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Listening to God
What do we mean by ‘God’s Vision’?
We are convinced that whilst the general purpose of God for the Church remains the same throughout history and is revealed in the scriptures, the specific purpose and plan that God has for any one church, or part of his church, changes according to time, location and it’s relationship to the whole Church.
For example it seems clear that God has, in the history of the church, led certain men and women, as well as groups and movements, to follow certain paths which have brought lasting change, the further fulfilment of his general purpose for the church and brought glory to his name. One can think of St Francis (of course), John Wesley, the Booths, Martin Luther King, George Macleod, Nicky Gumble to name but a few!
One obvious biblical example is Paul. Paul believed that God was calling him to be the ‘apostle to the gentiles’ as Peter was ‘apostle to the Jews’. This was not the formation of two separate churches for two separate purposes, but within the general purpose of God, Paul and those with him had a particular calling. They were not free to choose to do what they wanted as long as it fell within the general will of God, but sought God’s specific will for them.
However, if these are names that many of us know, one must also suppose that there are thousands more who have been led by the Lord in far quieter ways but with no less an impact. The story is told of a group of men who were led to pray for the people of their town because they believed that a world revival would come from there. Billy Graham was born in their town at that time. One can also think of the many missionaries who have been called to travel to foreign lands, or people called to work in inner cities, or called to start new ministries or churches. Beyond that there are millions of individuals who have been led by God to do ‘small’ things in very local contexts which have made huge differences to the people around them.
We therefore believe that God will call individuals and groups of believers to follow particular paths at particular times for the fulfilment of his particular purpose. Whether God has such a plan and calling for every church or group of believers is a moot point. However, we believe that God called a particular group of people to start a particular church in Stockethill and that those who become part of that church will enter into that ‘calling’ and help shape its development.
In what ways can we be said to have ‘followed God’s vision’?
It is not the case that we have had a ‘blue-print dropped from heaven’ of what God wants us to do. The ‘vision’ that God has for us as a church has certainly developed over time. For example, when we first came I had written a 5 year plan that was very specific as to how we would plant and grow the church. If pushed I might even have said that God ‘gave it to me’. However, as the 5 years went by things certainly didn’t work out absolutely according to the plan. At the end of the 5 years we were in many ways where we thought we would be (in terms of the development and growth of the church) but how we had got there and what the church ‘looked like’ was not what we had envisioned at the beginning.
Yet we felt very clearly that God had led us, and not in a ‘blind way’, but that we had been listening to and looking for God’s direction and had faithfully (to a greater or lesser extent) followed him.
Some examples might help.
Sarah and I had a very clear call into ‘church planting’ through a combination of events, and a specific dream and reading from scripture (Isaiah 54).
We thought it was right that we should put together a church planting team and again a series of events and ‘co-incidences’ meant that it ‘seemed right’ that Gail should become part of that team. In the end the ‘team’ never grew any bigger. In retrospect that has proved to be very important for a number of reasons.
When we first came we talked about how the building might be developed. However, we soon believed that God was telling us not to use the building. That became a commitment to not having any ‘property of our own’ which has developed into a wider understanding of ‘simple church’ (‘understanding’ might be too strong a word!).
To go away from our own situation and look again at Paul, there are a number of different ways in which we see him being led by God’s specific vision for him. When Paul first comes to the church in Antioch (Acts 12:19ff) he does so because Barnabas goes and gets him. We don’t know why Barnabas chooses to bring Paul rather than someone else, but when they both leave they do so because of a clear ‘prophetic word’ from God in Acts 13:2. His decision to only ‘go to the gentiles’ comes after confrontation with some Jews (Acts 18:6) but it is difficult to think that this is simply a fit of pique, and he is affirmed in his decision by the Lord speaking to him in a dream (18:9). Where he goes and doesn’t go seems to, at times, be according to opportunity but at other times through the leading of the Spirit (Acts 16:9 and 2Cor 2:12&13). And his final decision to go to Jerusalem is counter-intuitive and counselled against, and he even has a prophecy of what will happen to him if he does, but he goes because he is compelled by the Spirit to go (Acts 20:22).
