Why do we prefer to listen to a man of God over listening directly to God? We do we always want to have a mediator?
In Exodus (20:19), Moses had been up on the mountain, hanging out with God, and the people of Israel had a request (demand) to make of him. They said, "Speak to us yourself and we will listen, but let not God speak to us or we will die."
Why is it that every Sunday, millions of pulpits are filled with one person speaking to hundreds? What is it about personal testimonies that we enjoy, but about God's voice that we do not seek it out? How many people have stacks of tapes of sermons and books, but have never sought to hear straight from God?
Here's what I think: We can reject the voice of a man if we want. I can say, that was a nice talk, but I don't think it applied to me. Or I can ignore it altogether. Or I can think about it, church is a place for intellectuals right? We cannot say no to the voice of God. And we may fear what will come out of that voice, so in all honesty, we'd rather not hear it.
Maybe post-modernism was born out of the church... "that is simply your idea, your truth, fine for you."
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4 comments:
Very thought provoking. I think we should seek out God's voice in any way we can. Sometimes He speaks to us through a sermon. The key words are "seek out". A lot of times I have a hard time during our service. The times that I hear God's voice, I sought hard to hear Him. Unfortunatly, I don't do it often enough. And not everybody realizes that's the key to worship. God doesn't want bumps on a log. He wants a relationship. He wants our all. Oh, how I fail Him. How humble it makes me feel to know that He loves me anyway.
I asked myself the same question a few months ago and, believe it or not, came up with the same conclusion! While I absolutely think there's a requirement for good teaching (see the epistles' references to teachers) and a valid place for books, etc., I agree that it has become too easy in this age of "that's just your opinion" to discount things we don't like to hear as long as it's coming from some person instead of straight from God's Word
I am glad that God has sent missionaries, like you two, to Africa to be his ambassadors (God making his appeal through you--2 Cor.5:20).
Scripture is breathed out by God (2 Tim.3:16 ESV). So if you speak from the Scriptures with accuracy, the listeners are bound to obey--just as if they felt God's very breath hit their faces as God himself spoke the words to them. They may use an excuse to not obey God's ambassador, but it will be a poor excuse. For the ambassador of God has authority from God.
Thanks guys, great thoughts and we appreciate the input and kind words as we all press on!
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