Kootenai Community Church
Expounding the Scriptures, Exhorting the Saints,
Exalting the Savior

"We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ."
Colossians 1:28

We are now meeting at the Kootenai School Gym for our Adult Sunday School and Morning Worship services.

Adult Sunday School begins at 9:15 AM. The Worship Service starts at 10:45 AM.

Children's Sunday School meets in the church building across the street starting at 9:15 AM.

December 2005

Peaces, Fleeces, and Other Signs

(Part 5)

I sure didn’t have a peace about it. I thought that he would be the downfall of the entire school.

During my second year at Millar College of the Bible, they were interviewing candidates to teach the fourth year program. The academic committee had narrowed it down to one man. His resume looked good. They announced to the student body that Phil Powers, the man that they were hoping would come to Millar, was coming to Pambrun. He would teach some classes, preaching in chapel as well as in two Sunday services.

We were all very excited. Phil taught in a morning chapel service and preached a Sunday morning and evening service. After the Sunday evening service, I started to have serious doubts about him. I had this uneasy feeling in my stomach and I just knew that this man was danger. Poison. Bad news.

It was an impression that I just could not shake. Something didn’t line up. Something was amiss, but I just couldn’t put my finger on it. I had a “check in my spirit.” Just so I could go on record, I shared my concerns with a couple close friends. “You just wait,” I said, “This man will turn out to be a false teacher, the ruination of this school!”

Was God speaking to me? I had prayed for the school, for the teachers, and I didn’t have a peace about it. I had an impression about this man and did not feel right about him. Was God giving me guidance through those thoughts, feelings, and impressions? Was I hearing the Spirit speak? Some would say “yes.” I was sure of it at the time. After all, that is how I thought Christians got God’s guidance.

I could not have been more wrong! Phil Powers proved to be the best addition to the Millar staff in years! He was a phenomenal teacher and a great preacher. Phil is one of the hardest working, most intelligent, mature, spiritual, and godly men I have had the pleasure of meeting. Phil ended up being my mentor and teacher for my fourth year and I still consider him a friend. So much for impressions and nudgings!

Was That the Spirit I Heard?

So what accounts for the strong “impression” I had? Was that the Spirit I heard speaking to me? I certainly thought so at the time. It obviously wasn’t.

Maybe it was Satan. Maybe the devil didn’t want me to trust Phil, and didn’t want me to come back to Millar for fourth year. Maybe he knew that if I came back, the Lord would use Phil to greatly influence me. Maybe those feelings were from Satan.

Maybe they were from my flesh. Maybe in my heart I was threatened by a man with such ability and knowledge. Maybe I didn’t like people who were smarter than I. Maybe it was the mood I was in. Perhaps I was overtired from a hard night of studying.

What was speaking to me? I don't know! That’s the point. I can’t know. Scripture doesn’t give me any way of knowing whether what I think or feel is the product of the Lord, the devil or myself.

Even though the Scripture says that our hearts are deceitful and desperately wicked, and that in our flesh dwells no good thing, Christians look to this fallible, sinful, wicked, subjective, unreliable, wretched source for guidance. Worse yet, they then give it divine authority.

What We Have Established

In this series of articles on hearing the voice of God, I have taken the time to establish the following:

1) Scripture alone is sufficient for all of life and godliness.

2) Scripture does not teach that we receive direction through impressions, promptings, nudgings and feelings.

3) Scripture does not teach that we receive direction through “being led by the Spirit.”

4) Scripture does not teach that we receive guidance through the “still small voice.”¹

An evaluation of the texts (in their contexts) used to support these practices shows that Scripture does not teach that God speaks to us through these means.

But What About . . .?²

So let’s do some more careful study and thinking about some other ways that Christians typically receive God’s guidance.

1) What about “having a peace?”

Have you ever heard someone faced with a decision say something like, “I prayed about it and I have/don’t have a peace about it.” This “peace” becomes the yardstick by which the will of God is measured.

Where does this come from? Colossians 3:15 is the only verse ever pressed into service to support this notion of divining guidance from an inward peace.

Colossians 3:15 - Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.

The teaching goes like this: The word “rule” in the verse means “to act as an arbiter, to function as an umpire.” Therefore peace in our heart should act as the “judge” or the “umpire” in the decision-making process. So if you are faced with a decision, then peace is God’s green light, and no peace equals a red light. The red light is typically referred to as a “check in the spirit.”

This all sounds well and good until we examine the context of the verse. We find that Colossians 3:15 has nothing whatsoever to do with internal, subjective feelings that serve to indicate God’s approval of a decision. Nothing at all!

