there may be some truth to that, but in the context of chapter 4, grieving the Holy Spirit carries a much more practical meaning.

The first half of the chapter is all about unity — the unity that comes in a body when every one plays the part they’ve been given. The result is a mature body that speaks truth in love, and in that culture, grows up and builds the kingdom.

Side note to tuck in your pocket and save for later: that requires the body being together.

The second half of the chapter is all about how the Christian life plays out on the daily. It’s uber practical, and encourages us to stay away from bad things like immorality and greed, but mostly encourages us to live lives full of good things like righteousness, truth, forgiveness, a strong work ethic, encouragement, kindness, and compassion.

Side note to add to the other side note: all of those good things require the body being together.

So in context, that verse about not grieving the Holy Spirit has a lot less to do with how we act in a church service and may have a lot more to do with whether we’re even in those services!

The Greek word for “grieve” means “to offend.” God is telling us to live our lives together with others in a way that won’t offend the Holy Spirit, and yet so often, the reason people fall out of fellowship with other believers is over an offense. If I’m offended by you and walk away from you, then I can’t live out the multiple commands in Ephesians 4 that lead to a mature and growing body, and that is what offends the Holy Spirit!

So, we can dance in the Spirit to our hearts’ content, and speak in tongues all we want, but if we speak with the tongues of men or of angels, and don’t have love (the kind of love that sticks in there even when things get tough), we’re just a bunch of clanging cymbals (1 Corinthians 13:1).

And while we might always need more cowbell, nobody needs more of that.

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