God Said What?
Many times I have heard people say God said this or God said that. I have to say that I am very skeptical. That is not to say that it is impossible for God to communicate to a person outside of the Bible. There are three times that I have thought God spoke to me (not audibly) and my wife has had a similar experience. But some people seem to hear from God weekly if not daily.
My question is, what do they mean? What actually happens? If you walk by a homeless person and you feel led to buy them dinner, could that not just be that you remember that the Bible teaches us to take care of the poor? Of course in a way that is God speaking to us. But I can’t imagine that we are only supposed to obey Jesus’ teachings when we feel a God nudge.
I would suggest that often it is the case that we get some really great idea that will help people and aligns with biblical principles. We feel so strong about it that it just has to be God. But it could just be a really good idea that we should act on without it being God’s direct communication.
Another problem with this frequent “communication” from God is that it can be easily abused. When someone tells you that God told him this, what they are really saying is don’t argue because this comes from the highest authority. But people of many religions and sects have claimed to have received messages from God and they all can’t be right. It is not enough just to claim it.
Paul teaches us, “Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good.” (1 Thessalonians 5:20–21 ESV) This means we should not discount the possibility of prophecy but at the same time we should take the time to test what is spoken. Many scholars believe that in 1 Corinthians 12, discerning of spirits is to prophecy what translation is to tongues. The early church would stop during their worship service to discern whether a prophecy really was from God.
I am not saying that all who say that God speaks to them are inspired by Satan. Likely, most of them are well meaning and are saying something that is beneficial to the church. But Christians can have good ideas without requiring divine authority for it.
So the next time a Christian says that God told them something, ask them questions. Find out how it happened and what makes them think this came from God. This is not being argumentative, it is following biblical counsel.
