Who speaks for God?

I received this question here recently, but it's not the first time I've heard it. Most often, the question comes from non-Christians trying to back down Christians from their moral certainty. The Christian ends up associated with Falwell or Robertson* because these two men used the pulpits God gave them to expose moral bankruptcy where it touched the church and the community. The weapon? God's word.

To counter another man who has unsheathed God's word to an increasingly godless culture, some pastors have started a website titled "Dobson doesn't speak for us." Charming. If you'd like to go there, Google it.

Here's the rub: if Dr. Dobson does speak for God regarding particular issues, then these pastors defiantly stand opposed to God. Let's buy Enron. Let's vote for McGovern or Dole. Let's play for the Kansas City Royals. But don't get on the team opposed to God.

So who does speak for God?

I do.

The audacity! The arrogance! Typical pig-headed, closed-minded, soda-straw-visioned Christian. Yep, that's me.

But understand, this is my identity and for any who are reading this and know Jesus Christ as Savior, this is your identity, too.

• We are called ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20). The purpose of an abmassador? To represent his Leader in word and deed.
• When on trial, God will speak through the believer (Mark 13:11).
• We are to proclaim the praises of what He did in and through us (1 Peter 2:9).
• The Gospel will bring conviction (Matthew 24:14).
• We are to witness what we see and what we know (John 15:27, Acts 1:8).
• Our presence (the presence of the Holy Spirit within us) becomes the stench of death to the unsaved (2 Corinthians 2:15-16).

Do I always speak for God? Well, no. When I act upon my own and contrary to His word, I become an unfaithful servant and an ambassador worthy of recall (thankfully He doesn't do that; He certainly does reassign, though).

When do I speak for God? When I proclaim His word truly. As Christians, we must know God's word for the time has come when many do not endure sound doctrine, and they heap up for themselves teachers to tickle their ears; they turn from truth and turn toward fables (2 Timothy 4:3-4). The Christian must know the truth so he is not deceived.

Peter declared, "But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction" (2 Peter 2:1). They are here. They are among us.

How do we know when the Christian is speaking for God? Like the Bereans in Acts 17 we compare the speaker's words with God's words. If we find consistency, winner! If not, as is the case with Senator Obama's voting record, we must expose the biblical inconsistency.

This will make you no friends. Good luck finding any with a liberal slant willing to discuss the issues from a biblical perspective. The platforms are untenable. This ought not dissuade us from applying God's word to the issues of the world and to pray that blindness will cease.

So now and with boldness the Christian must speak the truth of God's word in and to a people that is perishing.

Christians, speak on! And expect the spears to fly.

*I have found little to disagree with regarding the doctrine and teaching of Jerry Falwell. While I appreciate his outspokenness on moral issues, Pat Robertson tends to be far less careful with his biblical scholarship.