CHRIST-APP by philtierneyblog

Conflicting Voices

Is everything a person chooses to hear with spiritual receptivity inspired by God or a revelation from God? Of course not. Once again, it’s necessary to exercise discernment. An essential element of Christian spirituality is to differentiate between God’s voice, our own and others people’s voices.

Virtually everyone is aware that there are all sorts of “voices” in our minds. Some are self-talk. They may be echoes from our parents, our cultures, things people have said to us, online influencers, our readings, entertainment, ads, temptations, guilt, shame, fears, religious leaders, dogma. There are all sorts of messages, all kinds of voices in our minds.

Most of them are not God’s voice. We need to be able to distinguish them, one from another. Differentiating the other voices in our minds from God’s involves testing them against Jesus’s voice.

Distinguishing between God’s “voice” and the rest depends on using certain spiritual tools. Those tools include Jesus’s teachings and example, the guidance of God’s Spirit, honesty with ourselves and God, and familiarity with Sacred Scripture as a whole. I add the latter with a caveat. It has been said that you can find anything you want in the Bible. Whatever goes against the general sense of the Bible is not God’s voice.

“Christian Voices” in America

There are an extraordinary number of “voices” that proclaim all sorts of different messages in America, these days. There are so many voices that communicate so many conflicting messages through so many different mediums that it can be very confusing. People are challenged more than ever about what to believe.

That includes messages or voices from influencers that claim to be Christian. They call themselves by other names – apostles, prophets, bishops, pastors, preachers, TV evangelists, and spokespersons for “Christian organizations.” In essence, they are generic influencers, who identify themselves as Christian.

Many American Christian influencers are not speaking on behalf of God, though they passionately claim to be. Christian influencers, who claim to speak for God but do not, are what the Bible calls false prophets. There have been false prophets for thousands of years.

What is a “prophet,” according to the Bible? The word for prophet was προφήτης in Greek (prophatas). In Hebrew, it was נָבִ֣יא (nabi). In both languages it was a title reserved for someone who spoke for God. A prophet was called by God, inspired by God and had messages to declare from God. There were two sides to prophecy. One was speaking out what God had to say and explaining the meaning of the messages. The other involved foretelling what God would do. Prophecy in the Bible involved forthtelling and foretelling.

There were other words that described something else. In Hebrew the word was הַנֶּחֱלָמִ֖י (nechelami).  In Greek it was ψευδοπροφητῶν (pseudoprophaton). Both words had the same meaning – false prophet or false prophecy. Those terms referred to people who spoke or taught falsehoods in God’s name.

In the Hebrew Scriptures true prophets were called by God to that role. Like Moses, most were reticent to accept that role, at first. They were sent with particular messages to the Hebrew people, either in Judah or Israel. They often conveyed the messages they communicated to leaders of their times.

These days, the closest thing we ordinarily have to prophets are preachers, who carefully explain passages in the Bible to the congregations in their charge. Their role is to declare the good news that Jesus brought to the world. It is also to guide followers of Jesus by explaining what biblical passages and stories mean for living in the world today.

False prophets are those who use God and/or the Bible to mislead people. They claim to speak for God, for Jesus, on God’s behalf or in Jesus’s name, but they speak for themselves. They use religious words. They use the Bible. They make claims of inspiration by the Holy Spirit. But they either seek to profit themselves or some other idol or cause, instead. That profit may come in the form of influence, material wealth or power.  

Other ‘idols’ they may seek to serve for their own profit. An idol is someone or something that one operationally holds in as high regard or higher regard than God. It may be people, places, things, causes or allegiances they so highly value that it competes with God.  Sometimes those idols may be so unreservedly valued that they become merged with God and with God’s will. That, in turn, compels the false prophet to so over-identify the idol with God as to be unable to distinguish between the two.

Serving the idol or cause can become synonymous with serving God. In the process, false prophets speak in the name of God to promote another cause or the idol, including their own profit. False prophets claim that God declares the cause or idol is God’s will or highest goal. False prophets take Bible verses out of context. They twist the meaning of those biblical verses or doctrines to serve their idol, their cause or themselves. They induce others to make that idol or cause the mission that God wants them to accomplish more than what’s set forth in Scripture.

False Prophets and the New Testament

Let me remind you again about what Jesus and the Apostles said about false prophets.

What Jesus said as recounted in Mark’s Gospel bears repeating. “At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time.”  (Mark 13: 20- 23)

Jesus warned that there would be false prophets. He said that they would perform signs to try to deceive people, even strong believers, that they are speaking for God. He said that some of them would encourage people to follow false messiahs. Jesus told His followers to guard against them.

Nowadays, there are just such false prophets in America. They claim to perform signs and wonders. They claim to have dreamed dreams and to have heard words from God. They deceive believers and encourage them to follow a false messiah. And they use their claims to persuade others to follow suit.

Read what Matthew recounts: “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and, in your name, perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” (Matthew 7: 15-23)

Jesus likened false prophets to predators (wolves) pretending to be their prey (in sheep’s clothing). His analogy implied that false prophets want to satisfy themselves or meet their own needs by pretending to be prophets of God. Jesus warned His followers to watch out for them. And He explained how to recognize false prophets.

Jesus told us how to recognize false prophets. They may call Jesus their Lord. They may prophesy in the name of Jesus. They may perform miracles and exorcise demons in Jesus’s name. Nevertheless, the ultimate fruit of their false prophecies is negative. Pay attention to the fruit. Do their messages drive people away from Jesus? Do they turn people against each other? Do they create other agendas to compete with Jesus’s mission of forgiveness and love? Is the fruit of their ministries the opposite of the fruit of the Spirit — love, joy, peace, kindness, gentleness, patience, self-control? Do they seek to serve or to rule?

There are false prophets in America, who claim the loudest that what they say and do is in Jesus’s name. They claim to prophesy for God. They fruit of their words and deeds disaffects people from Jesus. The fruit of their words and actions are hatred, fear, hostility, divisiveness, aggression, impatience, intolerance, impulsiveness and self-gratification. They urge their followers to rule, to take dominion, rather than serve.

See what the Apostle Peter wrote. “There were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories.” (2 Peter 2: 1–3)

According to Peter, false prophets and teachers fabricate stories to serve their own greed. In the process, they bring faith in Jesus into disrepute. They introduce false doctrines.

There are false prophets and teachers in America, right now. They introduce false teaching and make terrible accusations. They fabricate stories to lure people so that even believers embrace Q-Anon myths. Jesus is held up to scorn by their use of His name.

Read what the Apostle John wrote. “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”  (1 John 4:1)

St. John attests that many false prophets may exist at the same time. They ply their trade in false prophecies throughout the world. Brothers and Sisters, you must watch out for them and reject their falsehoods and fabrications.