Scroll through your phone for about a minute and you’ll run into somebody who has a word from God. Or they had a dream, or they saw an angel, or they heard from a prophet. And how do they prove it’s real? They point to some kind of experience, something miraculous. And it is very hard to agree against someone’s experience – they will defend it with their life.
What concerns me isn’t really that people are claiming these things. It’s how many people are following after them. They’re gullible. They’re hungry for something. And they’re not anchored to truth anymore, they’re anchored to their feelings, to whatever the newest fad is, to whatever voice is loudest. And honestly, that one’s on us as leaders.
Don’t assume that because your people agree on the basics, they’re stable. For two thousand years the church has agreed on the central truths of the faith. Did you know that? And yet the number one reason churches split in America is music. The number two reason is how we view the Holy Spirit and the miraculous gifts. So people can agree on the gospel and still get blown sideways. Agreeing on something isn’t the same as being grounded in it.
Scripture warned us this season was coming. Jesus said the love of most people would grow cold. Paul said people would end up loving pleasure more than they love God, driven by their own appetites and feelings. And Jesus said something we don’t talk about enough, that false prophets would show up performing real signs and wonders, convincing enough that they could deceive even the elect if that were possible. John put it about as plainly as you can. Don’t believe every spirit. Test them.
Read that again. The deception isn’t going to look fake. It’s going to look powerful. It’s going to actually do things. So here’s the question we have to wrestle with: what anchors a person when the lie is the thing performing the miracle?
The miracles in Scripture were never meant to be the main thing. God gave them to back up the message, to confirm that His Word was true. The miracle was always pointing you to the Word. It was never supposed to take the place of it. Our anchor was never the experience in the first place. It’s the Word. And when somebody is rooted deeply enough in it, they can watch a person do something miraculous and still say, that doesn’t line up with what God’s Word actually teaches, so I’m not buying what you’re selling.
Our anchor was never the experience in the first place. It’s the Word. And when somebody is rooted deeply enough in it, they can watch a person do something miraculous and still say, that doesn’t line up with what God’s Word actually teaches, so I’m not buying what you’re selling.
And here’s where I want to encourage you. Jesus said, “My sheep know my voice, and they will not follow another.” He didn’t say they’d be the smartest people in the room. He said they’d know His voice, because they’ve spent enough time with the Shepherd to recognize it. And that’s something you can actually build into people. You can take somebody who’s drifting and, over time, in the Word and in real community, root them so deeply that a thousand voices can be yelling and they’ll still pick out the one that matters.
So figure out what the big rocks are, the things you hold onto no matter what, and the preferences you can hold loosely and not fight over. Disciple your people in the Word until they can stand on it themselves, even when you’re not in the room. Because you can see where this is heading if we don’t, can’t you? A church that isn’t anchored won’t hold. But one that is can’t be moved.
So now more than ever, the most important thing we can do is help people get stable and secure. We want them rooted deep enough that when the pressure comes, they hold steady. His sheep know His voice. Let’s do the work that helps them hear it.
To watch Jim’s entire sermon on this topic – click below
