My neighbor was having a garage sale last Saturday and it happened to work out well for me. While doing yardwork I noticed the flow of traffic and realized I could easily walk my old grill over for them to sell. Perfect! “I can take a break from this incinerating heat AND make some money on the side!” As I approached my neighbor, I noticed that a well-dressed lady wearing a large hat and even larger purse was very excited about something and was sharing with everyone present. As her Jesus-fish-bracelet dangled with every hand gesture, I heard, “The other day God told me what it will take for this heat to go away! He said, if people would just repent, I’ll take the heat away. Mmmm Hmmm- that’s what He said.” I wanted to listen… and laugh. I wanted to discern… and dismiss. I just stood there and observed…. Thinking, “okay lady…:”
· So, exactly how many people have to repent before the heat ends?
· Could there really be evil people or other beings (aliens!) living on the sun? Is that why it’s so hot there?
· Why does the mid-west need to repent so much? What about New York City, San Francisco, or Las Vegas? Or other places all over the world?
· Didn’t people need to “repent” before this heat wave started?
· Will it remain 14 trillion degrees here perpetually until people repent? No winter?
· What else to God “tell” you?
· By the way, could you please ask Him when my house is going to sell?
We’ve all met them. You know. Someone who says “God told them…” Then they continue to express whatever amazing divine message has been transmitted to them. Honestly, it’s a little awkward for me. Because I DO believe God is real. And I DO believe God speaks. But don’t people use “God told me” to excuse things we all know God would never endorse? And what about competing claims about what God has “said?” Like the girl I know that God “told” was going to marry a certain guy… only it didn’t appear God had “told” him the same thing! What about things that seem possible? After all, many people claim to have “experienced” God. This experience got me to thinking… because “how God speaks” is more than a topic for joking sarcasm- it’s serious. Eternally serious. Here are some things to consider:
· God speaks through his creation and our conscience (also called “general revelation”). The grandness of the cosmos. The universality of moral law. These are things generally revealed to all people about God. Romans 1:19-21 and Psalm 19:1-6 speak to the existence and glory of God as revealed in His creation.
· God also speaks through His Word (called “special revelation”). While general revelation speaks to the God who “is,” special revelation speaks to the God who “saves.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17 explains that God’s Word is inspired and is useful. 2 Peter 1:16-21 explains that God has spoken through His Word, as recorded by Spirit-empowered authors. In fact, this text reveals that human experience and “interpretation” must be compared to his objective, written Word. I find it amazing that the last half of Psalm 19 also points to special revelation through God’s Word. Obviously much more could be written here (and has elsewhere) about the reliability of the Bible, but my intent is not to go nuts writing a book- this is a blog.
· Ultimately God has spoken to us in the person of Jesus Christ, His Son (Hebrews 1:1-2, John 1:1-14). If we want to know what God is like, what He thinks, feels, believes, does, and claims, we need to look no further than Jesus.
So, I’m suspicious of anyone who claims to have a unique, special “word” from God. If the truth claim is already revealed in nature, or is confirmed in the Bible either generally or specifically, there is no need for a uniquely special “word.” If the truth-claim is not supported by His creation, His Word, or Jesus, then I simply dismiss it as a voice competing against God’s, or about something that’s just not that important.
(Sigh) Oh, well. I guess I’ll have to wait on the aliens question…
I tend to be a little wary of people who say "God told me..." as well. I do believe that God, by His Holy Spirit, speaks to us and can tell us things. He will often bring an applicable Bible verse to the mind of a Christian. Sometimes He can tell us the right things to say, or that we should go talk to this person about this or that, even if we hadn't known about that issue before. So I don't always disiss if somebody says that God told them something. However, if they say something like, "God told me we're going to win this ball game today!" then I'm suspicious, because invariably, somebody on the other team would say that God told THEM that THEIR team would win the ball game. God would not tell opposing teams that they are both going to win. That would make Him out to be a liar in one case. There are also the more extreme cases where somebody commits some sort of violence because they believe that God told them too. I remember reading an article of a young man in Korea that crucified himself because he believe God told him to follow in his suffering! I'll spare you the gory details and just say that this man died. And then there are instances like what you described. Like, what if somebody were to say that to get this town back on track, God said we just need to pray for the right leader to come into power. On the surface, that sounds great. And we should pray for things like that. We should pray that a good and godly man or woman rises to leadership. But what happens if that doesn't happen? Even if people are praying for it? Now all of a sudden, what "God said" isn't coming to pass. If God really said it, I think he probably would have been specific enough for us to know what needed to be done. Don't make docrine out of that statement, but that's what I think. Otherwise you're left wondering if enough people prayed. Well, even the faith of one righteous person can make a huge difference. Maybe they weren't praying hard enough? How do you really measure how hard somebody prays? And again, one person's prayer and faith can make a difference. So to sum it up, saying that God told you something, can cause all kinds of problems if he did not in fact tell you.
ReplyDeleteGood post Chris. Oh, and aliens are real. THey come in all types. There's Mexicans, Aisians, Europeans. Why, even we could be considered aliens! After all, our citizenship is not with the earth, but in heaven. :-) Hehe.