Youth leaders: Are you scared of the Holy Spirit?

Ever had one of those moments in Christian youth work where a young person (rightly) puts you in your place? I'll never forget the conversation I had with Katie, an 18-year-old preparing for her first term at university, who'd spent much of her teenage years in prayer and worship. I'll explain what happened to Katie in a minute, but I'm sure you're ahead of me when I say: that incredible devotional life had very little to do with me. We were grabbing a hot chocolate during the evening of a summer festival; she was even higher than usual with enthusiasm for Jesus; I was counting the cost of sleep deprivation, when she looked me in the eye and asked:

"Are you scared of the Holy Spirit?"

I was indignant. How very dare she – a mere young person, challenge her learned and oh-so-terribly spiritual leader with such a question? Scared of the Holy Spirit? Nervous to engage one third of the entire Trinity? How rude. How preposterous.

How right she was. I mean, I wasn't actually scared of the Spirit, like in the sense of a phobia. But Katie had noticed that my practice – my operant theology if you want to use fancy talk – suggested that the Spirit wasn't a huge part of my thinking. My all-time favourite youth ministry analogy at that time was all about ice, liquid and steam, and Katie had just poured cold water all over it.

Me of little faith

That moment set me off on a personal charismatic revival of sorts, but really I was playing catchup. As Katie's youth leader, I had witnessed first-hand what it looks like for a young person to encounter the Holy Spirit, and to be utterly transformed as a result. We had prayed for her as a group a couple of summers before, and seen the most extraordinary physical manifestations of God's power, but perhaps way more importantly, we'd seen the way her life had looked so utterly, incredibly different afterwards. I saw Katie receive a calling from God – one that she has stepped into magnificently as an adult – but I also saw her flourishing week-in, week-out with the fruits of the Spirit.

So perhaps it was only right and just that, since I'd borne witness to all of that extraordinary evidence of God's power in Katie, she should be the one to call out my apparent lack of faith in that power when we weren't in the crazy crucible of a summer festival.

"I was nervous that he might not do anything at all. That the Spirit wouldn't heal, or bring revelation, or provoke growth and transformation in the lives of the young people I was serving. So propelled by that fear... I just didn't ask him."

I don't think I'm the only youth leader to fully embrace the Spirit's power when we're in the 'big top', but then severely manage my expectations of what that same Spirit might do in our local church or youth group. And even if I am, I know that this weird dichotomy runs completely against the biblical account of what the Holy Spirit does. Heck, it doesn't even add up as common sense. If God is real and powerful and can work in the world, he's no less powerful when there's five of us gathered than when there's five thousand.

Seeking the Spirit of Power

So what was I really scared of? Perhaps on one level I was nervous that God's Spirit might do things that made me uncomfortable. But much more than that, I think I was nervous that he might not do anything at all. That the Spirit wouldn't heal, or bring revelation, or provoke growth and transformation in the lives of the young people I was serving. So propelled by that fear... I just didn't ask him.

A quick reading of the New Testament is not kind to this position. Jesus tells his followers to ask, seek, and knock – because "if you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11 v 13) Then when he's about to leave Earth, he promises them "you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you" (Acts 1 v 8). Galatians 5 lists nine character traits which will flower when we encounter the Spirit; Paul tells Timothy that this Spirit "does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” (2 Tim 1 v7) The Scriptures are positively dripping with encouragements to encounter God through his Spirit, and promises of fantastic change as a result. In the vast majority of cases, these passages don't tell the stories of big festival gatherings; they suggest that the Spirit moves and ministers to us in our everyday little lives.

Over seven weeks, we're diving deep into the core values behind Satellites– from a youth leader perspective. If you want to explore them with young people, check out our offer on the book written for them; get seven copies and a 'book group' study guide for the price of six.