There are two views on the topic of decision making and the will of God. The view you learn in the church is called “the traditional view”. I call this view the mystical/postmodern view. The more practical view is called “the wisdom view”. I call this view the battlefield/military view. I am a proponent of the wisdom view.
Let’s learn about the two different views:
[The traditional view is] that God has a plan for our lives and that we receive guidance through methods such as “open and closed doors”, “feeling led” and “the still, small, voice”. Once the view has been well explained, through the foil of a fictional seminar, the book continues to critique this view, explaining how it is based on a poor use and understanding of scriptures, and how some of the reasons given in support of the view do not apply.
[The wisdom view] holds that God does not have an “individual will” for our lives, but rather that all of God’s will can be summed up within two categories, God’s sovereign will and God’s moral will. Basically God’s sovereign will is all the things that god decrees will happen. It is hidden (mostly) from us, and does not play an active part in our decision, although some of it is revealed in the bible. God’s moral will is the part that we must concern ourselves with in making decisions. It is fully revealed in the bible and our decisions must be made within it. We may use wisdom in applying god’s moral will to our lives, or we may be in an area not covered by god’s moral will. We must finally submit in advance to God’s sovereign will, being prepared for him to sovereignty intervene and redirect us through whatever means he wills (see James).
Here’s a bit more from someone else:
Regarding the view that God has a personal will for us individually that we have to discern and find, J.I. Packer says, “The first thing to say is that the idea of guidance is actually a novelty among orthodox evangelicals. It does not go back farther than the last century. Second, it has led people to so much foolish action on the one hand, and so much foolish inaction on the other, as well as puzzlement and heartbreak when the ‘hotline’ to God seems to go silent, that it has to be discredited. Third, it must be said that Scripture gives us no more warrant constantly to expect personal ‘hotline,’ ‘voice-from-the-control-tower’ guidance than to expect new authoritative revelations to come our way for the guidance of the whole church.” (Hot Tub Religion, page 118).
As to the point of the question, how do I make decisions, I attempt to make decisions in light of three factors: God’s moral will, wisdom, and my personal desires. If something is opposed to God’s moral will, then I should obviously flee from it. If it’s not opposed, then I consider the wisdom of the choices. For example, would it be wise for me to marry a woman who loves Jesus, though we have nothing else in common? Probably not. If the options pass the criteria of wisdom, then I’m free to choose how I wish. If I’m offered two jobs, and both are honoring to God, and both would be wise to take, then I’m free to choose the job I would like more. I don’t need to put out a fleece or await some other confirmation from God. If it’s moral and wise, then the only question as to whether or not it will honor Him is my attitude.
Some examples of this model used in the Bible (in theological circles referred to as the Wisdom Model) are in Paul’s planning of a mission to Rome in Romans 1:9-15, 15:22-24, the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15:1-29), and Paul’s instructions for legal disputes (1 Cor 6:3-6).
The best book on this topic is Garry Friesen’s “Decision Making and the Will of God”. In it, you’ll find a full assessment about what the Bible teaches on this topic.
When I am trying to decide what will be effective, I look at Christian scholars, at their papers, books, and public debates. That’s effectiveness because it is addressed to a non-Christian audience in public with the force of reason and evidence. It is persuasion and it is addressed to rational minds. I want to change the minds of people who have a large influence on society on the whole. I don’t think that offering Christianity as life-enhancement or self-help is really “having an influence”. I think that offering Christianity as truth, with support, is “having an influence”.
So let me be clear about what I believe:
- I don’t think that God normally talks to people directly
- I don’t believe that life is an Easter egg hunt, filled with clues accessible only to emotion and intuition
- I don’t believe that God expects people to discover a specific will for their lives using non-rational means
- I think that people make up their own life plan that is consistent with the Bible
- The goal of the life plan is to be effective, and there are no other considerations
- I think that there are many good things a person can do, but that some are more effective than others
- I think that with respect to the goal of serving God effectively, my happiness is expendable
- I don’t think that the purpose of doing something for the Lord is to feel good about ourselves
- I don’t think that people should choose ineffective things to do just because they like them
- I don’t think that people should choose ineffective things to do just because they are good at them
- I think people should do hard things that they don’t like – as long as it’s more effective
- I don’t think that any course of action is as effective as any other – some plans accomplish more
- I don’t think that life is totally unpredictable and irrational and subjective
- I think that we can know what is or is not effective by studying and learning about the world
- I think life is like a battlefield that must be surveyed, understood and acted upon deliberately
I think that every person is the commanding officer of his or her own life, and each person must study everything they can, make a plan that is consistent with the Bible’s moral prescriptions, execute the plan and achieve whatever they can achieve for the Lord. And the goal is not comfort or happy feelings, but real achievements. Life is more like a war than a vacation resort or a buffet or a shopping center. God’s will for us is not have happy feelings, but that we freely choose to sacrifice ourselves out of obedience and service to him. In my case, that means studying hard things, making money, saving money, and giving money away to good scholars, sponsoring good events and being persuasive to non-Christians. I cried when I had to learn calculus, because it was so hard. But who cares?
