Tuesday, June 23, 2015
How To Hear God
Lynne Baab writes that if you want to hear God's voice you have to, paraphrasing, engage in spiritual disciplines. What I especially like about her discussion is the fact that she emphasizes that community matters when hearing God's voice. What I find troubling is that community matters.
Too many people burst out and claim direct revelation and then do all sorts of awful mischief in God's name. Anymore, it seems like communities, even Christian communities, are engaging in a kind of mass hysteria that is equally mischievous. Left alone, we are bound to get it wrong at some point. At bottom that is the nature of sin. But what happens when the group ethos goes horribly awry? How do we test our sense that is has gone that way?
For one thing, it is important to keep a broader perspective than you immediate community. One need to be tapped into other communities against which you can test what is going on in your own. Secondly, you should honestly test your own life. Measure it against God's standards. If you can do so honestly, then the still small voice in your head may be speaking the truth. It's not enough, but it could be enough to force you to reach out and test other communities. Here's the thing, your life will not measure up, that's not the point. The point is can you be honest with yourself that it isn't? If that is the case, then you can know what you are hearing may, in fact, be God and not your own hidden agenda.
Honesty, even with yourself takes courage. Courage is the first thing you will need if you are going to move in the a direction different from your community. It's good to test your courage in the most important ways before you head down that path.
God's voice character courage
Too many people burst out and claim direct revelation and then do all sorts of awful mischief in God's name. Anymore, it seems like communities, even Christian communities, are engaging in a kind of mass hysteria that is equally mischievous. Left alone, we are bound to get it wrong at some point. At bottom that is the nature of sin. But what happens when the group ethos goes horribly awry? How do we test our sense that is has gone that way?
For one thing, it is important to keep a broader perspective than you immediate community. One need to be tapped into other communities against which you can test what is going on in your own. Secondly, you should honestly test your own life. Measure it against God's standards. If you can do so honestly, then the still small voice in your head may be speaking the truth. It's not enough, but it could be enough to force you to reach out and test other communities. Here's the thing, your life will not measure up, that's not the point. The point is can you be honest with yourself that it isn't? If that is the case, then you can know what you are hearing may, in fact, be God and not your own hidden agenda.
Honesty, even with yourself takes courage. Courage is the first thing you will need if you are going to move in the a direction different from your community. It's good to test your courage in the most important ways before you head down that path.
God's voice character courage
