Two recent encounters inspired me to look deeper into the issue of God’s personal (subjective) leading of his people. The first is my bright and God fearing daughter’s insistence that God does lead her by promptings, etc. The other was a bright young missionary/church planter in training at our church who shared with me that my class Decision Making and the Will of God helped him to move away from superstition, etc. but had put him on a trajectory that took him too far away from a personal “guiding” relationship with God (my words not his, … he was very gracious).
I was doing some research on gifts of the Spirit in Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology when I came across a section that exposed my errors in this area. Grudem thoroughly explained the gift of prophecy:
“… not as “predicting the future,” nor as “proclaiming a word from the Lord,” nor as “powerful preaching” –but rather as “telling something that God has spontaneously brought to mind.“1
Two things came to mind for me. First, I was not at all satisfied with that definition, and second, Wayne Grudem is a lot smarter about this stuff than I am. This latter truth is not enough to convince me, but is enough to prompt me to prayerful study and openness to correction.
Grudem then went on in his explanation of the gift of prophecy to explain from the Scriptures (section headings):
1. The New Testament Counterparts to Old Testament Prophets are New Testament Apostles.
2. The Meaning of the Word Prophet in the Time of the New Testament.
3. Indications That “Prophets” Did Not Speak WIth Authority Equal to the Words of Scripture.
4. How Should We Speak About the Authority of Prophecy Today?
5. A Spontaneous “Revelation” Made Prophecy Different From Other Gifts.
6. The Difference Between Prophecy and Teaching.
Followed by the section that helped me so much. I hope that it will help others on all sides of this issue as well.
7. Objection: This Makes Prophecy “Too Subjective”2
At this point some have objected that waiting for such “promptings” from God is “just too subjective” a process. But in response, it may be said that, for the health of the church, it is often the people who make this objection who need this subjective process most in their own Christian lives! This gift requires waiting on the Lord, listening for him, hearing his prompting in our hearts. For Christians who are completely evangelical, doctrinally sound, intellectual and “objective,” probably what is needed most is the strong balancing influence of a more vital “subjective” relationship with the Lord in everyday life. And these people are also those who have the least likelihood of being led into error, for they already place great emphasis on solid grounding in the Word of God.
Yet there is an opposite danger of excessive reliance on subjective impressions for guidance, and that must be clearly guarded against. People who continually seek subjective “messages” from God to guide their lives must be cautioned that subjective personal guidance is not a primary function of New Testament prophecy. They need to place much more emphasis on Scripture and seeking God’s sure wisdom written there.
Many charismatic writers would agree with the caution, as the following quotations indicate:
Michael Harper (Anglican charismatic pastor):
Prophecies which tell other people what they are to do–are to be regarded with great suspicion..18
Donald Gee (Assemblies of God):
Many of our errors where spiritual gifts are concerned arise when we want the extraordinary and exceptional to be made the frequent and habitual. Let all who develop excessive desire for “messages” through the gifts take warning from the wreckage of past generations as well as of contemporaries…. The Holy Scriptures are a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.19
Donald Bridge (British charismatic pastor):
The illuminist constantly finds that “God tells him” to do things… Illuminists are often very sincere, very dedicated, and possessed of a commitment to obey God that shames more cautious Christians. Nevertheless they are treading a dangerous path. Their ancestors have trodden it before, and always with disastrous results in the long run. Inner feelings and special promptings are by their very nature subjective. The Bible provides our objective guide.20
Grudem’s Footnotes:
18Prophecy: A Gift for the Body of Christ (Plainfield, N. J.: Logos, 1964), p. 26.
19Spiritual Gifts in the Work of Ministry Today (Springfield, Mo.: Gospel Publishing House, 1963), p. 51-52.
20Signs and Wonders Today (Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 1985), p. 183.
Though I had begun to understand the importance of the sanctification of our thought life, I had failed to understand the importance of speaking those sanctified thoughts to one another. God does indeed bring thoughts to our minds, particularly as we are transformed by the renewing of our minds to think his thoughts, be passionate about what He is passionate about, love what He loves, hate what He hates, … I still believe that the thought that comes into the Christian’s mind is his or her own and must be brought to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor 10:5), but also that those discerned (also a gift and all of this is corporate within the Body of Christ) to be true and edifying should be celebrated as from our loving and personal God.
1Systematic Theology An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine, Wayne Grudem, Zondervan, 1994, p. 1049.
2Ibid. pp. 1058-1059.
