Both men (Peter and Greg) were describing their change of direction in ministry, and how they had been guided. See if you can spot the difference:
God gave me over fifty personal prophecies that made it clear I would be going there, mostly from men who knew nothing about what was afoot… the Lord had told me that this was ‘For the sake of my wider kingdom purposes in London and beyond.’… I remain officially outside of that movement [New Frontiers], in line with all God told me to do five years ago.
And now Peter Williams:
That job came to an end and I felt compelled to stay in Europe, yet the only job I could find was a temporary post in NT at the University of Aberdeen… I had four wonderful years teaching NT alongside great colleagues in Aberdeen and becoming a Senior Lecturer before sensing that I should apply for the position of Warden of Tyndale House. I would have been perfectly happy to stay in Aberdeen, but I took the offer of the post as guidance that I should accept.
Can you spot the difference? The words that both men use to describe what is essentially the same experience, are poles apart. The words used by Greg would grate severely on most non-charismatics, particularly unqualified phrases such as “the Lord told me” and “God told me”. This is really no different at all from saying “Thus said the Lord”, which (we are told) died out amongst reformed charismatics a generation ago.
Why can’t charismatics be more circumspect in their language? Why not say simply “I felt God was calling me”?
Wayne Grudem has said in his Systematic Theology
prophecies in the church today should be considered merely human words, not God’s words, and not equal to God’s words in authority… If someone really does think God is bringing something to mind which should be reported in the congregation, there is nothing wrong with saying, “I think the Lord is putting on my mind that…” or “It seems to me that the Lord is showing us…” or some similar expression. Of course that does not sound as “forceful” as “Thus says the Lord,” but if the message is really from God, the Holy Spirit will cause it to speak with great power to the hearts of those who need to hear.
Now Grudem is talking about congregational prophecies, whereas Haslam is talking about personal prophecies. Is there a difference? Are we justified is saying “The Lord told me” but not justified in saying “The Lord is telling us“.
Please, can the charismatics explain?
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I’ll bite… It is true that many charismatics do not properly appreciate the difference between “God said” and “I think God said”, and are prone to interpret their own feelings as the Spirit’s prompting without proper critical reflection. I would say though that there is a similar dynamic even amongst non-charismatics when it comes to biblical interpretation. “The Bible says…” and “I interpret this passage to mean…” are not always differentiated.
In short, we need to continue to teach people the importance of discerning and distinguishing between the human and the divine.
Well bear in mind that initially the Chapel were not keen on Haslam at all, and that these prophecies are being described after the event. 50 prophecies later, AND the circumstance of being offered the job and accepting it means that surely it is ok for him to look back and say “God told me I was going to preach at the chapel”
As an interesting aside I was one of those. I was sitting at the chapel at a meeting being addressed by R.T.Kendall. He announced his forthcoming retirement and his desire to find a suitable replacement before he goes. I happened to be sitting next to Greg or his wife (I cant remember which) and immediately turned and said “I really feel that might be for you” a really odd thing to say and something I wouldnt have said without a ‘prophetic impulse’, anyway oddly the person sitting next to the other Haslem at the same moment turned to them and said the same thing! I was also aware of someone who went to the trouble of printing out a photograph of the inside of an American chapel and giving it to Greg. He said, I don’t know why but I feel this picture has something to do with your future. Totally unbeknown to this guy, the photo was so close to what Westminster Chapel looked like inside, it could easily have been the chapel itself! Those were just two of the examples I am aware of…
I suppose it’s like what Tim Keller said at EMA - the non-charismatic should probably talk more about hearing God, and the charismatic should talk a bit more about having a hunch, or something like that… we all have things to learn about how to talk about guidance methinks.
I’m more disturbed by the Mark Virkler school of thought that makes it normal to hear God away from the Bible.
I have responded to your post on my blog, noting that we are all subjective to some degree and the charismatic tendency is to attribute these things to God, whereas others attribute the same thoughts to themselves. Please read my response and let me know what you think.
http://earnestlydesire.blogspot.com
“Is it Okay to say, “God told me”?”
Thanks for your response, Mark. I did reply, and wanted to clarify that my remarks were really limited exclusively to those subjective impressions inside of us, not the providential circumstances outside of us. I’d appreciate any thoughts you have.
WEll,none of you sound like you believe God can sound as if he is rieght there in the same room talking to you. We are moving across the USA because I did hear a voice clear as a bell to move to ______where we could get beter hel for M—. He has Alzheimer’s and I have prayed much aboout what to do to help him….I was told to move. I doubted until I went online and behold there is help form every walk of life: doctors, clinics , social groups, and of course the church. We are moving because I would rather say thank you than end up in Hell for disobeying. One day in eternity I will learn wheither I am right or wrong. For now, I choose to believe I am right in saying I have been told to move to obtain better help withM—.