Dig if you will the picture: it’s 9:00 pm Thursday, July 26, 1984, and I’m standing face-to-face with Prince. No, not that Prince, not Prince Rogers Nelson. Although I had the opportunity to witness the late singer/songwriter’s musical prowess live, I speak of a confrontation with another regal figure. That fateful night was the culmination of several months of this distinguished dignitary’s persuasion.
A Reign Drenched Summer
To have a full appreciation of my encounter, I have to take you back a few weeks before. It was early June 1984, when the aforementioned Mr. Rogers Nelson was riding a wave of critical and commercial success of which few could only dream.
The Minneapolis, Minnesota native and his band, the Revolution, released the soundtrack to his semi-autobiographical film, “Purple Rain”. The album’s lead single, “When Doves Cry”, was as non-conventional as the artist himself because it lacked a bass line. The base of the track, however, compensated for its unorthodox structure. Prince sings of fear, mourning, and loss between his family and love interest. He expresses his dread of becoming like his parents and how he channels their behavior in his relationship with his girlfriend. He contends it’s enough to make a dove, a resilient bird and a symbol of peace, weep.
This Is What a Dove Is Like
In scripture, a dove represents the Holy Spirit. He is God and one-third of what is commonly referred to as the Trinity, along with Jesus, the Son, and the Father. Their first mention in the Bible is found in Genesis 1:26-27, “Let Us (plural, my insertion) make human beings in Our image, to be like Us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.” So God created human beings in His (singular, my insertion) own image. In the image of God He created them; male and female He created them.”
The Holy Spirit came upon Jesus in the form of a dove after Christ’s baptism at the Jordan River. In an iconic moment, all three members reveal themselves to the world when the Father announces, “This is My dearly loved Son, who brings Me great joy (Matthew 3:13-17).”
During Christ’s ministry on earth, He spoke of the Holy Spirit’s all-important role to His followers in John 16:13-15, “He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on His own but will tell you what He has heard. He will tell you about the future. He will bring Me glory by telling you whatever He receives from Me. All that belongs to the Father is Mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever He receives from Me.”
The Prince of Convincing
In Christian circles, the word convict — that is to find or prove to be guilty — is a standard word to describe the Holy Spirit’s illumination of truth. We gravitate towards the phrase as a sign of humility and in recognition of humanity’s depraved state apart from its Creator. I believe, however, the more appropriate word for the Spirit’s role is convince. Since God created us, He knows what’s best for us.
The first humans, Adam and Eve, made the costly decision to take matters into their own hands, heeding the ill-fated advice, “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil (Genesis 3:5).”
As a result, their rebellious nature separated them from God’s presence, and that nature was passed on to everyone born after including me. The decision to live life independently of God has an eternal consequence, which I’ve gone into detail in an earlier blog post (click here to read).
Just like my biblical predecessors, I charted my own course. I grew up believing if you’re an upright person, then you’re good with God. Fast forward to June 1984 in New Orleans, and that’s when the Holy Spirit began to do His work to get me to see otherwise.
A Space in the Face of Grace
His first task was to put me in an environment where I would have His undivided attention. At the behest of a relative, I reluctantly accepted an invitation to attend a weeknight Bible study at a local church. That’s when I heard a truth that began to tear down the aforementioned ideological fortress I constructed.
The Spirit used the teacher to speak from Isaiah 64:6, “We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind.”
Like tumbleweeds blowing around in a scene from a Western movie, my brain cells were scrambling! How could I’ve been so wrong? I thought being a morally good person was enough to go to heaven. What do I do now? I wanted to know more but didn’t want to show anyone my resistance to the Spirit’s beckoning was weakening. After all, I’m a man, and men don’t crumble under pressure! Ha!
Then, the Holy Spirit flexed His muscles some more. He dialed up the tension with Ephesians 2:8:9, “God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.”
For weeks, I mulled over these two verses, and these truths led me to accept an invitation to receive Christ on July 26, 1984. I stood before a church congregation of roughly 70 people, looked up to the ceiling, and confessed to God how foolish I was to think I could live without Him. I asked His forgiveness and that Christ would become my Lord and Savior.
Knowing The Man That I Am
After the service, someone admonished me to read 1 John 5:11-13, and I did while in bed with my new Bible. These verses say, “And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life. I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life.” I clutched the book to my chest and teared up for God’s life-changing gift to me!
I take great joy in knowing that I am officially a son of the King of kings. He says to me and all He redeems through the Apostle Peter, “You are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for He called you out of the darkness into His wonderful light. Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God’s people. Once you received no mercy; now you have received God’s mercy (1 Peter 2:9-10).”
I thank my spiritual parents who led me to surrender everything to Jesus, the Prince of Peace: my late grandmother, Ethel, my mother, Sharon, and Pastor J. Nelson Brown.
I am forever in your debt.
Sources:
Article: “Prince (musician)”
Film: “Purple Rain”
Song: “When Doves Cry” by Prince and the Revolution
Scripture: Genesis 1:26-27
Scripture: Matthew 3:13-17
Scripture: John 16:13-15
Scripture: Genesis 3:5
Blog: “Like Hell It Is: Love & Respect” by Derek Ian Clark, published September 28, 2021
Scripture: Isaiah 64:6
Scripture: Ephesians 2:8-9
Scripture: 1 John 5:11-13
Scripture: 1 Peter 2:9-10
Scripture references are from the New Living Translation. Their links go to bible.com, courtesy of YouVersion, makers of the Bible App available for iOS and Android devices.
