Tyler Staton is pastor of Bridgetown Church in Portland, Oregon. He became pastor when the previous pastor, John Mark Comer, stepped down to run his Practicing the Way initiative. Like Comer, Staton promotes the mystics and Contemplative Spirituality
Discerning God’s Voice
This article examines a talk Staton gave at Vintage Church in Los Angeles (the church where John Mark Comer is a Teacher in Residence) titled “Hearing God: Discernment.”
The passage used is the Luke 24 account of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus who encounter the resurrected Jesus (although they were initially prevented from recognizing him, see v. 16). Staton’s focus is verse 28:
“And they approached the village where they were going, and He acted as though He were going farther.”
Staton’s topic is to discern how one can know that one is hearing from God; he calls this discernment. He discusses this as “hearing God’s voice,” but he is not referring to hearing God by reading Scripture. Staton defines discernment as “the practice of attentively listening to God amidst the complexity of a sin nature and a fallen world.” He states he will discuss this in four areas: Whispers, lies, distractions, and discernment.
I would define biblical discernment as distinguishing God’s truth from untruth, guided by God’s word and the Holy Spirit.
Elijah and Moses
Staton first discusses Elijah who fled after the showdown with Baal’s prophets on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:1-40). Elijah flees Jezebel who is seeking his life and eventually goes to Mt. Horeb (chapter 19) where Moses received the tablets. Staton states that Elijah is “desperate” to hear God and has made the pilgrimage to Mt. Horeb to hear God’s voice. But nothing in the biblical text indicates this (read chapters 18 and 19 and decide for yourself). In fact, when God asks Elijah what he is doing there, Elijah states that he alone is left of the prophets serving God and that his life is being sought.
Knowing that Staton studied under Contemplative teacher Ruth Haley Barton helps to explain this. Barton weaves the account of Elijah going to Mt. Horeb into her book, Invitation to Silence and Solitude, to say that Elijah was desperately seeking God’s voice. (Please see the two-part CANA article on this book here and here).
This is where the “still, small voice” passage is but Staton focuses on verse 11:
“So He said, ‘Go forth and stand on the mountain before the Lord.’ And behold, the Lord was passing by!”
Staton draws a parallel with God’s words to Moses in Exodus 33:21-22:
“and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by.”
It is the “passing by” that Staton sees as significant. Staton then refers to Job 9 (v. 11) which speaks of God passing by:
“Were He to pass by me, I would not see Him;
Were He to move past me, I would not perceive Him.”
A passage in Mark 6 is given as well by Staton:
“Seeing them straining at the oars, for the wind was against them, at about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea; and He intended to pass by them.” v 48
Staton is using these passages to make a point about hearing God. These are interesting passages with apparent parallels to research and ponder, but they must be viewed in context. Before continuing, we should ask if the concept of God passing by in these passages are similar in meaning. The examination of these passages below is not done by Staton; it is done by the author of this article to answer that question.
Elijah
After fleeing Jezebel, Elijah comes to a cave where God asks him what he is doing there, and Elijah answers that he is being hunted for his life. God tells him to stand on the mountain. The next words are that “the Lord was passing by” (v. 11). There is a strong wind, an earthquake, and a fire, then Elijah hears “the gentle blowing” – NAS, or “still, small voice” – King James.
The Pulpit Commentary states:
“Heb. passeth by. Only used here and in Exodus 33:22; Exodus 34:6 of the Divine Being. The beatific vision must be transient. An abiding presence, a שֹׁכֵן, was more than man could bear.”
The Lord “passing by” here seems to indicate God’s presence or that he is about to make his presence known but he is not visible and cannot be seen.
Moses
Ellicott’s comment on the Exodus 33 passage where God hides Moses in the rocks expresses it well:
“Human language is, by its very nature, unfit for the expression of sublime spiritual truths, and necessarily clothes them in a materialistic garment which is alien to their ethereal nature. All that we can legitimately gather from this verse and the next is that Moses was directed to a certain retired position, where God miraculously both protected him and shrouded him, while a manifestation of His glory passed by of a transcendent character, and that Moses was allowed to see, not the full manifestation, but the sort of after-glow which it left behind, which was as much as human nature could endure.”
