There’s a popular trend in Christian publishing in which authors write from God’s point of view. Sarah Young’s bestseller, Jesus Calling, is one of those books, with a twist. She believes she writes the very words of God, not simply what she thinks God would say, if He were to speak to her.
“I knew that God communicated with me through the Bible, but I yearned for more,” Young states. “I wanted to hear what God had to say to me personally on a given day,” she explains. So she decided to listen to God with pen in hand, writing down her “personal messages from God.”
To Young’s credit, she admits that her writings are not “inspired as Scripture is,” and that, “the Bible is, of course, the only inerrant Word of God.” However, she believes her messages address the felt needs of Christians who are “searching for a deeper experience of Jesus’ Presence and Peace.”
Jesus Calling has appeared on all of the major bestseller lists, has sold over 10 million copies, and is available in 26 languages. People are eating it up. But should we? John Piper gives good insight.
Commenting on an article published in Christianity Today, written by an anonymous professor at a well-known Christian University, who also claims to have heard the voice of God, Piper states, “What’s sad is that it really does give the impression that extra-biblical communication with God is surpassingly wonderful and faith-deepening. I grieve at what is being communicated here. The great need of our time is for people to experience the living reality of God by hearing his word personally and transformingly in Scripture” (emphasis added).
Jesus Calling raised a few questions for me: Should I be longing for more than the Bible? Is the Bible really enough? Am I missing out on a deeper experience of Jesus’ presence and peace?
So, I asked God, and He answered me with Hebrews 4:12, 2 Timothy 3:16-17 and Psalm 19:7-11. The Bible truly is more precious than gold, and sweeter than honey dripping from the honeycomb. What could be better than that?
