How Do We Respond to People Who Think They Hear from God?

 It has become very common place among, so called evangelicals, to diminish the sufficiency (and by so doing) the inerrancy of scripture by claiming they receive private guidance in the form of hearing God's voice through impression, circumstances, dreams, and a variety of experiences. Many of these folk are sincere, and truly believe they are following God. Some will even claim that to deny or disregard these experiences is to disobey God's Word and many clergy and Bible teachers support them. The previous seven post have addressed the fallacy and doctrinal errors of the Experiencing God Movement. Seeking guidance through experience, which we claim is the revealed Word of God to us, is contrary to the way God directs.

After Samuel anointed Saul as King of Israel he advised him on how to know God's direction for himself the and the kingdom.

[6] Then the Spirit of the LORD will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man. [7] Now when these signs meet you, do what your hand finds to do, for God is with you. (1 Samuel 10:6–7ESV)

Once he received the prophetic Word of God, he was to go forward and do what seemed best to him, no further attestation or confirmation was needed beyond what was prophesied. As we have seen in this series the prophetic or apostolic revelation is sufficient for our daily guidance.  

  So, what do we do when someone tell us "God has told them to do something," especially when their revelation somehow impacts us and our lives. Here's my approach. This requires sensitivity, since many evangelicals are being taught today that private revelations are normal and to be expected. They feel like when you question their experience you are questioning their relationship with God  I try to remain respectful but redirect them through a series of questions to an understanding of how God does speak. When someone say "God told me (or an equivalent phrase):

1.  I ask, "Tell me how God revealed that to you?" Usually, they are surprised that I would question. The assumption is that I will just accept "the cloud-in-sky" vision or that I will succumb to their "impression." They usually answer in one of three ways:

    a. "Well don't you believe God spoke to me?" (This question reveals their own uncertainty about their claim. What Biblical prophet ever answered this way?) My response is "God says in the Bible that he speaks through His Son in Scriptures" (Heb 1:1 &2; 1 Peter 1:10-12) The Bible requires us to test our experience (1 Corinthians 2:14-16; 1 Thessalonians 5:20: 1 John 4: 1-3) by the scripture. Notice this answer does not directly dispute their claim that God has spoken to them, but it requires them to be willing to put their revelation to a biblically proscribed test. If they are unwilling to test their experience by scripture, then you need to ask them whether they believe God's Word is true and can provide sufficient guidance for us today. If somehow, they claim that scripture is insufficient, then they do reveal a serious doctrinal error. 

 b. They tell me a convoluted story of how God revealed himself to them, which again they expect me to accept. I then respond with "how do you know this is God speaking to you?" They usually revert back to some form of the first answer; well don't you believe God spoke to me. I do not deny their claim but challenge them to be willing to test their claim in the manner scripture proscribes. If they are unwilling to do this, then I carefully suggest that it maybe they who are unwilling to respond to what God has said. 

c. Sometimes they will respond to you with some scripture that bears some similarity to what they claim. This is actually a good response, because it shows a willingness to search the scripture. This requires a careful examination of scripture and what it's appropriate application might be. This is a fair answer, and, in that case, I would not question the experience but seek to come to an understanding of what the scripture says about the issue they are considering. 

 2. What passage of scripture supports what you say God told you? 

    a. Often the answer to this question is a reference to a passage of scripture, that does not directly address the issue at hand, but seems to say that if we are following God, they will feel good about what they are doing. You often hear claim such as "God gave me a peace about it." This is circular reasoning. It is not testing their issue biblically. It is testing their resolute feeling with a scripture that seems to support how they feel.  Colossians 3:15 is most often cited in this way. [15] "And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful." (ESV) They will argue that this passage claims that God gives us emotional resolution when we are obedient to him. This peace is why they are confident of God's message. This cannot be the proper interpretation of this passage as it is clear that many obedient believers experience great tension, and stress at doing God's will. 

Jesus (Mt 26: 36- 46) and other characters of scripture (Jonah) were greatly emotionally disturbed by what God was calling them to do. Some even feared for their lives (1 Kings 18: 10-12). Remind them that you were not asking them to validate their experience, but rather to explain how their experiences compare to the principles and precepts revealed in the Word, because God doesn't contradict himself. For example, I have many times had a spouse tell me God had "told them to divorce their spouse" without biblical grounds, and they knew it was God speaking because they were unhappy in their marriage, their spouse didn't meet their expectation, or they were just no longer in love and he had given them peace. I then ask "do you believe God would lead you contrary to his Word? Are you willing to follow God's Word in this situation even if it is difficult for you emotionally?" This gets to the heart of the issue whether a person is seeking to "hear God's voice" to be obedient to him, or whether they are using their experience to justify their action and claim God's authority for it.  This put the person in the very dangerous position of using God's name for false attribution, which is by definition blasphemous. You can be assured God's revelation is not blasphemous. 

The Experiencing God crowd must understand that sometimes what they are doing is blasphemy rather than speaking God's voice. They must understand this for the sake of their own relationship with God. If the conversation is able to be continued amicably at this point, which sometimes it is not. I attempt to make the following points. 

1. God punished Miriam and Aaron for rejecting Moses' prophetic authority even though they were convinced The Holy Spirit had spoken to them (Num 12: 1- 9).  In other, words, a conviction that God has led us, no matter how strong, is not proof that we have heard God. It is possible to be sincerely wrong.  It is very important that we ground our decisions in God's revealed word, rather than seeking verification for our experience. 

2. We have no need to add any further information to what we have in God's Word in order to know what he wants us to do (Pr 30: 5& 6; 1 Cor 4:6 & 7; 2 Peter 1: 3 &4). If the person frequently make decision in this way, ask them whether it is possible to interpret their experience wrongly. If they say yes, but God give mercy, as them whether God's revelation can be wrong. Then ask them how they claim that their vision is from God if it can be false. Does the God the Old Testament, who gave clear accurate revelations to his prophets to people who were not filled with Spirit, now gives incomplete, partially valid reservation to people who have a completed canon and are Spirit filled? 

3. We validate our experience by the Word of God, not the Word of God by our experience (2 Pt 1: 16 - 22). In other words, the scripture is clear that God is at work in our lives and experience, but that our experience is not revelatory. 

How do we respond to people who think they hear from God. We agree that we too hear from God regularly through his Word.