© 2007 The Flaming Torch, All rights reserved.
How would we react to a book which teaches that God is still speaking today as He spoke to Noah, Abraham and Moses, and that He is still revealing specific instructions just as He did when He told Noah how to build the Ark and He gave Moses the blueprints for the tabernacle?
Would we reject such teaching as charismatic falsehood, insisting that the canon of Scripture is closed and that God's revelation to mankind ceased when the New Testament was completed?
Or would we embrace such teaching and conduct 12-week courses of study in our churches to indoctrinate our members to believe that God is still speaking today as He did to the Old Testament worthies?
For thousands of Baptist Churches in America today, as well as churches of many other denominations, the answer has been that they accept and embrace this teaching, as found in the best-selling workbook "Experiencing God Ä Knowing and Doing the Will of God," by Henry T. Blackaby (co-authored by Claude V. King), published by Lifeway Press of Nashville, Tennessee.
With more than 1.6 million copies in print, as well as a Spanish edition and an "Experiencing God Study Bible" available, the influence and impact of this teaching should not be underestimated or ignored.
The authors are not Pentecostals but rather Baptists, which increases the acceptability of their teaching in Baptist circles. Henry Blackaby was formerly a Southern Baptist church planter in western Canada, and he relates many of his experiences with the Canadian mission work in the book. He currently serves as Director of the Office of Prayer and Spiritual Awakening at the Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention.
In 1992 Blackaby became well-known when he participated in revival meetings in February, 1992 in Brownwood, Texas involving Southern Baptist, independent Baptist, Presbyterian, Pentecostal and Nazarene churches. The meetings featured young people confessing their secret sins, in the manner popularized by the famous Asbury Revival of 1970.
In February, 1996, Blackaby was a featured speaker at the Promise Keepers clergy conference in Atlanta, Georgia. At a press conference on that occasion, he was asked for his views on the so-called "Laughing Revivals" and he responded "We don't try to evaluate that, and neither do we take a position regarding women serving as pastors."
Just what does Blackaby's best-selling book teach? He begins by discussing and emphasizing the examples of how God spoke to Noah, Abraham, Moses and other Old Testament figures, and then on p. 36 he gets to the point: "Does God really speak to His people in our day? Will he reveal to you where He is working when He wants to use you? Yes, God has not changed. He still speaks to His people. If you have trouble hearing God speak, you are in trouble at the very heart of your Christian experience."
It certainly appears as if Blackaby is teaching that God's revelation is continuing today just as when the Old and New Testaments were written. This impression is reinforced by such statements as that on p. 21 where he says "Whenever God gets ready to do something, He always reveals to a person or His people what He is going to do. (See Amos 3:7.)"
One looks in vain for a disclaimer in which Blackaby explains that God is no longer speaking today in the same manner as He did when He inspired the Bible. To Blackaby, the Bible is God's Word, but God also speaks in other ways, as on p. 83: God speaks through a variety of means. In the present God primarily speaks by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstances, and the church." This certainly appears to place the Bible on the same level as other forms of revelation.
To our amazement, we find that God is still giving detailed instructions to mankind today as He did when Noah's Ark and the Tabernacle were constructed: "Only God can give you the kind of specific directions to accomplish His purposes in His ways. After God spoke to Noah about building an ark, Noah knew the size, the type of materials, and how to put it together. When God spoke to Moses about building the tabernacle He was very specific about the details." (p. 74)
Blackaby does not give any written transcripts of such detailed revelations from God that are coming through today. But the examples he gives, taken from his church planting experiences in Canada, deal heavily with such questions as church budgets and building programs.
On p. 169 he dismisses church members who might vote against such proposals by the leadership as being either "so out of fellowship with the Lord that they could not hear His voice" or else "purposefully disobedient." It is no wonder that Blackaby would be irritated with church members who would dare to vote against proposals handed down from heaven in the same manner as the blueprints for Noah's Ark and the Tabernacle.
On p. 62 we find that God is giving detailed instructions not only for the churches but also for individuals: "Have you ever asked God to give you several alternatives, so you can choose the one that is best for you? How many options does God have to give you so you will have the right one? God always gets it right the first time!"