In our case, if not Paul’s, these examples and many more could be put down to us just thinking, feeling, believing, hoping, and stumbling. With our belief that God does guide because he has a particular purpose and that he does speak because he wants to guide, we believe that it is more than these things and that the Spirit has been at work in growing the church and has chosen to do it in partnership with us rather than in-spite of us. We are not simply the Spirit’s tools, but co-workers that he chooses to share his plans with and work in partnership with.
That being said, it is clear that the Spirit is still in charge! We have sought to follow God’s leading but clearly have not always done so. God’s response to that has been different at different times.
When we sought to build a team beyond that which God wanted us to have we simply couldn’t do it. It may be that people just don’t like us, but it seems like God was ‘closing the door’.
In the very early days when I made a seemingly good commitment that was not consistent with the direction God had been telling us to go in, God ‘spoke’ clearly to me so that I had to back off from that commitment with a good deal of embarrassment.
When we had made the commitment not to have anything to do with the building in theory but in practise I was still very much involved in what would happen there, God ‘unsettled me’ in my spirit and in dreams until we sought his guidance and it became clear what I had done wrong. Again that involved repentance and ongoing ‘fall-out’.
Interestingly, as we have gone on God seems to have expected more and more from us in terms of obedience and the results of not following his leading have become ‘harsher’.
These are only a very few examples, but in both the overall vision of what we are doing and in some significant specific occasions (e.g. the appointment of elders) we are sure that God has been leading us and that we have known his leading by deliberately ‘listening to him’.
How have we tried to listen and discern ‘God’s vision’?
1. Through the scriptures
As I have said, God’s general will for us as a church (and as individuals) is revealed to us in the scriptures. Indeed it was the detailed study of the gospels in our first few months that set much of our ‘direction’ as a church in the first place. Out of that study came a set of guiding principles (our Purpose and Vision) which we now rarely refer to but which still shape a lot of what we do. For example, the phrase ‘we welcome everyone who comes to us no matter why they come’, came from our studying of the way Jesus welcomed people and remains an integral part of who we are as a church. It is arguable that that is how every church should be and so there is nothing ‘specific’ for us. The point is though that it was this emphasis which became important for us. Our reading of scripture is shaped by the people we read it with (their own experiences, understanding, prejudices, etc) and the context in which we read it (by that I mean such things as where we are geographically, what is happening politically, the purpose for which we are reading it etc) and so at different times we, the Church, ‘hear’ different emphasis.
Our reading of scripture is also influenced by the Spirit, however. Indeed I would suggest that he is involved in the other two influences (community and context). He draws our attention to things, guides our thinking, makes connections (with other parts of scripture and to our ‘context’), reveals truths we haven’t seen before etc. He also uses scripture to speak to us specifically. For example, when Sarah and I first felt called into church planting Sarah had a very vivid dream which strongly featured a tent. The next day (which was significant as we were going to an interview with the ‘church planting department’) our Bible reading ‘happened’ to be Isaiah 54: “enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide”. Again, in the incident I referred to earlier when I made a commitment which seemed good to me, the Lord used Isaiah 30:1 to rebuke me, "Woe to the obstinate children," declares the Lord, "to those who carry out plans that are not mine, forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit, heaping sin upon sin;”. Pretty specific!
2. Through the community
Scripture is read ‘in community’ and it is often as we discuss it, pray with it and ‘bring it’ to the group that God speaks to us and guides us. It may be through new insights, a ‘sense’ that this is important, or a ‘co-incidence’ as God highlights the same or complimentary passages to a number of people.
