I have attended many churches, multiple church groups, fellowship with many other believers and heard a multitude of preachers and teachers speak. I'm flooded with mixed feelings about how so many leaders choose to share a word from God. My initial reaction is a teaspoon of shock, afterwards, a dash of hurt, followed by a cup full of righteous anger. The two most frequent sayings used to preface a word from our Lord are "I believe" and "In my opinion"...
If you're a believer, that means God's spirit lives inside your body; the Holy Spirit. It means you and God are in communion, a relationship; you talk to him and he talks to you. When God tells you to tell his people something, you need to say it; and it's vital that you're bold and confident in Christ when doing so! If you're in a leadership position, you're responsible for leading the flock. Now, if you've ordained yourself as a leader, rather than allowing God to call you to such a position, that's an entirely different issue that definitely needs to be addressed. But those whom God created as members of the five-fold are responsible for leading and guiding people; most likely...a LOT of people.
What hurts me so badly is that I don't think some people, especially leaders, even understand the magnitude of repercussions of their words, when they say things like "I believe the Lord is saying..." or "in my opinion, the Lord is saying..." People need the TRUTH according to God's word, not based on the credibility of someone's personal opinion. If the Lord is speaking, let him speak. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. This doesn't just mean the bible, it also means His words; whatever he wants to say, through whomever He wants to say it, which could also be anyone in the body of Christ.
Believe me, I completely understand not wanting to lead people astray or give them the wrong information, but it's vital that you trust the Lord and your relationship with him. There is no room for fear when he needs to say something. When the Lord Jesus tells you to tell his people something, BOLDLY say it, in Jesus name!