This implies that in all decisions in the life of a Christian, there is only one right option that is in the will of God, and that all other options are wrong. It would appear that a new revelation from God would be required before we can do anything, but of course Blackaby has already taught that God is still giving out such new revelations today.
For those who are having trouble hearing God's voice and knowing what God wants them to do, Blackaby teaches that one source of revelation is the church. He goes so far as to teach that we do not have the option to say no to the church: "The people of God at this church had a need for a leader. As they prayed, they sensed that God put me there purposely to meet that need. I, too, saw the need and realized God could use me there. As a servant of Jesus Christ, I did not have an option to say no." (p. 106)
With all these new revelations from God coming through, the questions may arise as to just who decides what is a true word from God and what is not. The careful reader will finally find that all-important question answered on p. 166: "When God wants to reveal His will to a church, He will begin by speaking to one or more individuals. Because of the nature of his call and assignment from God, this is often the pastor, although it may be another member of the body. The pastor's job is to bear witness to the church about what he senses God is saying."
In other words, the pastor is to decide when God is really speaking and when He is not. This teaching may appeal to some independent Baptists who favor the principle of "preacher rule" or dictatorial leadership by the pastor. It may also appeal to some charismatic and Campbellite groups which teach extreme forms of "discipling," "shepherding," or "accountability" in which the pastors or cell group leaders must approve all life decisions of their followers, whether major or minor.
Blackaby does not teach either of these systems of leadership, but his teaching definitely lends itself to use (and abuse) by those who favor authoritative and manipulative methods of control over their followers. After all, if God is still speaking today as in Old Testament times, and it is the task of the leadership to tell people just what God is saying, this makes it a lot easier to persuade the sheep to go along with church budgets, building programs, or whatever else the leadership wishes to propose.
Blackaby would not totally eliminate congregational rule or votes by the membership, but he encourages decision-making by the spiritual leadership, and regards those who would vote against leadership proposals as being out of touch with God. Decision-making by majority vote is discouraged, since the leaders have already "sensed" what God's will is: In our physical bodies we do not take votes based on majority rule, ignore conflicting senses, or choose to listen only to one sense and ignore the others. To live that way would be very dangerous. Because a church is the body of Christ, it functions best when spiritual leaders and members share what they sense God wants the church to be and do. A church needs to hear the whole counsel of God through its spiritual leaders and members. Then it can proceed in confidence and in unity to do God's will." (p. 165)
Notice that in many of the above quotes, Blackaby refers to people "sensing" the will of God. Various forms of the word "sense" appear repeatedly and monotonously, showing us that Blackaby's system of understanding the will of God is purely subjective.
Although God is still speaking today as in Old Testament times, we have to strain ourselves to "sense" the voice of God, and we have to sort out conflicting "senses" of what God is saying. The objective basis of our faith, God's complete and all-sufficient revelation in the Bible, has been replaced by the quicksand of uncertainty as we seek to hear God speaking through the Bible, prayer, circumstances and the church.
On p. 37 Blackaby warns us to "be very careful about claiming you have a word from God," but he never satisfactorily explains how to sort out the true words of God from the false words from God, except perhaps near the end of the book where he assigns to the pastor the role of bearing witness to the church as to just what God really is saying.
With millions of copies of Blackaby's book in circulation, and millions of Baptists and other Christians who have carefully studied his workbook, usually in a congregational setting, we ignore the impact of Blackaby's theological beliefs at our own peril. How should fundamentalists respond?
First, we must firmly affirm the conviction that God's special revelation to man was completed in the Old and New Testaments and that God is no longer revealing Himself to man in the same manner as He did in the Bible.
Second, we should affirm the principles of Christian liberty as taught by the Apostle Paul, and avoid giving the impression that Christians have only one option for each life decision that would fall within the will of God. Such teaching implies the need for continuing revelation from God to show us His perfect will for every situation, and raises the question as to just how we can possibly obtain that new revelation from God.
For those who think in those terms, Henry Blackaby is waiting in the wings with the answer. Is his answer a scriptural and practical one? In the judgment of this reviewer, it is not.
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© 2007 The Flaming Torch, All rights reserved.
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