Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?” When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?

Acts 2:12, 37 (NIV)

On the day of Pentecost, after witnessing the effects of the Holy Spirit on the 120 followers of Jesus, the people in the crowd asked each other, “What does this mean?” They questioned Peter after hearing about Jesus, "What shall we do?"

Our theology and spirituality must revolve around these two questions: "What does this mean?" and "What shall we do?" While theology is learning to discern what God is saying to us, spirituality is learning to respond to what God has said. Theology and spirituality go together. What we know informs what we do. When there is a gap between what we know and what we do, we will inevitably become unhealthy as individuals and as communities. Then we become the flavourless salt and invisible light that Jesus described.

Theology without spirituality is a dry and dead knowledge of God, and spirituality without theology is an empty emotional experience of God. If you think theology is just for the super-intellectual, or that spirituality is only for the hyper spiritual, think again. God did not save us because of our brilliance or enthusiasm.

Pentecost teaches one important lesson. If we truly want to grow well in Christ, we must first let God shatter our assumptions of Him. This is particularly necessary when our knowledge and experiences are a blend of familiarity and staleness. We may not have lost sight of the reality of our identity in Christ, but it no longer has the same effect on us as it once did. It is crucial, therefore, to recover the wonder and the mystery of the gospel if we are to receive a fresh pouring of the “new wine” of the Spirit again and again.

Is there something in your relationship with God that He is asking you to look at differently? How is He leading you out of your comfort zone and into new and uncharted territory? Use those two questions and follow His Spirit’s guidance and grace for your journey ahead.