What You Talkin’ Bout God?

I believe that God still speaks to His people, but sometimes I want to scream, “God! Get your message straight. You are confused.” On a regular basis, I hear the men and women of God explaining how they have “heard from God” or how they have discerned God’s will. I get emails from angry conservatives outlining how “homosexuals” are going to burn in hell and are going to bring about the wrath of God upon the nation. I read stories from members of the LGBTQ community and their supporters proclaiming how God has blessed them and is using them to build God’s Kingdom. So called modern prophets are blogging about the sins of their former denomination while outlining grandiose visions supposedly supplied by God. So to whom is God really speaking?

In 1 Kings 13, there is a story about two “prophets” that heard from God that reminds me of routine chatter I often hear from well-meaning Christians. “Then he said to the man of God, ‘Come home with me and eat some food.’ ‘No, I cannot,’ he replied. ‘I am not allowed to eat or drink anything here in this place. For the Lord gave me this command: ‘You must not eat or drink anything while you are there, and do not return to Judah by the same way you came.’ But the old prophet answered, ‘I am a prophet, too, just as you are. And an angel gave me this command from the Lord: ‘Bring him home with you so he can have something to eat and drink.’ But the old man was lying to him. So they went back together, and the man of God ate and drank at the prophet’s home.” 1 Kings 13:15-19.

Well meaning, Godly leaders are pulling the body in many different directions. If we are not careful instead of walking into the blessings of God we could be walking into a lion’s den of destruction.

If you read the rest of the story, you know that the man of God died because he was foolish enough to listen to the conflicting instructions from the old prophet. Today many of us in the church are at risk because we are listening to the wrong voices. Well meaning, Godly leaders are pulling the body in many different directions. If we are not careful instead of walking into the blessings of God, we could be walking into a lion’s den of destruction. Unfortunately, many Christians are satisfied being sheep and as the old saying goes, “Sheep get slaughtered.”Instead of seeking to hear and understand the voice of God for ourselves we depend on social media, NPR, and our grandparent’s tradition to determine how we are going to live out our faith.

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