I've rearranged a lot of things in my life as I've gotten older. Like an older Christian sister I know said to me a few years ago, "I'm getting older, Jesus' coming is getting closer, and people still don't know Him, so I just don't have anymore time for foolishness."
Now in my 40s, I can relate to how she feels. In college I remember while taking a Psychology course called, Human Lifespan Development, I remember reading that when a person reaches the middle aged years of life they become more impatient with the younger generation. I vowed to myself that I'd fight this and try to be patient with them. Believe me, it's hard to do as I on occasion scroll through the channels full of Jersey Shore, 16 & Pregnant, and Honey Boo Boo on my TV these days.
I recently heard an interview with Jim Bakker, who we all remember from the PTL scandal a few decades ago. While in prison he read the bible more often than he did ever before. He told the interviewer that he was alarmed at the things he had believed and taught people before. He realized that he had fallen into the trap of preaching a "prosperity gospel" to people instead of the real gospel. I greatly respect this man now as he has emerged from not one, but two prisons in his life. Of course the physical prison he lived in is the more obvious one, but Bakker also came out from the bondage of being a false teacher, and he will be far more wary of falling into this trap again.
When I watch Christian television these days I feel troubled in my spirit. I wondered if it were just me becoming more cynical and impatient with people at first. Then a friend of mine in ministry told me that he didn't think that was the case. He told me that there have been a few times that he had gotten the opportunity to speak on TBN, and he was always appalled at seeing the ways some of the "men of God" would become another person while off camera - speaking to his staff in a demeaning manner and just acting terrible to his wife. It is very evident that there is a facade in the Christian world, and people are being led around from one prophet to another, but have no solid theological foundation to stand upon themselves.
I've always loved the truth in this song...
We don't know how to be alone
So we wander 'round this desert
And wind up following the wrong gods home
But the flock cries out for another
And they keep answering that bell
And one more starry-eyed messiah
Meets a violent farewell-
Learn to be still
- The Eagles, from the song, Learn to be Still.To me this song describes the Christian world I see today, and it breaks my heart to see so many people deceived. I feel this way and I'm just another face in the crowd, but I then think, if this grieves my spirit, then how much more must it grieve the Holy Spirit?
I've learned a lot over the years in my walk with Christ, but I've also had to dust my theological broom from time to time as I've discovered things that were false. Some of the great "men of faith" that I used to follow, and hang upon their every word now seem so far away. I've turned many corners in my faith since then. I've turned over new stones and found more truth in the word of God. When I look back I do see where the things I used to believe were necessary for God to mold me. God wastes nothing.
I used to run along with the others when I'd hear about someone being prophetically gifted. I've heard many Christians hang everything they have on the words coming out of "the prophets" mouth. I can still hear people speaking it today...
"Hey, let's go up to brother ___'s church to hear this guy who is prophetically gifted. He spoke over me and knew everything about me."
I once went with a men's ministry group to such an event in North Carolina. The man walked around the room and when he passed by me, he said, "Sir, where is your wife?" I replied, "She is at home." He then said nothing else. I wondered for just a second how he knew this until I looked down and saw my wedding ring on my finger. Of course he should have known where my wife was if the Holy Spirit was revealing anything to him. This guy was simply building himself up in the room. Sometimes they take real chances too. I remember once hearing a "prophet" speaking at a Church and a baby started crying. The man looked at the baby and said, "Peace, be still." believe it or not the baby stopped crying. This guy may have actually been anointed. I'll have to admit, it did blow my mind a bit.
What I've eventually learned though as I've grown more in God's word is that this is the Old Testament approach to hearing God, and that people are still trying to apply it today.
Exodus 20:19 says,
Then they said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.”
Deuteronomy 4:33 says,
Did any people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live?In the Old Testament "hearing" God is connected to dying. If anyone except for the one that God had sanctified and designated as His prophet (in this case Moses), tried to hear God, then they would die. The people had to go through Moses as the third party at this time, for Jesus had not come yet to cleanse us of our sins. Sin, or a sinful vessel such as man, could not be in the presence of Holy God without being destroyed. Again, hearing God was connected to dying at this time, so God had implemented a means of communication through a third party - the prophet. Even the prophet of God had his limitations when it came to accessing God. When Moses wanted to see God face to face he was told he could not, but God protected him in a rock cleft, and allowed him to see His glory as He passed by.
In the New Testament we later learn that God had a better plan. This is where hearing God is connected to living, and not dying.
John 5:25 says,
Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.
1 Corinthians 14:31 says,
For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged.
Matthew 4:4 says,
But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.The New Testament Christians can hear God, and more than that, they are responsible for hearing God for their own life. Therefore, so are we. This means YOU, not a "prophet" is the one responsible for hearing God in your life. Are you listening to Him?
This doesn't dispel the Gift of Prophecy that in found in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, for there is the Gift of Prophecy given to some where they can proclaim what is on God's heart to communicate to the Church. I believe that a person with this gift can also be used by God to communicate something to an individual as well, but based on what we know from the above verses (and others) in the bible, we are primarily the prophet of our own life, and since God made a means of communication available for us through the death of His Son Jesus, this means in plain terms - God speaks to His children individually.
If I were to receive just 10 words from God in a years time, chances are who would they be directed toward? If you answered, "me" then you are right. Chances are then if I were to receive 100,000 words from God then most would also be for me, but maybe at some point - since I'm listening for Him - He would impart something to me for the Church, or for another brother or sister in Christ. Primarily though, since God has made communication more open to us today, He would speak to us about our own lives. His goal is to make us more like His Son Jesus, so wouldn't our own life take the top priority?
This is one reason today that I'm not too impressed when I hear that "the prophet is in town." I'm not being disrespectful to anyone who may be prophetically gifted, for they might actually be being used by God, but this is clearly people following after the Old Testament model, and i wish they understood that if they are a child of God, then they already have access to Him. God loves you and wants to speak into your life about His purpose for you. Will you listen for Him?
