False Prophecy
One
Diving deeper into the 2nd Commandment
The Bible speaks frequently about false prophets and warns against them.
In the book of Jeremiah, God says, “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name; I have not sent them, I gave them no orders, I never spoke to them. Delusive visions, hollow predictions, daydreams of their own, this is what they prophesy to you… Therefore, the prophets who prophesy in my name when I have not sent them.. these same prophets are doomed to perish by sword and famine.”
In other words, do NOT say you have a message from God when you don’t. Do NOT treat your own opinion as though it comes with Divine Authority.
That is a violation of the second commandment. That’s taking God’s name in vain.
Two
“This is what God wills”
It’s always tempting for Christians to bolster their own position by appealing to God.
Parents may be tempted to tell their children, “This is God’s will for you.” Or, “This is the direction God wants our children to go.”
Parish priests may be tempted to tell their parishioners, “God is calling us to do this thing, or that thing.”
That can be a very dangerous way of talking. Because it implies that the parent or the priest has some kind of special, direct communication line with God.
And then, if it turns out that the decision they were advocating was really imprudent, misguided, or wrong, people are prone to blame God or disbelieve all supernatural testimonies.
Three
Prudence, not prophesy
God’s will, what God is calling all of us to, is to avoid morally evil actions. He’s also calling us all to be perfectly holy, perfectly conformed to Christ, and to perfectly live out the Church’s teaching in our particular circumstances. That is definitely His will. But the details of how we’re supposed to go about doing all that, God generally leaves to our particular decision-making.
He gives us the faculty of prudence, or making decisions and taking responsibility for them – even though we know our decision-making faculties are imperfect.
True, some people do get specific supernatural instructions about what they’re supposed to do.
St. Joan of Arc, for instance, kept getting supernatural messages from heaven, calling her to lead a military revolt against England. But, before she went anywhere near a battlefield, she submitted herself to the inspection and judgment of the Church authorities.
So if you think you’re getting a special, miraculous, revelation from God – then before you go around telling people, “This is God’s will,” you should probably submit yourself to the Church authorities.
Otherwise, just say, “Look, we need to make a decision, and it seems to me like this is the best way to serve God in these circumstances. And if it turns out I’m wrong, which is certainly possible, then we’ll just pray to God to supplement for my misguidedness.”
That’s a humble, but also convicted, way to go about trying to lead others and to do God’s will.
Four
Misrepresenting the Bible and the Church
Perhaps one of the worst, and most common, forms of false prophecy today is committed by those who misrepresent the Scriptures and the Teachings of the Church.
Just as false prophets in the Old Testament would tell the kings of the time what they wanted to hear and claim it came from God, so too will the false prophets of our day tell the culture what they want to hear. And they’ll justify it by distorting parts of the Bible and the Church’s tradition.
These people will try to make God’s revelation fit society, instead of vice versa.
But Christ is the same, and the Gospel message is the same, in every age, for every people. To distort that Gospel message, to claim that God doesn’t care what you believe, or has “no problem” with the sins that have become so pervasive. That’s to speak God’s name in vain. It’s to set the culture up for utter corruption and collapse. And it’s to invite God’s anger against the false prophet who has misrepresented the Divine Message.
Five
True prophets
A prophet is one who speaks the Word of God, who spreads the divine message that the Lord of Heaven has sent into the world.
Every Christian is called to do that. Every Christian is called to spread the truth of Christ and the fulness of the Church’s teachings. But we don’t need to add to that.
Christ already condemns sin, so we don’t have to add any new condemnations. Christ already predicts the end of the world and His coming at an unknown date, so we don’t have to add any new predictions. Christ already offers His mercy to the repentant, so we don’t have to add any compromises of our own. Christ already requires we follow the commandments and the two-fold law of love, if we need to institute further policies in our own area of authority, we don’t have to claim that we received them directly from the Lord.
If we are prophets, if we claim to have a message from God, and we do, then let’s spread it. But let’s not add to it. And let’s not water it down trying to appease the culture either.
The Gospel, as proclaimed by the Church, is enough.