Is Jesus Calling, or is Your Refrigerator Running?

As a kid I remember hearing the rumors of others doing prank calls (emphasis here on others, the fifth amendment is my right).  Caller ID has made prank calling more difficult, but one of the all time favorites for prank calling was the classic, “Is your refrigerator running?” bit.  In the days before caller ID, you could never be certain if Sears was really doing a check-up on your appliances or if there were 5 little boys gathered around a telephone receiver waiting to laugh hysterically when they told you to “go catch it.”

I recently criticized Sarah Young’s book, Jesus Calling, in a sermon and received several questions afterward.  In all honesty, I had no idea until recently that this book was such a big deal.  Trust me, it is.  In light of the questions I received, I feel it necessary to share a few thoughts and some critical reviews of this book.

I should note that I have not read this book from cover to cover, I have only read the introduction and some of the devotions from within the book.  I have tried to read up on the author, Sarah Young, but little is actually known about her. Christianity Today recently published an article about some of the mystery that surrounds her. My primary concern, however, is not with the mystery of Sarah Young (though that is at least a bit concerning), but with a quote from the introduction to the book that I read in the sermon I mention above.

The following year, I began to wonder if I, too, could receive messages during my times of communing with God. I had been writing in prayer journals for years, but that was one-way communication: I did all the talking. I knew that God communicated with me through the Bible, but I yearned for more. Increasingly, I wanted to hear what God had to say to me personally on a given day. I decided to listen to God with pen in hand, writing down whatever I believe He was saying. I felt awkward the first time I tried this, but I received a message. It was short, biblical, and appropriate. It addressed topics that were current in my life: trust, fear, and closeness to God. I responded by writing in my prayer journal.

There is great danger in longing for God to speak personally.  There is even greater danger in suggesting that I have received special revelation from God and have a responsibility to share it with others. To claim to know more of Jesus’ thoughts than he has given us in his Word and then to be so confident in them that we would share them with others seems to be adding to the scriptures.  Several reviews of this book have referenced J.M. Boice’s concern that the real battle for our times would not be the infallibility or inerrancy of scripture, but its sufficiency.

1 Peter 1:19 assures us that scripture is full and confirmed, “And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.”  In other words, The Bible is sufficient for our salvation and our spiritual growth.  The Reformation cry of sola scriptura spoke of the sufficiency of scripture over against the Roman Catholic claims for excess including indulgences, icons, and acts of penance.

Tim Challies has written a very good review of Jesus Calling and has this word of warning:

Jesus Calling is, in its own way, a very dangerous book. Though the theology is largely sound enough, my great concern is that it teaches that hearing words directly from Jesus and then sharing these words with others is the normal Christian experience. In fact, it elevates this experience over all others. And this is a dangerous precedent to set. I see no reason that I would ever recommend this book.

Kathy Keller has another good review of this book, and as it is written by a woman and since the book largely attracts female readers, I think her review is very important.  Keller points out,

If Sarah Young, the author of the words attributed to Jesus, had only used “He” instead of “I” in her book, about half of my objection to it would be gone. However, in publishing these as messages she received from “listening to God,” she has left us in a quandary.

In 1 John 4:1, the elderly apostle warns believers of the first century (and us) to test the spirits.  One of John’s tests for the spirits is “whoever knows God listens to us,” with the “us” here being the apostles of Jesus.  John himself would later warn in Revelation,

I warn everyone who hears the words of prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

When claims are made about God’s word, only two options are sufficient.  The words either belong to Jesus or they do not. I know that many people have been positively affected by this book, but the ends cannot always justify the means.  I have been deceived before by false teaching that spoke into my emotions and psyche, but it was precisely because the teaching affected me at the emotional and psychological level that I was so blind to the false teaching it contained.  When someone says what we want to hear, we rarely question its validity.  When a kind person calls to do a “well check” on my refrigerator, that seems polite on the surface, but the hysterical laughter on the other end of the line serve to show me that the “kind” phone call was nothing but a devious prank hidden by false kindness.

Jesus still calls, he calls to the weak and the downcast to take on his load–it is light.  Jesus calls to the sinner to repent and be saved.  Jesus calls on the hurting to be healed.  But as for Sarah Young’s book, I think we should all listen carefully for laughter on the other end of the phone line.  The voice may claim to be Jesus, but look at your caller ID, from where did that call originate?