The community are also guided by God collectively in other ways. At times it can be through the people that God brings into the community (of course that in itself presupposes that God is guiding people). But through bringing people who bless, challenge, disturb, or simply ‘add to’ what is already going on, God can guide us. I have often told the story of how, at a low point, I asked God to send us ‘one Christian from Stockethill” and in the afternoon a Christian from Stockethill phoned to ask if he could join us. That in itself was an encouragement that we were going in the ‘right direction’. Perhaps more significant was the person he sent. I would have chosen (with all due respect to Neil) a mature, dynamic, long term (probably ‘middle class’) Christian. God sent his man, whose wife was the first to be baptised in our church and who taught us more about how we were meant to be as a church than most others have done. Neil and Gail Hay were God’s gift to us in many ways.
Another way that God guides through the community is through its collective wisdom and its collective listening. I will say a bit more about both these things, but it is clear that there is often a theme emerging, whether at a particular time or over a period of time, in the prayers, reading, experiences, and ‘leadings’ that individual members of the congregation have. When choosing the potential elders, for example, it was through the prayers, ‘leadings’, and wisdom of the congregation that names arose.
3. Through the prophets
One of the most difficult but most important aspects of following God’s vision for us is to understand the place of prophecy. It is clear from the New Testament that prophecy (or hearing directly from the Holy Spirit) was key in guiding the church.
Acts 15:28: when making ‘policy decisions’ in the Church, it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us.
Acts 11:28: when making ‘practical’ decisions, through the Spirit [Agabus] predicted a severe famine…the disciples each…decided to provide help..”.
Acts 13:2: when making ‘strategic’ decisions, the Holy Spirit said [to the prophets and teachers] ‘set aside for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them’.
1 Tim. 4:14: when making ‘personal’ decisions – do not neglect your gift which was given you through a prophetic message.
There are those with the office of Prophet (Ephesians 4), those gifted in prophecy (Romans12:6) and all believers can prophesy (1 Cor 14). It is important that we listen to the leadings, promptings, pictures, and ‘thoughts’ of people in the church. When these things begin to connect, affirm or enlighten each other we can begin to discern that God is leading in a particular way. There are those who over time we begin to trust as being able to hear from God in particular or a particularly clear way. These may be the people who we recognise as having a gift of prophecy and may even be called to the office of Prophet. What is important is that we learn to trust them, and we can only do that through experience of their ‘trustworthiness’ in this area. It may be that to the extent that we trust them, to that extent can God use them to help guide us. (That’s not to say that God will only speak to them if we are willing to listen – far from it.).
There are also those who are recognised as Prophets by the ‘wider church’. Although the Church of Scotland does not recognise such an office nationally or officially, there are already some people that we have come to trust as having this wider ministry who can bring a word of encouragement or direction to our church.
A prophecy is, simply put, a direct communication from God. It can come in the form of a picture, through direct speech (and can be accompanied by a tongue) and occasionally through a ‘prophetic act’ (see Agabus in Acts 21:11). When it comes in speech form the prophecy may be very clear (Agabus again in Acts 11:28) or in the form of a parable, metaphor or pictorial language which needs some interpretation (see Peter’s vision in Acts 10). Prophecy may be given privately to an individual or group or publicly to the whole church. When it is given it should be ‘tested’ (against scripture, alongside other prophecies and leadings, and prayerfully). In the case of prophecies given to the church it is up to the whole church, but in particular the leadership (i.e. the Kirk Session) to test it. Testing the prophecy might not necessarily mean understanding it. It may be that more prayer is needed for insight or that it will become clearer as time goes on. When it is given, understood and accepted, it needs to be obeyed or acted upon where appropriate. To hear from God and act otherwise is not sensible (e.g. Hezekiah in 2Kings 20; me on lots of occasions!)
Sandi Niven, who is a Prophet and Teacher who has helped us greatly as a leadership and church so far, teaches that the functions of prophecy are to comfort, edify, exhort and direct. Prophecy, she says, brings healing, deepens our relationship with God, provides direction and renewed vision, brings biblical insight, confirms and warns, turns people to salvation, releases new vision, provides insight, helps know how and what to pray, releases us in spiritual warfare and stirs faith!
