I clicked the play button on the video of a woman sitting in a chair on a stage, microphone in hand, seemingly ready to share something from the Bible to a crowd of eager listeners. She was a well-known singer and songwriter, so the crowd undoubtedly was on the edge of their seats in anticipation. The video began: “The Holy Spirit, to me, is like the genie from Aladdin.”
The crowd responded immediately with laughter, engaged with her right from the start. I tried hard to fully understand what she was saying and not be hasty to judge her. Perhaps she was just attempting to have a little fun and bring levity to a theological subject. As she went on, however, no well-intentioned motive could account for what she said, and my concern deepened because of how much confusion abounds in the church today when it comes to the Holy Spirit.
She continued, “That’s who He is to me. He’s funny, and He’s sneaky, and He’s silly. He’s wonderful. He’s like the wind. He’s all around.”
When studies show that only 6 percent of professing Christians have an accurate Christian worldview, and nearly 60 percent of those who identify as Christians do not believe the Holy Spirit is real, likening Him to a chaotic Disney character is the last thing a professing Christian with a microphone should be doing.
The truth is that the Holy Spirit is not funny and definitely is not silly. If He is sneaky, it’s because you can’t predict Him or because in His sovereign power he does incredible things that you never see or know about. He’s not at all like the genie from Aladdin, for He’s not some magical force you can coerce and control with just the right phrase. He is active and powerful, and Scripture has made it possible for you and me to know enough about Him that we need not be lured away from the truth by comical versions of Him.
When it comes to the Holy Spirit, we need to make sure everything we believe lines up with Scripture. I’ve often heard this quote attributed to Charles Spurgeon (though I can never find the original source) that says, “Discernment is not knowing the difference between right and wrong. It is knowing the difference between right and almost right.”
You and I must get our understanding of the Holy Spirit right if we love the truth and want to glorify Jesus Christ with our lives.
The Holy Spirit Is God
First and foremost, we need to understand that the Holy Spirit is God and that He is an equal and active part of what we call the Trinity. While few people who claim to be Christians would argue against God the Father or Jesus the Son being God, there is widespread confusion among us regarding the divinity of the Holy Spirit. Is He just an expression of Jesus in spirit form? Is He a less than divine force that God uses to express His power? Is He an angel?
