Crossroads At the Day of Bapticost

by Jesse Steele

caught me. I guess you’re right. [like playing with a child]

  Carl: So, You meant to say…

  Jesus: Yes, what did I “mean” to say?

  Carl: Would I recommend water “drenching” by drinking a glass of water?

  Jesus: Yes. What do you think about Christian water baptism/drenching by drinking a glass of water, rather than dunking or sprinkling?

  Carl: Well, that just wouldn’t make sense—especially since we are calling it “drenching.” You don’t “drench” by drinking.

  Jesus: So, why would you ever ask if “drenching” of my Holy Spirit is about indwelling of my Holy Spirit?

  Carl: Aren’t they the same?

  Jesus: Um… I invented the languages, so I would know… “drenching” is something that happens on the outside… there isn’t anything “in” about it… other than the person who is “in” the water… or “in” my Holy Spirit.

  Carl: So, as a Christian, I have Your Holy Spirit?

  Jesus: Yep. I gave Him to you. He was a gift.

  Carl: But I feel like You are saying I’m a “have-not” when You tell me that there’s more I don’t have.

  Jesus: You have not only if you ask not.

  Carl: Okay, but it still sounds mean for You to say that.

  Jesus: Ask and you shall receive. But don’t ask selfishly, that isn’t what I AM all about.

  Carl: But how can I have Your Holy Spirit if there’s still more?

  Jesus: Do you have a job?

  Carl: Yes. I’m responsible.

  Jesus: That wasn’t what I was asking. I mean the “paycheck.” Do you get a paycheck?

  Carl: Yes. Every two weeks, Friday after work.

  Jesus: So, when do you “have” the money?

  Carl: When they give me my check.

  Jesus: Can you buy something with the check?

  Carl: If I cash it at the bank first.

  Jesus: Ah! My point exactly!

  Carl: You can’t sell people Your Holy Spirit.

  Jesus: And He’s not for sale. But I’m talking about “having” versus “having.”

  Carl: It’s the same word, though.

  Jesus: Don’t your English dictionaries give multiple definitions for one word?

  Carl: Yeah. I guess… Yeah, I suppose they do. So, You mean there’s different kinds of “having.”

  Jesus: When you get your paycheck at work, you own that money. It’s yours. You carry it. It’s with you. But you still have to do something with it before it can be used for its full potential.

  Carl: Yep. It’s called “cashing a check.”

  Jesus: Think of “Drenching” in my Holy Spirit like you would think of cashing a check. You already had it before, but now you really have it.

  Carl: It’s just hard if I haven’t done all that, ya know. I feel kind of condemned when You tell me that there’s more that I don’t yet have.

  Jesus: Do you feel condemned on your way to the bank with your paycheck?

  Carl: No, I usually worry about whether it will bounce.

  Jesus: That’s ‘cause your boss isn’t a Jewish carpenter.

  Carl: I get what You mean. I don’t feel condemned on my way to the bank. So I shouldn’t feel like You are condemning me just by telling me that there’s more of You that I can “have” in my life. I guess it only makes sense. Why be insulted by an invitation?

  Jesus: Don’t try to validate yourself instead of taking more of the things that I offer to you. You can always grow more in me. I give my Spirit to all Christians right away. But Drenching in my Holy Spirit is about being together. That’s why it often happens when Christians pray together. It’s about Christian fellowship and evangelism.

  Carl: So why does Luke write in the Acts of the Apostles about “receiving” the Spirit? They ask each other, “Have you received the Sprit?”

  Jesus: You’ve really never talked to a Greek person have you?

  Carl: You would know.

  Jesus: So I do know. They aren’t making a theological-technical distinction when they say “receive” my Sprit. Get it?

  Carl: Yes.

  Jesus: No, do you “get” me?

  Carl: Yes. I understand.

  Jesus: You missed my point.

  Carl: Huh?

  Jesus: See! You know what I mean.

  Carl: I’m not pickin’ up what You’re puttin’ down.

  Jesus: You “get” me…

  Carl: Yes, “get” means “understand.” I “get” You. I “understand” You.

  Jesus: How about what “receive” means when Luke writes it?

  Carl: Are You messing with my mind?

  Jesus: When I just now said, “Do you get me?” Did you think I was asking if you had accepted my gift of salvation… did you think I was asking you if you “have me” in the sense of “being a Christian?”

  Carl: No. I thought You were asking if I understood You.

  Jesus: Exactly! “Get” equals “understand.” It’s an expression. And you thought that without even thinking about the fact that you were thinking about that fact.

