In this next section, it will be of the upmost importance to thoughtfully interact with what others are teaching or have taught concerning the biblical doctrine of guidance. As this paper interacts with these sources, it is helpful to divide them up into two categories. According Dr. Stuart Scott in his dissertation entitled A Study of Decision Making God’s Way, Scott divides this literature into three categories: Intrinsic, Extrinsic, and Eclectic literature. However, due to constraints, this paper will only look at the Intrinsic and Extrinsic literature.
Concerning the will of God, Intrinsic literature views God’s will as being found not only in Scripture, but by other subjective means such as feelings, dreams, visions, or prophetic voices.Extrinsic literature views God’s will as objectively being His revealed will given to His children in the written form of the Scriptures.
Intrinsic Literature
In the book, Discovering God’s Will For Your Life by Ray Pritchard, Pritchard gives numerous examples of subjectively determining the will of God. Pritchard’s book is a revision of his previous work The Road Best Traveled and he gives an example of his subjective interpretation of God’s will. He describes how God’s leading comes,
...through the advice of good Christian friends. Sometimes through prayer. Sometimes by listening to a sermon. Sometimes by an inner conviction that God has spoken to us. Sometimes by a deep sense of inner peace. Sometimes God will guide us through a particular passage of Scripture. Sometimes all of the circumstances of life clearly point in one direction. Sometimes he “speaks” to us. Sometimes he guides us by his silence. Very often it is a combination of all of these things put together.
The ground on which Pritchard is standing is proverbially “shaky.” Throughout his book, he never gives any definitive evidence of what God “speaking” truly looks like in the Christian life. He gives special examples about how the Lord has “moved” and “led” in his life, but they are subjective and are open to interpretation.
However, there is no way to determine or even objectively study what it means to be “moved” by the Lord. Even Pritchard is inconsistent in his own view when he recollects driving down an old country road. He said that he “heard a voice say,” and then, as if it were nothing, mentions “...(well, it seemed like I heard a voice - maybe it was just my mind talking to me, trying to get my attention).” So what does it mean to “feel led” or to “feel God speaking” to you? Is it possible to hear from God? Can God speak to us outside of the Scriptures in dreams or visions? According to Pritchard, the answer is yes.
In Richard and Henry Blackaby’s book, Hearing God’s Voice, the “voice” of God can still be heard. Instead of God giving His people a new revelation concerning himself, He speaks to give application of His word to the specific circumstances of life. The only way to hear God clearly is to seek God’s heart. God’s purpose of speaking to his children is to reveal His character, purposes, and ways. With these three purposes in mind, the Blackabys give biblical examples from the Old and New Testaments attempting to prove that God not only related to His people in the past, but also still guides and speaks to his people today.
Concerning one’s experience, the Blackabys remind their readers that to say “I’ve never heard God speak specifically to me that way” does not negate the fact that God does speak that way.They also mention that our “experience cannot be the measure by which we understand Scripture. Scripture must be the standard by which we evaluate our experience.” This should really concern the reader at this point. Do the Blackabys not use their experience as the measure by which they understand the Scriptures? The answer would be a resounding yes! As you read their book, the Blackabys misinterpret biblical examples and the Scriptures in order to make their point. What they council their readers to not do, is in fact the very same thing that they are doing in order to discern the voice of God. As a matter of fact, their examples are actually an argument from silence. This means that their biblical examples neither prove nor disprove the correct way to discern the voice of God.
How about one’s call to the ministry or vocation? What does intrinsic literature say about one’s own calling? In Criswell’s Guidebook for Pastors, Criswell mentions that the pastorate is not so much a profession as it is a calling. According to the book The New Guidebook for Pastors, James W. Bryant and Mac Brunson view the call to preach as the most singularly unique appointment in life. The call is an indescribable joy and burden that is described as the touch of His hand on a person’s life. Bryant and Brunson’s advice is that if you are in the ministry and do not have a clear, unquestionable sense of God’s call, then “leave the ministry immediately.”
Bryant and Brunson also mention that there may come a time for people to answer the call of God as a means of “catch-up.” Bryant and Brunson encourage their readers that if “...God called you earlier in life to be a preacher and you did not answer, volunteer like Isaiah and see if God still wants you. He probably does.” Again, this is shocking. These authors tiptoe on the line that a person can be out of the decretive will of God. Echoing this same theme, the Blackabys describe that some of the most miserable people are those that have spent their lifetime rejecting the call of God. Is this how we are to view our calling? Can God call and His children not answer? The author of this paper believes that Bryant, Brunson, and the Blackabys are incorrect in their interpretation of God’s calling. If we are to have a right view of God’s sovereignty, then no one can be out of God’s will.
An interesting fact that seems to be inherent to these authors is that God’s “voice” and “call” are open to interpretation as well as being wed to experience and circumstances. There is never a clearly defined “voice” or “call.” Since there is no definitive evidence of what this “voice” sounds like or how it can be measured, it is best to learn the will of God by relying on the objective authority of the Scriptures.
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