Friday, January 06, 2006
God Told Me To Write This
Blogcorner Preacher is absolutely ranting about Christians who claim
I basically agree with the point John Luke is making. Certainly in an indirect manner God tells us when we need to pee -- he did so by giving us bladders that create the correct sensory signals.
The are a couple of serious problems I have with this "God told me" approach. The first is that it smacks of legalism. Christ came to transform us so that we made decisions in line with His will, not so that He dictated every decision -- that was the problem He had with the Jewish authority.
The other is the utterly coersive nature of the approach. It stifles arguement completely. Imagine a church ruling board meeting. The pastor arrives and declares that God told him to expand the building 300%. Now, the rest of us on the board look at the budget and recent income and decide we couldn't possibly support the loan. Now what do we do? "Excuse me pastor, but I'm guessing that was the buritto you had for lunch talking, not the Lord"
Besides, God did give us a Word - His name is Jesus.
the Lord had, take your pick, a) spoken, b) written, c) e-mailed, d) instant messaged, e) otherwise directly intervened in that person's life.I will never forget the time I accidentally ended up on an airplane full of pastors of a denomination that makes such claims routinely. The conversation was amazing. God "gave them a word" for everything. When I returned from my travels I told my wife I was pretty sure when one of them excused himself for the tiny little room in the rear of the plane his words were "Excuse me, God has given me a word that I need to urinate."
I basically agree with the point John Luke is making. Certainly in an indirect manner God tells us when we need to pee -- he did so by giving us bladders that create the correct sensory signals.
The are a couple of serious problems I have with this "God told me" approach. The first is that it smacks of legalism. Christ came to transform us so that we made decisions in line with His will, not so that He dictated every decision -- that was the problem He had with the Jewish authority.
The other is the utterly coersive nature of the approach. It stifles arguement completely. Imagine a church ruling board meeting. The pastor arrives and declares that God told him to expand the building 300%. Now, the rest of us on the board look at the budget and recent income and decide we couldn't possibly support the loan. Now what do we do? "Excuse me pastor, but I'm guessing that was the buritto you had for lunch talking, not the Lord"
Besides, God did give us a Word - His name is Jesus.
