Why Preachers Should Avoid Using The Phrase “God Told Me…”

Many utter the phrase “God told me” or “God said to me” without thinking twice about how listeners hear those words. Most preachers and teachers use the phrase to mean God made clear to them how to live in light of a particular situation. But a phrase we understand clearly does not necessarily mean our listeners will understand it accurately. At the risk of sounding pharisaical, I’d like to suggest four reasons preachers should avoid using this phrase:

1) It Suggests God Ordinarily Speaks In An Audible Voice

Let me begin by saying I believe God can speak audibly to anyone He chooses whenever He pleases. Yet God’s speaking in an audible voice would be a rare occurrence in our day and certainly not the primary way He has chosen to communicate (see #4). When preachers say God “told them” something—without any qualification or explanation—they suggest God typically speaks audibly. Consequently, those listening to the preacher begin wondering whether God will also “tell them” something in the same way. They reason that if the preacher enjoys direct discourse with the one true and living God, then perhaps they should expect the same. Not only are worshipers led to believe something that ordinarily does not occur, but are also likely to feel spiritually inadequate or inferior as they have yet to hear God’s audible voice.

2) It Trivializes God

Often when preachers and teachers describe what God “told them,” their words suggest God speaks in their vernacular or shares their culture, accent, or custom. I don’t want to be unduly critical, but listening to some preachers speak so glibly as they “quote” what God said to them tends to trivialize His nature and character. Are we really to believe, for example, that God speaks with a southern accent or that He actually tells people to grab their tackle box and go fishing? I realize some who use the phrase are simply trying to be funny, and I believe there is a place for humor in the pulpit, but we should avoid speaking in ways that make light of God’s splendor and majesty.

3) It Mischaracterizes Spiritual Promptings

If you say God “told you” to do something because you believed the Holy Spirit was guiding you, then just say you believed the Holy Spirit was guiding you! It is more accurate and less likely to cause misunderstanding. You may consider using the phrase, “I felt God was saying to me,” or “I sensed the Lord leading me.” Just be sure your sense of the Spirit’s guidance agrees with biblical revelation.

4) It Minimizes The Doctrine of Scriptural Sufficiency

When we use the unqualified phrase “God told me” without referencing the Holy Spirit’s leadership or citing specific biblical texts, we undermine the Reformational principle of sola Scriptura, namely that Scripture is sufficient for Christian living. The preacher’s most significant pulpit responsibility is to ground all he says in God’s Word, the Bible. And preachers should challenge worshipers to listen for God to speak to them in that very Word, cautioning them against seeking revelation beyond the biblical text. In the helpful words of the hymn writer:

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?

John rippon, 1787 (emphasis added)

By the way, I wrote this article not because the Lord told me, but because I felt He was leading me. 😉