![\"Kurt](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/307\/2017\/10\/5121910743_c48bb00db4_z.jpg\")
<\/a>One of the most popular rock songs ever is\u00a0Nirvana\u2019s<\/em>\u00a0\u201cSmells Like Teen Spirit.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0A great amount of ink has been spilled on the meaning of this and other\u00a0Nirvana<\/em>\u00a0songs. Just as it is quite difficult to discern the words from listening to the tune, it is not so easy to understand the meaning of the words.[1]<\/a>\u00a0Regardless of the meaning of the words to the song,\u00a0Nirvana<\/em>\u00a0captured the spirit of a generation in large part due to iconic Kurt Cobain\u2019s songs and personal vibe. Did Cobain, like Bob Dylan before him (to whose song \u201cLike a Rolling Stone\u201d one commentator compared \u201cTeen Spirit\u2019s\u201d cultural import), have a sixth sense that made it possible for him to have his finger on the pulse of his peers? How does one discern the spirit of a generation, and\/or the spirit of the age?<\/p>\n These aren\u2019t easy questions to answer. Nor is the following question: how does one discern the Holy Spirit\u2019s person and work? If the question were so easy to answer, one might think that the religious leaders who rejected Jesus and his teaching would have been more responsive and welcoming of him. Moreover, one might think the Corinthian Christians would have been far more attentive to the Spirit rather than fixate on a fleshly spirit so much of the time.<\/p>\n In what follows, let\u2019s first consider the religious establishment\u2019s rejection of Jesus in Matthew chapter 12.<\/p>\n Upon hearing of Jesus\u2019 exorcising a demon and healing a man who was blind and mute, a group of the Pharisees claimed that Jesus cast out the demon by the prince of demons, Beelzebul, rather than by God\u2019s Spirit. Here is the full context of the account:<\/p>\n Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw.\u00a0And all the people were amazed, and said,\u00a0\u201cCan this be the Son of David?\u201d But when the Pharisees heard it, they said,\u00a0\u201cIt is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.\u201d\u00a0Knowing their thoughts,\u00a0he said to them,\u00a0\u201cEvery kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand.\u00a0And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?\u00a0And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul,\u00a0by whom do\u00a0your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is\u00a0by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then\u00a0the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or\u00a0how can someone enter a strong man\u2019s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed\u00a0he may plunder his house.\u00a0Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.\u00a0Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but\u00a0the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.\u00a0And whoever speaks a word\u00a0against the Son of Man\u00a0will be forgiven, but\u00a0whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in\u00a0this age or in the age to come (Matthew 12:22-32; ESV).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n How could they have missed that Jesus would not be casting out Satan\u2019s brood by Satan? If that were so, Satan would be fighting against himself. Rather, it was by the Spirit of God that Jesus cast out demons, thereby indicating that the kingdom of God had come upon them.<\/p>\n I wonder if this particular group of religious leaders had difficulty discerning the Spirit of God in Jesus\u2019 ministry due to Jesus not bruising people or snuffing out their spirits. After all, many religious power-brokers over the centuries broke people. Similarly, in the immediately preceding context, Jesus healed a man of a withered hand on the Sabbath to these religious leaders\u2019 chagrin. They went out and conspired to destroy Jesus after this healing (Matthew 12:9-14). Aware of their plans, Jesus withdrew from there, though many followed him and he healed those in need of deliverance even while exhorting them to remain quiet about his identity. Here is how Matthew\u2019s Gospel presents the matter:<\/p>\n Jesus, aware of this,\u00a0withdrew from there. And\u00a0many followed him, and he healed them all\u00a0and\u00a0ordered them not to make him known. This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah:<\/p>\n \u201cBehold, my\u00a0servant whom I have chosen, So, to return to an earlier question, how do we discern the Spirit\u2019s person and work? First, we discern the Spirit\u2019s person and work when we perceive total alignment between Jesus and the Spirit. The Spirit never contradicts Jesus\u2019 person and work, just as Jesus never contradicts the Spirit\u2019s person and work. This is borne out by the entire New Testament witness (See for example Romans 8, 1 Corinthians 2, and John 14-16).