Grieve Not the Spirit

Are we doing the Holy Spirit justice in the Church today? This is a broad question, no doubt, and certainly one that needs clarification. However, it seems that a question of this breadth might be needed to even find a starting point in the discussion, considering the general neglect of the third person of the Trinity that is to be found throughout much of the Church. While all of orthodox Christianity acknowledges the deity of the Holy Spirit and His equality with the rest of the Godhead, it seems that His role in the place of Christian doctrine and in the life of the individual believer gets a lot less airtime. As Vincent Barcote, assistant professor of theology at Wheaton College puts it, we need to seek an answer to what it means to be "fully Trinitarian as opposed to functionally 'binitarian.'" In his article, What is to be done in Theology, Barcote discusses this subject as well as other ways that he sees theology as needing to develop.

Surely, Barcote is right. There are countless ways in which we speak of Christ: His incarnation, propitiation, atonement, intercession, and countless other doctrines. Similarly we speak of the Father regarding His election, reprobation, grace, wrath, and on and on. Certainly, these few truths that we have been shown about the first two members of the Trinity do not even begin to scratch the surface of the true depths of God's character and action. There is more to be discovered through study and there is much, much more we will never begin to comprehend. Why is it then that so often we seem satisfied to relegate the Holy Spirit to the role of simply being our conscious? While His role in revealing sin and guiding the believer in truth is an essential aspect of His role, surely we would say that he is doing even more than this! Without in any way minimizing or devaluing the Spirit's role in the application of redemption and the progress of sanctification, can't we begin to unearth and develop in our thinking and practice the countless other ways in which He operates in the life of the believer and the progress of His Church?

It would seem that a large part of this development would have to involve a better acknowledgment and understanding of the experiential aspect of the Holy Spirit's ministry.
While the purposes of the Father and the work of the Son tend to lend themselves more easily to systematic understanding (without in any way being confined to this type of classification) there is an aspect of the Holy Spirit's ministry that refuses to be put into these categories. Times of revival such as the Great Awakening and some of the strange yet wonderful manifestations that accompanied them attest to this aspect. I must confess, coming from a church that would be identified by most as more charismatic than reformed, this element of experiencing the Spirit is one that has always accompanied any discussion of doctrine or teaching, and I see it as being no only beneficial, but crucial to a proper understanding of life in the Church.

I would like to invite anyone interested to comment on these thoughts, as well as expound upon or critique them. Please be sure and take a few minutes to read the Barcote article. He has much to say on this subject as well as others and there in much in the way further discussion and provocation.