  Carl: Okay… so?…

  Jesus: Greek-speakers in the New Testament were human, just like you. They weren’t thinking about all this technical-theological “I mean this, not that” when they said, “do you have the Holy Spirit?” They meant, more or less, “about the Holy Spirit... have you been through that whole ‘drenching’ thing with Him and stuff?”

  Carl: So, I have Your Holy Spirit when I become a Christian and drenching is about cashing the check?

  Jesus: More or less.

  Carl: And the Spirit-Focused Pentecostals and Charismatics don’t disagree?

  Jesus: Most of them don’t and none of them should.

  Carl: So, what is “Drenching” of Your Holy Spirit?

  Jesus: Think of it as throwing gasoline on a candle…

  Carl: Oh… that could start a fire.

  Jesus: Or a revival. But, that’s if you like water baptism by sprinkling. You said you prefer…

  Carl: …water drenching by dunking.

  Jesus: So, we might do better to say that “Drenching of my Holy Spirit” is like “throwing the lantern in the tank of kerosene.”

  Carl: That could really start a fire.

  Jesus: Or really start a revival.

  Carl: Well… solving that debate can’t be so simple. It’s just too good to be true.

  Jesus: I AM not too Good to be True.

  Carl: That isn’t what I meant.

  Jesus: What did you mean then?

  Carl: A lot of people have poured their hearts and minds into understanding and writing about the disagreement between Spirit-Focused and Bible-Focused congregations over Baptism/“Drenching” of Your Holy Spirit. If the solution is so simple, then it’s almost an insult to all the papers they have written.

  Jesus: That is a very loving thing to say.

  Carl: I’d like the solution to be simple, but I don’t want to insult the people on both sides of that disagreement. That’s a bigger reason why I have a hard time with such a simple solution as “call it ‘drenching’ instead of ‘baptism.’” That solution insults hearts of academically-responsible people in both groups.

  Jesus: Do you know why it isn’t an insult?

  Carl: You mean they weren’t wasting their time in a difficult debate, even with such a simple solution?

  Jesus: If I made the answer that easy for those specific people to find, then they wouldn’t have done the work I wanted them to do.

  Carl: Work for what? You mean academic work?

  Jesus: Remember why I told you that people are in different “denumerations” as you call them?

  Carl: You mean different “denominations?”

  Jesus: I told you, please don’t use terms from Math-Division to describe my Church.

  Carl: Okay, “denumerations…”

  Jesus: Why did I say I wanted them different?

  Carl: Hmm… You said something about “study-groups.”

  Jesus: Yes
. I’ve been having my Church focus on different topics, with a friendly repartee, to discuss and dive deep into my written Word, and develop an academic understanding of my miracles—both in theory and in the field…

  Carl: …and in Drenching/Baptism of Your Holy Spirit?

  Jesus: With all that study for the debates… people know my Word quite well, don’t you think?

  Carl: They don’t always say that about each other.

  Jesus: Well, the Word of God knows them quite well. Have faith in me.

  Carl: But, what will bring an end to their fighting?

  Jesus: Mutual victory.

  Carl: What?

  Jesus: Remember you asked me about Satan?

  Carl: Yes.

  Jesus: You asked if I was ever going to get rid of him.

  Carl: Yes.

  Jesus: Well, are you ready for my answer?

  Carl: Yes. Are You going to get rid of Satan?

  Jesus: Yes, we are.

  Carl: WE!?

  Jesus: Yep.

  Carl: But I thought You had the victory on the Cross.

  Jesus: Yes, of course. I AM the only one who had that victory. But remember, I did it when I was incarnate—I did it when I was in my physical, limited, human body, walking on the earth.

  Carl: Okay. I’m not quite following You.

  Jesus: Oh! Carl. You are one of my favorite followers.

  Carl: That’s not what I meant.

  Jesus: You looked like you needed the re-assurance.

  Carl: Okay. Yes, I’m reassured, but I’d be more reassured if You’d tell me why You say “we” will defeat Satan.

  Jesus: I will crush him under your feet.

  Carl: Paul said that.

  Jesus: I inspired him.

  Carl: So, if You crush Satan under my feet…

  Jesus: Which involves “we.”

  Carl: What’s that got to do with Drenching/Baptism of Your Holy Spirit?

  Jesus: Armor of God… The Word is the sword of…

  Carl: Your Spirit.

  Jesus: Yep. I AM.

  Carl: Okay. We use knowledge of the Word and Drenching of Your Holy Spirit and with all this… and the belt of Truth and Peace and Faith… and stuff… we overcome Satan. And a proper understanding of all of this—including Drenching of