<\/p>\n Second, we discern the Spirit\u2019s work when we realize that the Law was not given to enslave people but to free them. There is total alignment between the Spirit\u2019s person and work and the import of the Law and the Prophets. After all, the Spirit inspired the Scriptures (See 2 Timothy 3:16, 1 Peter 1:10-12, and 2 Peter 1:16-21). So, as Jesus says elsewhere, people were not made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath for people (Mark 2:27). In like manner, the Spirit empowered Jesus to heal the person\/people mentioned in Matthew 12, as noted above, on the Sabbath. Along similar lines, as we find recorded in Matthew 12:15-21, Jesus and the Spirit are not boisterous and boastful, but humble in their glory. Similarly, they lift up the downtrodden and broken-hearted rather than break bruised reeds and snuff out or quench smoldering wicks. This was true in Jesus\u2019 day, and is no less true today.<\/p>\n By no means do I wish to confuse \u201cTeen Spirit\u201d with the Holy Spirit, nor do I see much similarity between the Spirit described by Moralistic Therapeutic Deism and the Spirit described by Matthew 12. As Christian Smith writes of MTD, young people do not view God as filling and transforming them through his Spirit. Rather, God is rather like a synthesis of a \u201cDivine Butler and Cosmic Therapist.\u201d Thus, it should come as no surprise when a teenager said that religion matters to him \u201cCause God made us and if you ask him for something I believe he gives it to you. Yeah, he hasn\u2019t let me down yet. [So what is God like?] God is a spirit that grants you anything you want, but not anything bad.\u201d[2]<\/a><\/p>\n One who wishes to account for the Spirit disclosed in the Bible should know that while God does not let us down, God allows us to go through down times, even through the valley of the shadow of death. In the down times, God does not forsake us, but shepherds us (See Psalm 23). The Spirit ministers to the broken-hearted and lifts them up.<\/p>\n With this point in mind, I return to the song \u201cSmells Like Teen Spirit.\u201d Just as Cobain challenged the music industry in \u201cTeen Spirit\u201d with his line about entertaining people, so the Spirit does not exist to entertain us. Rather, the Spirit reaches out to those filled with pain, who feel aborted and rejected, and who would even abort Christ, as Cobain sometimes cried out.<\/p>\n The Spirit would have us come as we are (to allude to the title of a Nirvana song,\u00a0\u201cCome As You Are\u201d<\/a>) with no pretense, no polish, just our sense of need. We don\u2019t have to be good people like the rich young ruler (See Matthew 19), or finished products to receive God\u2019s gracious love through the Spirit. There is no \u201cmembers only\u201d country club, no gated community, no wall that would keep out the blind and mute and those with withered hands. No one can get to heaven on their own. It is impossible, and not just for those without worldly riches, power, and fame. If anything, those with much have a much harder time letting go, as in the case of the rich young ruler. While it is harder for a rich person to get to heaven than for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, with God alone salvation is possible. After all, the Spirit who draws us to the same Jesus, whom the world aborted, does not close the divine circle, but opens up God\u2019s life to include us in Jesus\u2019 life, as we live simply by faith.[3]<\/a><\/p>\n With the preceding statement, we come to a third and final way (at least the last for this blog post) in which we can discern the Spirit\u2019s person and work. Thus, third, we discern the Spirit\u2019s person and work when we comprehend that neither fame, nor fortune, nor formidable strength opens the door to God\u2019s love. Rather, God\u2019s Spirit opens the door free of charge by faith to all who would desire the living water that quenches our thirst and heals our tortured souls. In view of this reality, the Spirit and Bride of Christ (the church) call out, \u201c\u2018Come.\u2019 And let the one who hears say, \u2018Come.\u2019 And\u00a0let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the\u00a0water of life without price\u201d (Revelation 22:17; ESV). \u201cCome as you are.\u201d<\/p>\n _______________<\/p>\n [1]<\/a>For background context, suggestions as to the meaning of the Teen Spirit song and its reception, refer to the following three articles:\u00a0one<\/a>,\u00a0two<\/a>,\u00a0three<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\nmy beloved with whom my soul is well pleased.
\nI will put my Spirit upon him,
\nand he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
\nHe will not quarrel or cry aloud,
\nnor will anyone hear his voice in the streets;
\na bruised reed he will not break,
\nand a smoldering wick he will not quench,
\nuntil he brings justice to victory;
\nand in his name the Gentiles will hope\u201d (Matthew 12:15-21; ESV).<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n