God had just told Moses that he could not see God’s face and live (v. 20). God was graciously protecting Moses by hiding Moses in the rocks and “passing by,” only allowing Moses to see a leftover light of the glory of God.
Job
In Job chapter 9, Job asks how can a man be right before God (v. 2), then speaks of God’s power and majesty. Job is recognizing his sinfulness before a mighty holy God, so why should he even conceive of seeing God? This appears to be the meaning of the hypothetical statement that if God passed by, Job would not see him. The rest of the chapter confirms this.
The same idea is found in Job 23 where Job confesses that even his complaint is “rebellion,” and although he wants to go before God, he would not see him.
Mark 6
Jesus sees the disciples in a struggle against the wind in a fierce storm and, although intending to pass by, Jesus comes to their aid; the wind stops when Jesus enters the boat. The Pulpit Commentary emphasizes the language that indicates how strong the storm was:
“The word βασανιξομένους means more than “toiling;” it means literally, tormented. It is well rendered in the Revised Version by distressed. It was only by painful effort that they could make head against the driving storm blowing upon them from the west, that is, from the Mediterranean Sea…<snip>…During that time the disciples had rowed about twenty-five or thirty furlongs, that is about three Roman miles – eight furlongs – making a mile. The Sea of Galilee is not more than six miles broad at its widest part. They were therefore now (ἐν μέσῳ τῆς θαλάσσης) “in the midst of the sea,” as St. Mark expresses it; so that, after rowing for nine hours, they had hardly crossed more than half over the sea. The Sea of Galilee is, speaking roughly, about twelve miles from north to south and six from east to west.
It may be asked why our Lord suffered them to be tempest-tossed so long; and the answer is: It was a trial of their faith, so as to urge them to seek more earnestly the help of God…<snip>…It made the stilling of so tedious and dangerous a storm all the more grateful and welcome to them at last.”
As for the passing by, the same commentary states:
“He would have passed by them. An expression something like that in St. Luke (Luke 24:28), “He made as though he would go further,” although there the Greek in St. Luke is different (προσεποιεῖτο πορρωτέρω πορεύεσθαι). Here it is ἤθελε παρελθεῖν: literally, he wished to pass by them; so at least it appeared to the disciples. It has been suggested that our Lord did this that the disciples might more clearly see how the wind was stilled in his presence.”
The Mark 6 passage is very different from those in Exodus 33 and Job 9. The Exodus and Job passage are about how God’s majesty and glory do not allow God to be visibly seen by man because man cannot endure it.
The passage in Mark 6 is about who Jesus is and his testing of the disciples who, after hours of struggling in a harsh storm and being at the end of their rope, see how the storm dissipates when Jesus enters their boat. The disciples experience the visible effects of Jesus’ power and person.
Because the same term “passing by” or variations of it are used does not mean the same meaning is being given in all three passages.
Back to Emmaus
Staton returns to the Luke 24 passage, telling the congregation that Jesus spent his resurrection day with two disappointed disciples who did not realize it was Jesus. Staton states that the “same Jesus was content to walk past his disciples in the storm seems content to walk past these disciples” on the road to Emmaus.
Is this the case?
Where in the text does it suggest that Jesus was “content” in either Mark or Luke? Moreover, the language in Mark and Luke are different in describing Jesus passing by or continuing on and do not indicate the same situation.
But his does not deter Staton. He cites John 1:10 about how the world did not know Jesus.
The meaning in John is not connected to the other passages given by Staton. In John, the verse states that Jesus (who created the world) was not acknowledged or recognized by the world. In other words, he was rejected as the Son of God and Messiah by most of those who saw or heard of him. This is a willful rejection of Christ; the other passages are about the actions of God or Jesus towards men and/or their inability to perceive him.
