Who Speaks For God?

Did you ever wonder how some people speak like God tells them what to do in almost every situation; while you struggle to understand His voice and His will? As a pastor, I have heard far too many times, “God is telling me that I need to _____” (fill in the blank with some ridiculous statement that you KNOW is just what THEY want and not really what God wants).

I call this “pulling the God-card.” When people pull the “God-card” it is meant to trump anything that anyone (especially the pastor) might say to them to give advice in opposition. After all, who can speak against God? I have heard of individuals who so believed that everything they did was a result of a direct pipeline from heaven that they could no longer be spoken to about their attitude, the needs of the congregation, the wisdom and leading of the Sr. Pastor, or if what they did was actually in truth of God.

What is the real problem behind letting every whim of your heart have God’s divine stamp of approval? Is it not essentially the same when prophets speak out in the church? Don’t they merely follow the promptings of their heart and add, “Thus says the Lord?” Indeed the greatest problem from those who say that God tells them to _____; comes from those who speak for God in the church. Out of order, they use their “gift” to trump what the pastor says, what the person who has irked them has done, or to get others to do their bidding-whatever it may be.

What is at the heart of the problem? I would say it is that these people have grown too familiar with God. We teach and sing so much, “I am a friend of God,” and that we have bold access to the throne of grace, that we are no longer afraid to touch the ark of God to give Him a “helping hand.”

This is polar opposite of Isaiah’s reaction when he entered God’s presence. “Yo, yo. G-man waaaaasssup?” didn’t dare be uttered in the presence of the Holy King (who by the way was Jesus according to John 12:41). No, the more common reaction of those who were God’s prophets was that of fear (e.g., Moses, Daniel, Ezekiel, Habakkuk, John, etc.).

There should be a fear of attaching God’s name falsely to our own plans. In the Old Testament, false prophets were to be killed and God spoke very harshly when His people allowed them to speak without rebuke. Here are some examples: The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way (Jer 5:31). Then the Lord said to me, "The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries and the delusions of their own minds (Jer 14:14). This is what the Lord Almighty says: "Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord (Jer 23:16).

Jesus, our friend, tells us that men will be judged for every careless word spoken (Mt 12:36), and that there will be some who prophesied in His name, to whom He will say, “Depart from me, I never knew you (Mt 7:22-23).” My advice as a pastor and one who has heard God speak; don’t be so quick to say, “God told me…,” without fear of what our Holy God would actually say to you in response.