We don’t have to go back any further than verse 12 of the same passage: “So as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.” (3:12-14)

Stop a moment and ask, “What is Paul talking about?” Paul is discussing principles that guide the relationships in the body of Christ. The subject is interpersonal relationships. How do we treat other believers? What things guide us in our relationships with other Christians? The answer: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, love.

Even the verse which follows the “peace in your heart” verse says we are to “admonish one another” (v. 16). Paul is not talking about having a peace in your heart that guides your decision making, he is talking about Christians in the church relating to one another in brotherly love and Christlikeness.

So what is the “peace of Christ” in verse 15? It is not the “green light, red light” of decision making, but peace between people. Paul is saying, “I want there to be a harmony in the church, a peace between one another that is based on love, forgiveness, kindness, compassion and patience.”

Notice that verse 15 says we were “called into one body.” That is the body of Christ. Therefore, since we are in one body, there ought to be peace between the members of that body. Peace between believers in the body of Christ should “judge,” “guide,” or act as an “umpire” between us. Peace should be the ruling principle.

Paul is not talking about some subjective feeling in our hearts, but an objective guideline by which we relate to each other- peace. The meaning of verse 15 becomes clear when we just read the verse in its context.

Colossians 3:15 is a victim of Scripture twisting. Like the other passages we have looked at in this series, this verse is lifted from its context, reassigned a meaning and used to prop up a whole theology of divine guidance. It is tragic.

Making a decision based on peace doesn’t even work out very good in practice. For instance, many times doing the right thing can be very emotionally unsettling. A certain amount of emotional distress is normal. Do you think Jesus “had a peace” about going to the cross? Do you think that He was so “at peace” with it that he sweat drops of blood? Do you think Moses “had a peace” about going back to Egypt to deliver the nation of Israel? Do you think Joshua “had a peace” about taking over for Moses? (Joshua 1:1-9)

What if you waited till “you had a peace about it” before you shared the Lord with someone? Would you ever share your faith? Maybe you just don’t “feel led” at the moment? Or maybe you’re just cowardly and lazy. But is sounds far more spiritual to say, “I don’t have a peace about it” than to say, “I’m just too lazy to do it.”

Do you think I “have a peace” about preaching? I don’t! The thought of handling the Word of God from behind a pulpit before the saints and the angels in the church of the living God and the judgment that I face if I mishandle or misinterpret it (James 3:1), causes me intense emotional distress. It is something that can only be approached with great fear and trembling. The commission to teach or preach the Word of God is tremendously unsettling! If I waited till I had a “peace about it,” I would never preach!

You are just as likely to have a peace about things that are clearly wrong. The Mormons “have a peace” about the Book of Mormon. I have heard and read Christians justify the most unbiblical and immoral choices by simply saying, “I prayed about it and I have a peace about it.”

Someone divorces their spouse and runs off with another partner, but they have a peace! Another wants to marry an unbeliever and they have a peace! Another has no biblical reason for leaving a church but does because they have a peace! Someone gives their money to a false teaching television preacher, but they have a peace! They neglect church to stay home with family, football, or time on the lake, but they have a peace!

The Bible does not teach that we make decisions based upon an inward peace. How can you possibly give divine authority to a subjective feeling in your heart which is deceitful and desperately wicked? Scripture is the guide, not inward feelings.

2) What about fleeces?

The classic example that is used as a pattern for decision making with fleeces is Gideon in Judges 6- 7. You may already know the story well. Gideon was told that he would deliver Israel from the Midianites (6:11-18). Having received the supernatural revelation from the Angel of the Lord (that should have been enough for Gideon), he sought a sign.

Gideon said, “If you will deliver Israel through me, then I’ll put out my fleece and in the morning, let the dew be on the fleece and the ground dry.” It was so. That wasn't enough for Gideon, so he prayed again, “Lord, tonight, let the fleece be dry and the ground soaked with dew.” It was so. (6:36-39)

Is this a legitimate practice for discerning God’s guidance? “Lord, if you want me to take the job in Atlanta, then let the Falcons win the game this weekend. If you want me to take the job in Texas, then let the Cowboys win.”

“Lord, if you want us to have the house, then when we arrive with the realtor, let there be blue carpet somewhere in the house.”

“Lord, if she is THE ONE for me to marry, then let her be home when I call to ask her out. If she is not the one, then let me get an answering machine.”