God’s Native Language?
Now Staton makes his point and states that it is his point: that God’s “native language is a whisper.”
He asks:
“What if God is speaking to you far more than you currently know? And what if most of your divine encounters with his presence to this point in your life are just Craig’s list mis-connections, like holy moments that could have been? But the Lord passed right by you?”
This certainly is enough to disturb many who believe that God might have a message for them that they could be missing (but to believe this, one would have to think the Bible is insufficient). The Lord is “passing by” them due to an error or lack on their part is the apparent message from Staton.
Staton concludes that “We tend to miss God right in our midst not because he’s extraordinary but because he’s too ordinary.”
Staton tries to tie all the passages he cited to the point that God might be passing by and you are missing it. We miss hearing God because he’s in the ordinary moments, not the dramatic ones.
I agree that we should not look for God in dramatic encounters or only through famous preachers or special places. But Staton is going beyond this idea. His path to hearing God is the contemplative practices from medieval monasticism that are a mélange of Eastern meditation methods, Rohr-ish ideas (as in Richard Rohr), and current contemplative teachings such as from his teacher, Ruth Haley Barton.
There is no basis to assert that God’s “native language” is a whisper. Contemplatives want you to believe that you must be still, alone, and quiet, sometimes with a disengaged mind, or God cannot get through to you. So silence is idolized and God allegedly speaks in a “still, small voice” or in whispers.
Why God Does Not Shout
Why then does God not shout, queries Staton. Because, he replies, when God speaks in loud or obvious ways, it does not seem to do any good. Staton points to situations in the Bible such as Elijah being hunted after Mt. Carmel; Jesus’ miracles being only “subjectively effective;” and that even the empty tomb did not lead to “widespread awakening” but rather to persecution and imprisonment. So maybe God whispers because he is intimate, and because “the louder his voice gets, the more polarizing he becomes.”
The first thing that should come to mind is: has biblical evidence been offered for this idea? Staton has cited many passages, but none of them support this assertion. In fact, it seems that Jesus aiding the disciples on the stormy sea was a rather dramatic, “loud” encounter.
Staton makes it sound like God does not want to be “polarizing.” I would say that God himself is polarizing just for who he is. In fact, the Bible illustrates clearly that God is quite polarizing and does not try to soften that. One rejects God or not; one trusts in Christ and has eternal life or not. There is no middle ground there.
As for the empty tomb leading to persecution and imprisonment — this was supposedly God “shouting” and Staton uses it as an example of God’s “shouting” not doing any good. I think this is a very poor and senseless example. The empty tomb is at the heart of the Christian faith symbolizing the bodily resurrection of Jesus and sets Christianity apart from any other religion.
But no valid biblical evidence or example has been offered to support Staton’s idea that when God shouts it does not do any good or that God’s “native language” is a whisper.
The Deceiver
Staton brings up God’s “competition,” the deceiver (Satan) who lies and impersonates Jesus. How do we distinguish the voice of God from the deceiver’s whisper?
Our ”inner world” asserts Staton, is “a rowdy room filled with competing voices….<snip>…and it’s hard to hear a whisper among all that competing noise.”
So we are supposed to listen for God in our “inner world?” Notice that Staton has not referred to the Bible as the primary, authoritative, and final source for God’s voice. Instead, Staton misuses Scripture passages to try to give credibility to his dubious assertions.
So how do we distinguish God’s voice from the deceiver’s? Staton answers that
“God’s voice is heard at the depth of the soul, while the deceiver’s lies appeal to the shallow places of the ego.”
God appeals to “our deep longings” while Satan appeals to shallow ones. This is a very subjective way to make a distinction. How does one objectively distinguish between a “deep longing” versus a shallow one? The use of God’s word is not mentioned.
“Proceed With Caution”
Staton advises:
“If you ask for God’s voice in your life, proceed with caution.”
