god@heaven.com
One of my favorite episodes from the old WKRP in Cincinnatti was the one in which Dr. Johnny Fever overheard the voice of his neighbor in the apartment upstairs through the heating duct, thought it was the voice of God, and decided that the Almighty wanted him to become a professional golfer. Mr. Carlson- presumably a good, no-nonsense Lutheran (or ELCAn, anyway), set him straight.
But the Doctor's delusion was no more ridiculous than that of many Christians who justify their actions by alleging that "God told me." Bunnie Diehl reasonably asks whether He used email, the U.S. Postal Service, or the telephone to express His will:
It's amazing, the misguided tendency so many American Christians have to identify subjective emotional impressions with the voice of God. They never seem to wonder whether it might not more likely be the voice of their own heart, seeking an excuse to do what it wants to do. Even the conscience- though it's always a sin to violate it- can be badly formed, and thus dead wrong. Even the conscience is not, itself, the voice of God.
In biblical times, prophets whose prophecies didn't come true were summarily stoned to death. I don't advocate treating contemporary false prophets inside and outside the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements quite so severely. It would seem reasonable, though, to draw the very biblical conclusion that when their prophecies don't come true, they must be false prophets- and hence should not be believed or listened to again. Yet TV "evangelists" and entire denominations build empires on a long list of failed prophecies. The human wilingness to be deceived seems boundless.
Especially when we, ourselves, are the ones who are deceiving ourselves. Nobody seems to reflect that of all the people in Israel and Judah in biblical times, comparatively few ever had a vision or received a direct revelation from God. It only seems prudent that we should be skeptical when others make such claims- and not assume that we will have such an experience ourselves. Certainly we should be reluctant to claim something as presumptuous as "God told me" as a means of justifying our own decisions and behavior, however sincere.
This is not to say that God cannot, obviously, do whatever He wants. It is to simply observe that He has promised to speak to us in only one place: His Word. Any claim,-or inclination to claim- a direct message from On High should be treated with the greatest skepticism- not the least by the person tempted to make it. One might remember from the Old Testament how much God frowns on those who put words in His mouth, and should insist on the odd miracle as verification before taking such claims or subjective impressions at face value.
But the Doctor's delusion was no more ridiculous than that of many Christians who justify their actions by alleging that "God told me." Bunnie Diehl reasonably asks whether He used email, the U.S. Postal Service, or the telephone to express His will:
A few years ago I was on a campus of one of those schools that defines wealthy, pietistic, subjective American Protestantism. A group of people, inclusive of me, were deciding whether to use the campus for a function.
As we toured the grounds, our guide explained to us that the trustees had wanted to renovate a building where the school's theology classes were held -- but had run out of funds. "But God WANTED this building renovated, so He provided the funds."
I sympathize with the sentiment our guide was trying to express, but agreed more with the pastor next to me who mumbled under his breath "Why would God want a building renovated where false doctrine is taught?"
This is a similar question to the one I always have after people tell me that God told them to ____________ (buy the red car, divorce their wife, marry the abusive man, take the job). I am pretty sure, for instance, that God would never tell anyone to buy a red Daewoo. No offense to any readers with Daewoos.
It's amazing, the misguided tendency so many American Christians have to identify subjective emotional impressions with the voice of God. They never seem to wonder whether it might not more likely be the voice of their own heart, seeking an excuse to do what it wants to do. Even the conscience- though it's always a sin to violate it- can be badly formed, and thus dead wrong. Even the conscience is not, itself, the voice of God.
In biblical times, prophets whose prophecies didn't come true were summarily stoned to death. I don't advocate treating contemporary false prophets inside and outside the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements quite so severely. It would seem reasonable, though, to draw the very biblical conclusion that when their prophecies don't come true, they must be false prophets- and hence should not be believed or listened to again. Yet TV "evangelists" and entire denominations build empires on a long list of failed prophecies. The human wilingness to be deceived seems boundless.
Especially when we, ourselves, are the ones who are deceiving ourselves. Nobody seems to reflect that of all the people in Israel and Judah in biblical times, comparatively few ever had a vision or received a direct revelation from God. It only seems prudent that we should be skeptical when others make such claims- and not assume that we will have such an experience ourselves. Certainly we should be reluctant to claim something as presumptuous as "God told me" as a means of justifying our own decisions and behavior, however sincere.
This is not to say that God cannot, obviously, do whatever He wants. It is to simply observe that He has promised to speak to us in only one place: His Word. Any claim,-or inclination to claim- a direct message from On High should be treated with the greatest skepticism- not the least by the person tempted to make it. One might remember from the Old Testament how much God frowns on those who put words in His mouth, and should insist on the odd miracle as verification before taking such claims or subjective impressions at face value.
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