And on it goes. You know how it works. If you have been a Christian for long, you have heard people talk in these terms as they look for some “sign” by which they might know God’s will. It should be enough to know that a “wicked and perverse generation seeks after a sign” (Matt. 12:39). Yet Christians are constantly looking for some “sign” by which to receive guidance.

Since the episode with Gideon is pressed into service to support Christians “throwing out fleeces,” let’s take a look at Gideon more closely.

First, we need to make a distinction between what the Bible describes and what the Bible prescribes. The Bible describes many things that it does not prescribe. The Bible describes Jesus walking on water, the Apostles healing the sick and performing exorcisms, Moses parting a sea, and Elijah killing false prophets. Yet the Bible does not prescribe these practices for us. Just because the Bible gives a description of a certain practice does not mean that it is a prescription for all people. Context determines this.

Just because Gideon did this, does not mean that it should be my practice any more than King Saul consulting a medium for guidance serves as a model (1 Samuel 28).

Also note that Gideon was not unsure of the command of God. God had already given Gideon clear, divine, supernatural, unmistakable guidance (Judges 6:11-18). Gideon’s request for a sign of confirmation was not an act of faith, but of fear. Even after getting the fleece, Gideon was still fearful (7:9-18). Gideon knew what God wanted and he recognized that asking for the sign would cause God’s anger to “burn against him” because of his lack of faith (6:39). Gideon’s fleece was an act of doubt and disbelief, an inappropriate request that the Lord tolerated.

Nowhere in Scripture do we see this practice prescribed. It is not taught to us in the epistles. We don’t see the Apostles practicing this. Peter didn’t throw out a fleece before selecting a man to replace Judas in Acts 1. Peter based his decision on the clear teaching of Scripture (Acts 1:20). We never see the Apostles making decisions in this way in the New Testament.

The idea of getting guidance from providential signs is fraught with practical problems. To illustrate this, I want you to notice that Gideon asked for a supernatural sign. That is not typically what I hear Christians do today. Gideon requested that the fleece be wet and the ground dry and the second night, that the ground be wet and the fleece dry.

Christians typically ask for lame fleeces. “Lord, if you don’t want me to marry Sue, then when she shows up for dinner, make her have her hair in a bun. Amen.” What is supernatural about that? And what happens when Sue shows up for dinner with her hair down? We assume that she must be the one! If the fleece doesn’t get answered, then we assume the opposite. Have you ever had a desire to do something and then pray, “Lord if this desire is not from you, then take it away?” I’ve prayed that. What if the Lord decides, for whatever reason, not to take away the desire? Then you assume it must be from Him.

What about the man who has the desire to leave his wife and run off with another woman? He prays, “Lord, if this is not from You, then take the desire away.” What happens if the desire doesn’t disappear? Do we then say, “It must be of the Lord?”

Perhaps Satan gave you the desire and God wants you to live with it and trust Him to give you the grace to deal with it. Maybe your flesh or your wicked heart has the desire and God wants you to practice self denial and self control and obedience. Yet the way you have prayed is to assume that if God doesn’t deliver the goods, then He must be endorsing it.

You can see how you might get a false positive by doing this. Well, there is a good way to avoid the false positive. Ask for a supernatural sign. “Lord, if you want me to take the job in Atlanta, then levitate the bed. If you want me to take the job in Texas, then levitate the refrigerator.” Would you pray that? I doubt that you are the least bit tempted to pray that way. Yet if you really think that God is obligated to answer you through some sign, why not ask for a sign that is unmistakable, clear, supernatural. Why should levitating the refrigerator or bed be a problem for God?

What we really want is some unclear, nebulous type of sign that we can read things into, combine it with our “promptings” get a “peace” and then think we have God’s guidance on the matter.

The fact that you won’t pray for furniture to be levitated only goes to show that you are not all too convinced that God is going to direct you through these means.

This whole practice of seeking guidance through fleeces and signs assumes that God is obligated to answer your prayer through these things, and He has not obligated Himself in this way.

Scripture does not teach that we get guidance through inner peace, fleeces or other signs. I’ll address the subject of open and closed doors, confirmations, and visions and dreams next month. Till then. . .

Without Wax-

Jim Osman
Pastor/Teacher

Footnotes:

1. You can read previous articles in this series on this subject posted on our archives page.

2. I am greatly indebted to Decision Making and the Will of God by Greg Koukl from Stand to Reason Ministries for his thoughtful and thorough evaluation of these practices. I highly recommend his tape series Decision Making and the Will of God available from Stand to Reason. I would also recommend a book by the same title, Decision Making and the Will of God by Gary Friesen published by Multnomah (also available through Stand to Reason Ministries).

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