If you start a sentence with “Jesus told me ...,” chances are I am not going to believe the rest of what you say. I’m just being honest. I have heard way too many “Jesus said...” statements that have led to people doing stupid things and I have heard way too many of those statements without convincing evidence or argument that Jesus really said anything at all. I don’t believe that Jesus told you who to date or who to marry. I don’t believe Jesus told you to stop watching television. I don’t believe Jesus told you not to shop at a certain store. I don’t believe Jesus told you to take a different route home to avoid an accident. I don’t believe Jesus told you to buy a house. I don’t believe Jesus told you to get a tattoo. I don’t believe Jesus told you to leave this church for that church. I don’t believe Jesus told you what to say or when to say it or who to say it too. I don’t believe Jesus said most of the things that Christians say Jesus said.
Go ahead and throw your stones and call me a heretic if you want, but I don’t think you will convince me to change my mind. There are still plenty of things that I believe Jesus did say.
- I believe Jesus said to love God with all our heart, with all our soul and with all our mind
- I believe Jesus said to love our neighbor as ourself
- I believe Jesus said to love our enemies
- I believe Jesus said to fast without telling others about our fast
- I believe Jesus said to pray in a closest so that others don’t know we are praying
- I believe Jesus said to give our money without anyone knowing that we are giving
- I believe Jesus said that we will be persecuted
- I believe Jesus said that the poor are blessed
- I believe Jesus said that those who morn are blessed
- I believe Jesus said that the meek are blessed
- I believe Jesus said that those that hunger and thirst for righteousness are blessed
- I believe Jesus said to care for the poor
- I believe Jesus said to give more than what is asked of us
- I believe Jesus said to make disciples
- I believe Jesus said to remember his death and resurrection
- I believe Jesus said not to worry
- I believe Jesus said to forgive
- I believe Jesus said there will be a day of judgement when some people will be surprised that they are not going to heaven
I believe Jesus said each of those things because they are actually written in the scriptures that he said those things. If I believe the Bible to be fully true, then there can be no doubt about those statements. There is no argument against any of those things that I believe Jesus said.
But you can’t show me anywhere that Jesus ever promised that he will tell us what to do beyond what is already revealed in the Bible. If you can, show me that promise. But don’t use Jesus talking to Paul as an example of Jesus talking to people and try to rationalize that into the norm. That was no more normal than Moses parting the Red Sea and the conversation was a little more impressive than deciding on a tattoo design. In fact show me in the Bible where God promises to reveal His individual will for us on a daily or weekly basis... or ever. Show me where we are promised to have God speak to us to tell us what to do in the mundane things in life. As wonderful and as spiritual as that sounds, it isn’t there, at least not if you treat scripture with integrity. If we simply point to “heroes” of the Bible as examples of God giving direction, I would ask if those instances look like the norm or were those men and women of faith specially chosen for a special purpose? Do you put yourself and your daily choices in the same plane as those spoken of in scripture?
Here is my problem with “Jesus said” statements - they often have a subtle (or sometimes not so subtle) smell of spiritual arrogance without having scriptural support. Complicating the problem further, leaders encourage the unbiblical practice by modeling the behavior, so that spiritually immature believers mimic their behavior before they ever have any rudimentary grasp of what the Bible teaches about God’s will and God’s leading in our lives. And, hey, it is a lot easier just to put “Jesus said” in front of my statements than it is to read and study hundreds of pages of stuff I really don’t want to read anyway. Its kind of cool, because I can stay ignorant, but still sound spiritual.
So, if I attach “Jesus said” to the beginning of what I say, I essentially accomplish three things:
- I eliminate arguments, because you would look silly arguing with Jesus.
- I justify my decision without ever needing to actually justify my decision.
- I make myself look more spiritually mature than I probably am.
Let’s see... isn’t that what the Pharisees tried to do. They put down arguments and resistance to their laws by claiming they had the voice of God on their side. And, of course, their spiritual maturity was unquestioned, because of all the religious things they did.
The problem with us is that we do the same thing with our “Christian” butchery of language. We use “Christian” phrases to make what we say sound like it has more authority than it really does and in so doing we proclaim our spiritual superiority by claiming direct communication with Jesus. That is heady stuff, but it also has the odor Pharisee.
I don’t believe Jesus is going to tell you to stop watching television. I believe you might be convicted that it is a good thing to do, either because of the money you spend or the time you waste or the temptation it presents, but I believe it is a conviction, not an oracle from God. As we grow and learn and mature in our faith, I believe there are things that we choose to do - good things, for good reasons and right motives. The actions are probably positive, but most likely they are actions born out of beliefs and convictions, through the maturing of our faith, not divine revelation. We learn, we grow, we change, we mature. We use scripture to guide us and the Spirit to prompt us and give us understanding. But we should be careful about turning our convictions into a voice from God. We should encourage young believers to study scripture to learn what Jesus has truly said rather than teach them to translate feelings and emotions and circumstances into “Jesus said” statements. After-all, if we actually did all the things that Jesus has already commanded ALL of us to do, I doubt there would be any need for Jesus to tell us anything else.
How would you differentiate between "Jesus said" and "the Holy Spirit prompted"? I imagine I'll agree with you, but we do know that the Holy Spirit was promised to us to teach, to convict, to guide. In John 16, Jesus said "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you." I think it's important to remember that Jesus is talking to a group of disciples here, not just reaching out to the lone individual in the 21st century who might do exactly what you are frustrated by, but it seems that the part of the Holy Spirit's role is to disclose to us so we can follow Jesus better.
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