I think that it is very important to realize that God is not impressed by our not being smart and not being effective. If we have the ability to be smart, then we should be smart, whether it makes us happy or not. If we have the ability to make money, then we should make money, whether it makes us happy or not. If we have the ability have a great influence, then we should have a great influence, whether it makes us happy or not. There will be plenty of time for happiness after we’re dead. With respect to God’s purposes in the world, my happiness is expendable. The thought about what “I want” doesn’t enter into my mind.
Whenever someone questions my plans by saying that I am asserting my will over God’s will, the first question I want to ask that person is this: “how do you know what God’s will is?” and “what is your basis for thinking that my plan will not be effective?”. I want to know if I have misunderstood something about the way the world is, or miscalculated in some way. I want someone to look at my calculations and show where they are going to produce a less optimal result for the Lord. That’s the only concern I have – effectiveness.
This article by Greg Koukl may be helpful.
And I also found this summary of the Friesen book useful:
In nine parts.
WINTERY KNIGHT 
One of my pet peeves. Thanks for posting.
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I think I largely agree with you, but I want to suggest what might be described as a more moderate position that bears some resemblance to both the “traditional view” and the “wisdom view” that you describe. I thought it was laid out well in the relevant chapter (about God’s guidance—not sure off the top of my head what the chapter was called) in J. I. Packer’s Knowing God. Interestingly, you’ve also quoted J. I. Packer here; I’m not sure whether what I’m remembering contradicts what you’re quoting.
As I remember it, he divides all choices we make into moral choices and “vocational” choices. A lot of the choices we make are moral—there’s a right and wrong choice, and we can know which is which, from the Bible or the church. (OK, he said only from the Bible; I added that last part.) We should choose right. Certainly I believe that God is personally involved and prompts us to do right (through conscience for all of us, through the Holy Spirit dwelling within us for Christians), but we don’t have to strain to listen for it; morality is also laid out for us explicitly in the Bible, in church teachings, etc. If we ever feel a prompting that conflicts with those, we know that it’s not from God.
On the other hand, some of the choices we make are what Packer calls “vocational”—what job to get, whom (or whether) to marry. In those, as you say, we are called to prudence, but there are multiple morally acceptable options. We have the freedom to choose. Packer suggests that the Holy Spirit will guide us in these choices, but will operate primarily through our normal rational faculties. We’ll contemplate our options, and ask our trusted friends for advice, and make whatever choice seems good and pleasing to us, and that’s fine.
I guess I’m suggesting both that God speaks to us directly a lot more than you’re making it sound like, and that we shouldn’t worry about it nearly as much as (or at least not in the way that) some people make it sound like.
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Oh I agree with you completely on this. God does prompt people to follow the moral law, but there is more freedom for reasoning with these vocational choices.
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Great post, with more substance than I can keep up with. Here’s what I can add:
“with respect to the goal of serving God effectively, my happiness is expendable.”
Completely agree that our happiness is expendable, especially in the context of what we expect will bring happiness. And yet, I also know that God enjoys blessing us with good things, the same as we enjoy giving good things to our children.
“If we have the ability to make money, then we should make money, whether it makes us happy or not.” Hmm. This statement makes me chuckle. I’m not sure what you really mean. I could put my kids in daycare and earn more than the cost. Yet I’m pretty sure you are not expecting me to work outside the home.
“Whenever someone questions my plans by saying that I am asserting my will over God’s will, the first question I want to ask that person is this: “how do you know what God’s will is?”
Yes, bingo. I am always perplexed by those who unblinkingly know that (fill in event here) is God’s work in their lives. Wow. You are awfully smart to ascertain God’s will, especially considering that His plan transcends human understanding.
God may not need to speak directly to His children regarding life’s tribulations. Still, we must recognize that He does speak to us thru the Holy Spirit (perhaps in that “small voice” you mentioned, or more often in our own unspoken voice.)
We just need to discern the differnce between real Godly guidance and the world’s distorted version.
cheers!
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I agree in general but think that the issue is often presented too much in an either/or format. I see it more as a “both and” type of thing. When we look at Scripture–both in the Old and New Testaments, God was very active in guiding His people with respect to very specific decisions. Some theologians and denominations make arguments for why we should not expect Church life today to look like it did in Acts, but the reality is that Scripture gives no indication at all that what the New Testament believers experienced by way of what is now labeled “charismatic” phenomena would somehow stop being the normal Christian experience.
God has laid out His commandments and expects us to follow them. We don’t need special guidance for that. That doesn’t mean that He won’t also guide us in more specific ways that may be discernible to us as being from Him. There are believers who are very much guided by the Lord in a way that is not just about their own decision making. The Church needs to acknowledge and respect that, even if it means doing some self-reflection as to why the ability to *consciously discern* the Holy Spirit’s movements isn’t more common in the Christian experience.
The Lord does not always have a specific way that He is telling us to go, but many times He does, and I believe that it is a necessary part of Christian maturity to be able to discern the leading of the Spirit. Too many believers, in reaction against the excesses of many charismatic circles, essentially stop believing that it’s necessary to develop such perception or that there might be a benefit in doing so. But again, that’s not what Scripture teaches us.
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