Why method matters to the Holy Spirit

As many of you know, I am simultaneously more and less aware of my surroundings than most other people. I am quite aware of the minutia and the influences involved but can be ignorant of the big picture stuff. In other words, I study the method and form, and oftentimes the message is lost on me.

Spiritual Emphasis Week around AG headquarters means 5 days in a row of chapel services here at work. Our speakers have ranged from the screeching old lady to the hilarious guy to the apostle-style, all-Jesus'-business guy.

This year our speaker is a young evangelist (probably 36 or 37 years old). His message and attitude immediately struck me as being Holy Spirit-filled and anointed.

My problem with how the service went down is entirely in the method of presentation. After a long intro (we sang 3 choruses, which is a lot in a 1-hour program) and prayer, our speaker got up with his wife. She talked while he stood politely in the background, then she sang a special number while he sang politely in the background. Then he began to speak. The message felt a little disjointed, though he had some poignant points, and he cut out the final story and, apparently, the conclusion due to time constraints.

In my experience, S.E. Week often succeeds or fails based on the relationship the speaker has with God, followed closely by the relationship the audience develops with the speaker. The former is the most important, and the latter takes time to build but is crucial.

The problem is that on Day 1 the speaker must build that relationship foundation with the audience as strong as is possible. By letting his wife take charge initially after he was introduced and giving the audience a special music piece, our first impression was of his wife, not of him. In the baby duckling sense, we bonded more with her when we should have been bonding with him. She will have the rest of the week to sing or could have even at the end of today's service, but he should have been the one to initiate the audience.

Then to top it off, in the middle of his message about the power of the Holy Spirit, he forgot to conclude and jumped right to everyone standing and praying. I guess my main point in all of this is that God can move in extreme circumstances but that humans are mundane, systemic, relational beings. The speaker's job is to streamline the avenue from the spiritual to the earthly. His method felt abrupt, and the service suffered for it.