There are a number of questions that often come up. How can we know that God ‘is really speaking’? How do we know we have got it right? One example of this came about when we were taking the decision not to have a building. There were those on the commission who felt that we were doing the wrong thing, particularly when our main reason at that time was ‘because we feel God doesn’t want us to have a building’ (there were other reasons, but they were all arguable). An offer was made to spend £300,000 pounds on the building and the counter argument to ours was that that looked a lot more like God’s provision than our ‘feeling’. However, as we ‘listened to scripture’ we became aware that God rarely guides through economic means, and that in fact what seems like the sensible thing to do is rarely an indication that it is a Godly thing to do (see Jeremiah 42. That’s not to say that the unusual thing is always God’s will, only that something being ‘sensible’ is not in itself a good indicator that it is God’s will. Isaiah 55:8-9). We also listened to each other. Those of us with the authority to make the decision were in agreement – we all felt the same thing. We also listened to the church (we even put it to a vote – something I’m not sure I would advocate now) and were strongly affirmed in our decision. In doing all that we were of course listening to the Spirit and there were encouragements in the form of words and pictures.
At the end of the day, however, the answer is that we don’t know that God is really speaking. Of course had we gone down the other route we might now have had a church of 500 (though that might just as easily be a sign that we had gone down the wrong route – increase in numbers is not a sure fire sign of God’s blessing). We believe that God led us and have had nothing to make us believe otherwise. As we grow to know God’s voice so we are able to trust our own listening more.
To return briefly to Paul. When the Spirit was compelling him to go to Jerusalem, Agabus, a trusted prophet, came and prophesied the dreadful things that would happen to him if he went and his companions begged him not to go. But he went, convinced that he was following God’s will. Was he?
What must we do to be able to ‘discern God’s vision’ as a Kirk Session?
All this makes it seem as if seeking God’s vision and being led by the Lord is at best hard and at worst just ‘airy fairy’. How are we going to know what God is saying to us and what he wants us to do? There are I believe two important words to keep in mind: trust and direction.
First of all we need to trust God. We need to trust that he does have a specific plan and purpose for us as a church and that he wants to lead us. We need to trust that he is not just using us but working with us: that he wants to share his plans and involve us in their fulfilment. We need to trust that he is not going to set us to build Wembley Stadium when we’re still learning to use Lego. He will teach us all these things.
If we don’t believe that God wants to speak to us, then we will not listen. If we don’t believe that God speaks through the whole community then we won’t listen to each other, except for human wisdom. If we don’t believe that God speaks through his word then we will study the Bible but not listen for its living voice. If we don’t believe that God speaks in prophetic word then we will not listen to him.
More worryingly, if we do not listen for prophecy then we will be in danger of losing something vital. Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt (1Thessalonians 5:19). We need to trust God, but we also need to trust each other. As I said above, it is in the experience of reliability that we come to trust whether an individual has the gift of prophecy or calling as prophet. As we recognise these people in the church then we should not be afraid to ask them to pray into specific situations nor afraid to allow them access to us to bring words from the Lord. However, we ourselves need to learn how to listen, not least to each other. We need to trust that we are each praying and listening and bringing anything that we feel God is saying with careful consideration. But we also need to trust each other if we are going to share ‘what God is saying to me’. If such ‘prophecies’ are met with contempt or scepticism then the person bringing them will soon feel unable to do so and the ‘Spirit’s fire’ will have been put out. That is not to say that what ever a person shares is to be accepted unquestioningly, but it is to be taken and tested seriously.
The same is true of all that we have to share with each other: our insights into scripture, our understanding of what is going on in the congregation, our wisdom. As we listen to each other we will learn who has the best ‘ears’ in each of these situations and will learn to listen to the Spirit together.
The second important word is ‘direction’. Though we began with a 5 year plan that told us where we were going and how we were going to get there I have long since discovered that God does not necessarily tell you where you are going, but just asks you to follow. He sets a direction and as we go along he keeps us heading the right way. So vision becomes mostly about values. Instead of asking what God is leading us to become, we listen to what God is asking us to be.
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