God spoke to me at the Toronto Airport Vineyard.
I write those words with some trepidation since I have wrestled to hear God’s voice over the years. Nevertheless, that moment in Toronto is a time I will never forget. I was 19 and wanted to experience the power of the Holy Spirit in my life. It was the mid ‘90’s and the “holy laughter” of the Toronto Blessing was making headlines, not just in the church press. (Check out the Wikipedia page on the Toronto Blessing!) Toronto wasn’t too far from central Ohio so I hopped in the car with a friend, and we headed to Canada for the weekend.
I remember walking into the service with expectation. I wanted to laugh, cry, feel something, feel anything. The band was playing, and I joined in with the worship. At that moment I felt like the Lord said to me, “Matt, what are you doing here?” I tried to explain to him that I wanted to experience him and his presence in new and fresh ways. But all I kept hearing was, “What are you doing here?” The epiphany that I received at Toronto was not a special time of laughter in God’s presence. It was a deep-seated realization that God could touch me wherever I may be. I did not have to go to Toronto to be blessed!
...the reason prophecy is given is not primarily to tell people about what is going to happen.
But how does God speak to us? I said that God spoke to me, but in saying that, I realize that I am treading on controversial territory. On the one side, we have the John MacArthurs of the church who call us to be wary of our Charismatic impulses. Cessationists like MacArthur emphasize the idea that God has spoken to us through Scripture, and we should not be expecting further revelation.
On the other side, we have the Pentecostal camp who long for new and fresh words from the Holy Spirit. I’ll admit, if pushed to pick a side, I come down on the Pentecostal end of things, but I’ve also wrestled with this notion of hearing God’s voice. He may have spoken through the prophets, but how does he speak to us today?
I believe that part of the answer lies in why God spoke to the prophets. We tend to think about prophecy as future oriented knowledge. In Amos 3:7 we are told that, “Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.” But it is in the previous chapter we see why God is revealing his plans. In this case, his plans involved judgment:
For three sins of Israel, even for four, I will not relent. They sell the innocent for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals. They trample on the heads of the poor as on the dust of the ground and deny justice to the oppressed (Amos 2:6b-7a NIV).
Yes, the Lord reveals his plans to the prophets, but the reason prophecy is given is not primarily to tell people about what is going to happen. If that were the case, prophecy would be nothing more than a sanctified tarot card reading. “If only I knew which horse to bet on in tomorrow’s race, then I could really make money!”
No, the purpose of this prophecy of Amos is to tell Israel what is, and what their response to that reality needs to be.
This idea rings true as I look at the church today. No matter where we come out on the Cessationist-Pentecostal spectrum, we need to remember that the prophet’s call is focused on how we live in the present. In the context of telling us what needs to be, we do get hints as to what will be, but it would be wrong for us to get hung up on the “what is to come.” The only reason we are being told “what is to come” is so that it will affect our inclinations, our habits, our rituals, our deeds, our works, our attitudes.
Prophecy should affect the way that we live now as Kingdom citizens. As we seek to hear God’s voice, let us not forget why he so often spoke to the prophets, and why he so often speaks to us. I had to go to Toronto to realize that God could speak to me anywhere, but since then it has been a lifetime of listening carefully to discern how I should then live. In the here. In the now.
5 Responses
Matt, thanks for your commentary. I, like you, lean a little more toward the Pentecostal side, but also wrestle with what it’s like to hear God speak to me. I suppose we will continue to grow in learning about this throughout the whole of our lives. Looking forward to the Day when we shall know as we are known!!!
Thank you for this fresh (a bit correctional) and rich insight. We need moorings like this from our leaders and I thank you for your courage.
Thanks Adelle! It wasn’t meant to be correctional but it’s something that has been on my heart of late. Blessings to you.
Thanks for your article and the thoughts in evaluating these two possibilities in regards to spiritual prophets, present and past. I could relate very well in light of the fact that I have spent much of my 50 year Spiritual journey with one foot in each camp at various times and places including the Toronto scene. Bob
Thanks for your kind reflection, Bob. I’d love to hear more reflections on your 50 year Spiritual journey. “Journey” is a good word for it in my experience! –Matt