One should first ask: What reason is there to ask for God’s voice when Christians already have it in Scripture and are indwelt by the Holy Spirit?
And on the heels of that question, one should ask: Proceed with caution? This reminds me of Richard Foster’s admonition to pray for protection when practicing contemplative prayer (see Addendum*).
Does the Bible warn about praying, that it might be dangerous? That we need to be cautious? On the contrary, God’s word urges in many places for those in Christ to pray — and no warning is included. Rather than fear or need for caution, there is peace:
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7
Training Elijah to Hear God?
Did Elijah need to be trained to hear God’s voice? Staton claims this is the case. He states that a series of random and “seemingly unproductive” events starting in 1 Kings 17 occurred in order to train Elijah to hear God.
It is reasonable to conclude that Elijah was learning to obey and trust God through those events, and Staton even asserts this. But there is nothing to indicate it was training to hear God’s voice. As a prophet of God, Elijah did not need training to hear God speak.
Towards the end of the talk, Staton reads from his journal about how he learned from a book by the deceased troubling pastor John Wimber.
Training to Hear God’s Whisper
We all need training to hear God’s whisper, claims Staton. Staton then quotes Ruth Haley Barton, someone whose teachings this ministry has warned about.
Is there a practice to train us to discern God’s voice from the competing voices? asks Staton. Staton affirms there is and suggests the Examen, a very subjective method from Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuit Order. Ignatius was one of those who battled the Reformation as part of the Counter-Reformation.
However, God’s word has given no indication that one needs such training and no “training” is offered in Scripture. That is because God provided his sufficient word. God did not leave believers adrift.
The Voice in John 10
Staton concludes by misusing another passage of Scripture, John 10:1-5 in which Jesus talks about being the good shepherd whose sheep know his voice. Staton cites this to support his teaching of hearing God’s voice.
This passage is constantly misused by Contemplatives and others to say one can or even should hear God’s voice. However, the passage itself in verse 6 tells us that this “voice” is a figure of speech:
“This figure of speech Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were which He had been saying to them.”
Jesus is speaking of the call to salvation (scroll down to “My Sheep Hear My Voice” to read brief explanation from Greg Koukl). This meaning is confirmed further down in verse 16 where Jesus states:
“I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.”
Jesus is speaking of the Gentiles who will be called into the Kingdom and become part of the church.
Darkness Not Light
It is rather fitting that Staton ends on a misuse of a Bible passage since all Contemplatives misuse the Bible when they try to support the practices of mysticism. Mysticism –unmediated contact with God or seeking to have union with God — is contrary to God’s word and so always undermines it as well as disparaging the attributes of God and the cost of the cross.
The attempt to tie together the passages about God passing by and Jesus about to pass by has been demonstrated to be invalid and does not work.
A sermon using the passage about the road to Emmaus should be about Jesus and his resurrection and what that means, not about hearing whispers or trying to figure out which voice amongst many in “our inner world” is God’s.
Instead of clarity and uplifting words about Christ, we are pointed backwards in the direction of the dark dungeons of mysticism and the dubious teachings of damnable men.
[See another CANA article on Tyler Staton]
*Addendum
Richard Foster writes that “In the silent contemplation of God we are entering deeply into the spiritual realm, and there is such a thing as supernatural guidance that is not divine guidance. While the Bible does not give us a lot of information on the nature of the spiritual world, we do know enough to recognize that there are various orders of spiritual beings, and some of them are definitely not in cooperation with God and his way!”
First of all, this indicates that the “silent contemplation of God” taught by Foster and other Contemplatives is not biblical prayer. One who prays according to biblical models is not “entering deeply into” any spiritual realm; one practicing biblical prayer is petitioning God through the authority of Christ and coming to the throne of God only via the blood of Christ. There is no caution or reason for caution given by God for prayer as is demonstrated in the Bible. While it is true that in the world one must be vigilant and discerning (as God’s word instructs), there is no basis for applying this to prayer.
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