In March I spoke one Sunday about the fact that the Holy Spirit is a person, not an impersonal "force." As a reminder, passages like , , , and , when read carefully in their contexts, show that the Holy Spirit is a person.
Who cares? I gave the same talk at another church in May. Afterwards, a woman asked me why I thought it was so important. I repeated what I had said in the sermon. The Holy Spirit loves us, turns us toward Jesus, enables us to serve God and each other. In short, we have a personal relationship with him. Not seeing someone as a person is one sure way to ruin a personal relationship!
But her concern was something else. Previously she had been involved in two other churches. In the first, everyone was obsessed with doctrine. They only cared about debating and figuring out theology. In the second church, no one argued about theology. They didn't care. The focus was accepting everyone without question and being nice to each other. It didn't matter whether you believed this or that.
So, she asked, why was I so worried about people believing the right things, instead of living the right way?
But "instead of" were her words, not mine. Knowing the truth and living it are both important. Neither ignoring right beliefs nor neglecting right living is a truly Christian approach to life. Jesus said we are to love God not with our minds only, nor without our minds, but with everything we've got ().
Why does it matter if the Spirit is a person? Because he is! God has revealed himself as three divine persons in one eternal deity. We might not understand that fully, but we can believe it. If we're serious about loving God, then we're serious not only about living good lives for his sake, but also about knowing him for who he really is.