Zacchaeus
09-02-2004, 04:39 PM
Hi guys,
Posted this up on my blog earlier today.
__________________________________________________ _______________
"Oh, my God!" - "Jesus Christ!" - "Christ Almighty!"
Three simple and indeed biblical expressions which, when said in the wrong (or right?) context are universally regarded by Christians (and some non-Christians) as blasphemy. But, can these statements truly be said to "take the Lord's name in vain" when the people who use them would not profess to "know God"?
Should we be looking elsewhere?
In recent years, I've become increasingly uncomfortable around Christians who claim to have a hotline to heaven; who believe it is their divine duty to give those in the immediate vicinity a running commentary of what God is doing at any given moment. Quite apart from the control this potentially gives over weak-minded individuals, I find this behaviour incredibly presumptuous toward God. Indeed, such is the regularity with which the Almighty speaks to these people that one would be forgiven for thinking that the God of the modern charismatic is something of a chatterbox! One need only consider what the old testament prophets had to endure to actually hear the Word of the Lord to derive some perspective.
The problem as I see it is one of accountability; or rather the lack of it. Up and down the country, each week, in church services, home groups, and prayer meetings, people are prophesying... at least, they believe they are prophesying. I should say that by prophesying I am referring generally to those utterances which the giver claims (although mostly it is assumed) to come from God and which can take the form of any one of the four revelatory gifts of the spirit - prophecy, word of knowledge, word of wisdom, and discerning of spirits - or indeed all four for the multi-taskers! The subject of the utterance is usually prefixed by expressions such as "God has told me that...", "I believe the Lord is saying...", or for those AV die-hards the classic, "THUS SAITH THE LORD..."
* * *
It is 2001 and a young, dynamic couple want to pray with and encourage a single woman from their home group, in her early 40s, who is beginning to despair of ever finding a husband. They settle down to pray, and after a few moments of quiet reflection, the husband sees in his mind's eye an image of a tall man standing beneath a sign that says "2002". Now, because he claims to "operate in the prophetic", he believes this is from God. Confidently, he describes to the woman what he is seeing. They finish praying for the woman who goes home filled with joy, dreaming of her wedding day, honeymoon, and of course her husband.
Fast forward to 2004 and the dynamic couple have moved away to start their exciting new life in ministry. Meanwhile, the woman they prayed for in 2001 is now in her mid-40s, still unmarried, and taking quite heavily to drink. A tragic situation but one which is becoming all too commonplace in the modern church as, without any real accountability, "prophetic" Christians casually attribute God's finger to their "vain imaginings".
* * *
Before looking for solutions, we need to give this problem its proper name: FALSE PROPHECY
Despite what many churches believe, one cannot practise hearing from God. Either you hear him or you don't? You don't practise seeing, do you? You either see or you... enlist the services of an optician! For too long the church has allowed people to simply get up and "prophesy" with an attitude of "oh well, so and so loves the Lord and is simply trying to exercise his/her spiritual gift" or "oh well, we only see through a glass darkly after all" instead of acknowledging that if "so and so" is wrong they are actually taking the Lord's name in vain and committing FALSE PROPHECY. Now, practically, what was "prophesied" may well be harmless. Most Christians who believe they operate in the prophetic tend to hedge their bets anyway; in other words, their divine utterances are general and could apply to just about anything! Although this practise is still wrong, my major concern is really for victims of TARGETED FALSE PROPHECY, like the woman in her 40s who are left, at best, confused and, at worst, destroyed!
So, what is the Church doing to address this problem? Not a great deal, I fear. You see, charismatic-pentecostal churches are identified for their emphasis on the spirit, so, "prophesying" has become an integral part of church life. Also, "prophets" can be a rather proud bunch who find it very hard to admit that they are ever wrong. This is simply because to question a prophecy would bring into question the "prophet"'s ability to hear God which, in turn, would raise questions of faith. Let me be clear on something: I believe in the possibility of prophecy. But, I'm afraid the vast majority of that which seeks to pass itself off as prophecy is in fact false or what the old testaments spoke of as "prophesy(ing) with their minds".
To any self-confessed or wannabe prophets reading this, remember the words of Jesus before you hastily claim to speak for God
"Lord, Lord we prophesied IN YOUR NAME. Be gone from me... I NEVER KNEW YOU!"
__________________________________________________ _______________
I wondered what you guys thought...
