Riddle me this.
Why do we think, just because some men in the fourth century collected an anthology of works they decided were the “inspired Word of God”, using a set of rigorous but man-made criteria, that God is done speaking?
Do we think God was like, “Oh, well, they put the Bible together… looks like I’m done!” and wiped his hands of revelation?
According to the Old Testament, God sent prophets to Israel in the kingdom days to call them out on their wickedness, and to give them new insights into his nature and his love for them.
God was still speaking.
According to the New Testament, he sent his own son to Israel for many purposes, including challenging their very understanding of godliness.
God was still speaking.
Jesus promised the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth, including many things he hadn’t told his disciples yet, because they apparently weren’t ready to hear them. He said we, his followers, would do even greater things than he.
God was still speaking.
Jesus delivered the Holy Spirit to his disciples after his ascension, just as promised. He appeared to Paul on the road to Damascus.
God was still speaking.
He moved among the earliest Christians to do miracles. He convicted Paul and Peter about the early church’s exclusiveness, leading to a change of heart and worldview where they acknowledged he was calling all people to him.
Contrary to the old law, they were now required to include Gentles (non-Jews). Nothing was unclean anymore.
God was still speaking.
And as many Christians believe, he breathed his inspiration into the early epistles and gave John his revelation.
God was still speaking.
Why would God, who is unfettered by time and space, suddenly stop speaking? Just because the church assembled what they perceived as his words? Would that contain the Almighty?
Did God ever say he was done speaking? Or did we?
Why should it be such a surprise that growing numbers of Christians are adopting new convictions and new ways of reading Scripture? Fundamentalists cry that we are “watering down” the gospel, that we are twisting it to fit our agenda, that we are becoming ensnared by the world.
But what if none of that is true? What if it’s simply that God is still speaking? Challenging our assumptions, like Jesus did. Calling us out on our hypocrisy, corruption, and injustice, like the prophets did. Standing with the oppressed and the marginalized, like God has always done through all recorded Scripture.
Are new spiritual movements a dangerous departure from “unchanging” truth? Or is it that we, as a people or a society or a species, are finally maturing to a place where we can understand truth in a deeper, more nuanced, less childishly simplistic way?
Why should it be such a surprise when I say that I see the Holy Spirit moving among the outcasts, among the downtrodden, among the humbled? When I say he is still reconciling the people, still setting captives free, still healing and restoring the world from its brokenness?
Is that not his way?
Why is it such a shock that more and more Bible-reading, Jesus-loving Christians are coming to believe God accepts LGBTQIA+ people just as they are? To believe all people are made in his image? To believe we all reflect the glory of God? To believe that, just like the early Christians, we follow Christ when we are more inclusive, not less?
Are we being taken captive by the devil’s schemes? Or are we just following Jesus, obeying our convictions, and listening to the still small voice that prompts us to love, not to hate? That stirs us to open our arms to refugees, to speak up for black lives, to honor the dignity and worthiness of every human on this planet?
God is still speaking.
God is still speaking.
God is still speaking.
Don’t you want to hear what he says?
