Easter Devotional - Day 31
"Don't turn away God's Spirit or ignore prophecies. Put everything to the test. Accept what is good and don't have anything to do with evil." 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22
It is an easy thing to ignore the seemingly erratic voice of those claiming a word from God. All too often we hear the ravings of fancy with claims to be from God. Many are deluded by television personalities who reportedly speak on God's behalf, yet speak mainly to the filling of their bank accounts and increasing their view ratings. In the face of such excesses, it is simple to turn to the traditional moorings of our faith in order to discount any messages which counter or critique our received traditions. By following just such a pattern, the Jews on the First Century too readily ignored Jesus' gospel of grace through faith. As I saw on a church sign recently, "There is nothing so dark as a closed mind."
Even so, the opposite response is no more appealing. To so open our minds that we make no distinction between one claim and the next leaves us unmoored and subject to the dictates of the most recent flight of fancy. This may be the more common thread of response in some circles today, yet it ignores any basis of reality that would support one claim over another. While philosophically more alluring to many, it completely ignores the scientific method on which so much of our society is based outside the walls of religion and philosophy.
Paul did not want people to brush aside his words, but neither did he want his words accepted uncritically. As Luke writes in Acts regarding the Berean believers, they were nobler for hearing Paul's message and painstakingly checking it out against the witness of Scripture. This is the attitude Paul encouraged. It is one thing to run after those words we long to be from God, but quite another to take stock of our heritage, received tradition, and new exposure, evaluating all of it against the witness of Scripture.
Over my years of ministry, I have met a man claiming to be one of the prophets from the Revelation to John. I have heard others avow a word from God through dreams and visions. I have had the experience of a special dream that appeared revelatory. I have heard laity and clergy alike claiming God had spoken to them on one or another issue. Some I tended to believe, the word of others I could not accept. In all occasions, however, the operative concern was not, nor should have it been, a question of whether I liked what was said. At issue was testing such witness against God's revelation in Christ.
It is too easy to rely on the interpretation of others regarding the Bible or doctrines about God and God's will. It is too easy to find people ready to interpret for us and accept the burden of responsibility for the study of Scripture. As Baptists claimed over two centuries ago, however, there is none other to stand before God than the individual. We must therefore accept and assume the responsibility to examine what reports to be from God. We must assume the task of weighing the disparate voices and claims of Divine revelation. We are enjoined to test everything, not in an offhand manner, but with integrity. We are then to keep what is truly good. There is to be no margin for that which is evil. If we accept love as the greatest attribute of God in Christ, it will also help us define those things which are good, giving us reason to abandon all else.
Take the time to test and weigh truth claims against the revelation and love of Christ Jesus.
"Lord, make me more sensitive to what comes from you, that I might cling only to Christ."
—©Copyright 2009 Christopher B. Harbin
http://www.sermonsearch.com/contributors/104427/
My latest books can be found here on amazon
It is an easy thing to ignore the seemingly erratic voice of those claiming a word from God. All too often we hear the ravings of fancy with claims to be from God. Many are deluded by television personalities who reportedly speak on God's behalf, yet speak mainly to the filling of their bank accounts and increasing their view ratings. In the face of such excesses, it is simple to turn to the traditional moorings of our faith in order to discount any messages which counter or critique our received traditions. By following just such a pattern, the Jews on the First Century too readily ignored Jesus' gospel of grace through faith. As I saw on a church sign recently, "There is nothing so dark as a closed mind."
Even so, the opposite response is no more appealing. To so open our minds that we make no distinction between one claim and the next leaves us unmoored and subject to the dictates of the most recent flight of fancy. This may be the more common thread of response in some circles today, yet it ignores any basis of reality that would support one claim over another. While philosophically more alluring to many, it completely ignores the scientific method on which so much of our society is based outside the walls of religion and philosophy.
Paul did not want people to brush aside his words, but neither did he want his words accepted uncritically. As Luke writes in Acts regarding the Berean believers, they were nobler for hearing Paul's message and painstakingly checking it out against the witness of Scripture. This is the attitude Paul encouraged. It is one thing to run after those words we long to be from God, but quite another to take stock of our heritage, received tradition, and new exposure, evaluating all of it against the witness of Scripture.
Over my years of ministry, I have met a man claiming to be one of the prophets from the Revelation to John. I have heard others avow a word from God through dreams and visions. I have had the experience of a special dream that appeared revelatory. I have heard laity and clergy alike claiming God had spoken to them on one or another issue. Some I tended to believe, the word of others I could not accept. In all occasions, however, the operative concern was not, nor should have it been, a question of whether I liked what was said. At issue was testing such witness against God's revelation in Christ.
It is too easy to rely on the interpretation of others regarding the Bible or doctrines about God and God's will. It is too easy to find people ready to interpret for us and accept the burden of responsibility for the study of Scripture. As Baptists claimed over two centuries ago, however, there is none other to stand before God than the individual. We must therefore accept and assume the responsibility to examine what reports to be from God. We must assume the task of weighing the disparate voices and claims of Divine revelation. We are enjoined to test everything, not in an offhand manner, but with integrity. We are then to keep what is truly good. There is to be no margin for that which is evil. If we accept love as the greatest attribute of God in Christ, it will also help us define those things which are good, giving us reason to abandon all else.
Take the time to test and weigh truth claims against the revelation and love of Christ Jesus.
"Lord, make me more sensitive to what comes from you, that I might cling only to Christ."
—©Copyright 2009 Christopher B. Harbin
http://www.sermonsearch.com/contributors/104427/
My latest books can be found here on amazon
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