Peace,
Zac :o
Posted this up on my blog earlier today.
__________________________________________________ _______________
"Oh, my God!" - "Jesus Christ!" - "Christ Almighty!"
Three simple and indeed biblical expressions which, when said in the wrong (or right?) context are universally regarded by Christians (and some non-Christians) as blasphemy. But, can these statements truly be said to "take the Lord's name in vain" when the people who use them would not profess to "know God"?
Should we be looking elsewhere?
In recent years, I've become increasingly uncomfortable around Christians who claim to have a hotline to heaven; who believe it is their divine duty to give those in the immediate vicinity a running commentary of what God is doing at any given moment. Quite apart from the control this potentially gives over weak-minded individuals, I find this behaviour incredibly presumptuous toward God. Indeed, such is the regularity with which the Almighty speaks to these people that one would be forgiven for thinking that the God of the modern charismatic is something of a chatterbox! One need only consider what the old testament prophets had to endure to actually hear the Word of the Lord to derive some perspective.
The problem as I see it is one of accountability; or rather the lack of it. Up and down the country, each week, in church services, home groups, and prayer meetings, people are prophesying... at least, they believe they are prophesying. I should say that by prophesying I am referring generally to those utterances which the giver claims (although mostly it is assumed) to come from God and which can take the form of any one of the four revelatory gifts of the spirit - prophecy, word of knowledge, word of wisdom, and discerning of spirits - or indeed all four for the multi-taskers! The subject of the utterance is usually prefixed by expressions such as "God has told me that...", "I believe the Lord is saying...", or for those AV die-hards the classic, "THUS SAITH THE LORD..."
* * *
It is 2001 and a young, dynamic couple want to pray with and encourage a single woman from their home group, in her early 40s, who is beginning to despair of ever finding a husband. They settle down to pray, and after a few moments of quiet reflection, the husband sees in his mind's eye an image of a tall man standing beneath a sign that says "2002". Now, because he claims to "operate in the prophetic", he believes this is from God. Confidently, he describes to the woman what he is seeing. They finish praying for the woman who goes home filled with joy, dreaming of her wedding day, honeymoon, and of course her husband.
Fast forward to 2004 and the dynamic couple have moved away to start their exciting new life in ministry. Meanwhile, the woman they prayed for in 2001 is now in her mid-40s, still unmarried, and taking quite heavily to drink. A tragic situation but one which is becoming all too commonplace in the modern church as, without any real accountability, "prophetic" Christians casually attribute God's finger to their "vain imaginings".
* * *
Before looking for solutions, we need to give this problem its proper name: FALSE PROPHECY
Despite what many churches believe, one cannot practise hearing from God. Either you hear him or you don't? You don't practise seeing, do you? You either see or you... enlist the services of an optician! For too long the church has allowed people to simply get up and "prophesy" with an attitude of "oh well, so and so loves the Lord and is simply trying to exercise his/her spiritual gift" or "oh well, we only see through a glass darkly after all" instead of acknowledging that if "so and so" is wrong they are actually taking the Lord's name in vain and committing FALSE PROPHECY. Now, practically, what was "prophesied" may well be harmless. Most Christians who believe they operate in the prophetic tend to hedge their bets anyway; in other words, their divine utterances are general and could apply to just about anything! Although this practise is still wrong, my major concern is really for victims of TARGETED FALSE PROPHECY, like the woman in her 40s who are left, at best, confused and, at worst, destroyed!
So, what is the Church doing to address this problem? Not a great deal, I fear. You see, charismatic-pentecostal churches are identified for their emphasis on the spirit, so, "prophesying" has become an integral part of church life. Also, "prophets" can be a rather proud bunch who find it very hard to admit that they are ever wrong. This is simply because to question a prophecy would bring into question the "prophet"'s ability to hear God which, in turn, would raise questions of faith. Let me be clear on something: I believe in the possibility of prophecy. But, I'm afraid the vast majority of that which seeks to pass itself off as prophecy is in fact false or what the old testaments spoke of as "prophesy(ing) with their minds".
To any self-confessed or wannabe prophets reading this, remember the words of Jesus before you hastily claim to speak for God
"Lord, Lord we prophesied IN YOUR NAME. Be gone from me... I NEVER KNEW YOU!"
__________________________________________________ _______________
I wondered what you guys thought...
Peace,
Zac :o