Because God Told Me...

I do not know of a more proverbial “spade card” to play in the realm of Christianity than to say “because God told me”. I will be posting two weeks on this subject and hope to pull some interesting perspective. I do not know the etymology of this particular phrase or how it evolved as it is used today, but my guess would be that it came about at the height of the charismatic movement or by some preacher who wanted to relocate his church (tongue in cheek of course).

Now, let me state that the Word of God is alive and relevant. I do not have to make it relevant, it is because the human heart never changes without a supernatural work of God and the Word of God speaks to the heart. But, being brought up in church I have noticed how flippantly we use the phrase, “God told me to…..” when in truth, some times what the individual claims God has told them is far from Scriptural.  I have heard everything from

“God has told me it’s okay for me to leave my family"
 “God has told me leave this church and go to ___________”

when at times the place God is “sending” them is not teaching the Word of God or even worse, has no concept of the gospel whatsoever. I have heard pastors tell their congregations that “God has told me we need to build this or relocate.”  The problem?  When I attribute or claim a command from God which is not clearly defined in Scripture, I set myself up as the authority. Then if you oppose what “God said,” guess whose side you are on?

Let me be clear:  there is no doubt that God speaks to us through His word, there is no doubt that when kept in context we can say with conviction that God’s Word spoke to us and we would be correct. There is also no doubt that the Holy Spirit works in our lives to lead us and prompt us in certain areas, but those “leadings and promptings” certainly must be seen through the lens of the Word of God. But, if I believe that “God told me to buy the new car” or “to tell the Preacher he should preach on this” or “to tell this girl she should date me” then I must conclude that each instance I hear of this is as authoritative as the Great Commission,  after all God supposedly would have commanded both.  I came across a blog by Dr. Bill Curtis and, he too is arguing against “God Told Me Theology” and wrote this:

Weak hermeneutics + flawed concept of biblical revelation = dangerous "God told me" theology

Today, everyone wants to “hear” from God, and almost daily there is a new claim of “special revelation.” I would submit, however, that there are few things more dangerous to the mission of the church than “God told me” theology. There are several potential dangers:

1. “God told me” theology rejects the theological position that the biblical canon is closed, with its claim that God has already told us everything we need for life and godliness in the Bible.

2. “God told me” theology embraces the reality that believers have access to “special revelation” from God that equals/trumps the revelation of scripture.

3. “God told me” theology places subjective, personal experience in a position of authority over the objective truth of scripture.

4. “God told me” theology minimizes the role of scripture in personal experience and the need for the faithful interpretation of scripture.

"God told me” theology cannot be repudiated on the basis of scripture, because “special revelation” places itself above scripture.

Again, there is so much God has told us in His Word that we can say for certain He has told us, we must conclude that much of the time people use the term “God told me” is when they want to do something and want you to keep quite about it. In conclusion we are fallible, I misunderstand my wife a lot of times, with my heart that is selfish for me to claim that God is giving me special revelation is not only reckless, it can lead to dangerous heresy. If you want to know what God says, it really pretty easy…open the Word of God and read it for yourself and as a believer know that the Holy Spirit is your teacher. I know this because God told me, but He also told you in His Word.

Are we willing to biblically shoot our children?

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of womb a reward. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are the children of one's youth.  Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!  He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.      Psalm 127:3 - 5


I preached a sermon entitled "How to Biblically Shoot Your Children" just after I got to Trinity.  In this sermon I talked about how we should aim our children to serve the Lord, where ever He chooses for them to land.  So many times we are more concerned with keeping our children safe and close, rather than seeing them as fellow believers who need to serve and minister where ever the Lord leads.  It is hard for us, as parents to conceive of letting them go to the furthermost parts of the world or even across the country!  But, isn't our goal for them to be obedient - not just to us but to the Lord? 

The blog below does a great job of reminding us to "shoot" our children in the right direction.  With this school year starting this week for most of our students, let's be sure that as parents we are not always trying to shelter them from difficulty, but rather we are walking with them through life and preparing them for whatever He has planned for them!  We can talk with them, coach them, cheer them, train them and teach them....but we cannot own them - they belong to their Father and He has better plans for them and can care for them more than we ever can.   

Let's Not Raise Good Little Kids 
by Ann Dunagan on the True Woman Website

As mission-minded parents, our goal is not to raise "our" kids to be happy and successful (so others are impressed by our parenting skills). Instead, we're called to raise "His kids" to be holy and submitted to God (so God gets all the glory!).

Let's not just raise "good little kids" who will merely sit still in church and do what they're told. Instead, let's raise dangerous men and daring daughters who will advance God's kingdom.
Let's be like that mighty warrior described in Psalms 127. Instead of holding our "arrows" so tightly (trying to keep our kids "safe" and "saved" by our own self-efforts), let's aim our kids into adulthood, into whatever spheres of society God calls them to, with momma-hearts of total surrender.

One of my favorite verses is Ephesians 2:10,

"We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."

Every one of our kids is designed by God with unique talents, strengths, weaknesses, personalities, desires, and spiritual gifts.

Our job as Christian parents is to diligently train our kids (Deut. 6:4–9) to walk in God's unique path. As "stewards" of our kids, God has entrusted us with the responsibility to train each one for God's specific life-calling. We are called to raise sons and daughters in childhood (Jer. 1:5), in youth (1 Tim. 4:12), and into adulthood to live for God's glory and His eternal purposes.

I just love Psalm 144:12,

"May our sons in their youth be like plants full grown, our daughters like corner pillars cut for the structure of a palace."

Let's raise our sons to be strong and mature–diligent, dependable, hard-working, spiritually-minded, able to lead and to serve.
Let's raise our daughters to be daring–beautiful pillars of stability in our family and home, in the church, and in the lives of those who need Jesus.
Let's train our kids to be mature (at every age, even in middle school and high school)—not led by fleshly or selfish desires, but led with a heart of radical obedience.

Sometimes, it's not easy. In our family, our guys have faced all kinds of dangers, from ministering in Rwandan genocide prisons, preaching in war-torn Sudan, surviving a life-threatening Antarctica storm, to climbing mountains and heading to war.

Our daughters have ministered to orphans in Uganda, India, Niger, and Cambodia; they have hearts for troubled inner-city teens and for those trapped in human trafficking.

Through it all, I've come to realize fear is not my friend. Worry is not the responsible momma-attitude for me to have. Instead, I choose to be a warrior (in prayer), not a worrier. By God's grace, I choose faith, not fear—to raise strong sons and daring daughters to help advance the kingdom of God. Daily, I choose to be a mission-minded mom . . . and oh, what a joy!

"I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth" (3 John 1:4).