Pastoral Gear #1: Discerning 'weird' spiritual experiences

What do you do when you come across someone who claims they have been having weird spiritual experiences but you're just not sure? Here are some general thoughts about the theological and practical considerations involved.

Humans are spiritual beings having a physical experience. That doesn't mean we ignore our physical reality, rather that physical reality is affirmed by Jesus who became flesh and lived among us, who died and who rose again in bodily resurrection. The physical and material matters, but our eternal nature is spiritual––it's the part of us that continues after we experience bodily death.

We shouldn't be surprised, then, that humans have spiritual experiences in the shape of dreams, prophecies, intuitions, discernment, and visually seeing spiritual beings in the physical realm. The spiritual dimension of the human experience is very real: we're spiritual beings have a physical experience.

When we do come across these spiritual experiences––that for us in a Western world seem so "otherwordly"––we don't need to worry so much with the question of whether or not they're plausible, we need to focus on the quality of those experiences: are they "good" or "bad", from God or from the devil. The important thing in these situations is knowledge of the Scriptures, discernment, wisdom and spiritual maturity.

For pretty much every Christian spiritual experience the devil can twist, mock, counterfeit and replicate. So just because someone has a "prophecy" about something––even if it comes true––is no guarantee of its source. The devil doesn't just come to hunt people down and kill them (although that is also true), rather the approach is probably more along the lines of seduction and curiosity... The proof of any spiritual experience is in the fruit it produces.

Take, for example, someone who has a dream, a premonition, about some future calamity. How do you think someone who is a faithful follower of Jesus would respond to that dream? How do you think someone who isn't a solid believer would respond? I'd suggest that the response to that dream will pretty much indicate their spiritual temperature.

I believe someone who is close to Jesus would be in prayer for the people associated with that calamity, that in the process of praying their own heart would be changed to become more like Jesus' and they'd be compelled towards the activities that are associated with a thriving growing faith: prayer, scripture, mission, faith. In these ways the fruit shows that they are in a good place - regardless of the origin of the dream. Further, these practices would give Jesus opportunity to guide, teach, rebuke, convict the person as well.

I'd suggest that someone who isn't strong in their faith would get sidetracked––they may became enamoured with "their" ability, they might try to "open" themselves up to further prophecies, they may get distracted from prayer / scripture / faith / mission because of what they're experiencing, and they will undoubtedly come across fruitloops and weirdos who will be used to "affirm" they giftedness, to distract them from a right relationship with Jesus and to distort and maybe quench the person's willingness to be open to Jesus' Holy Spirit. An immature person will be easily seduced and taken away, cultivating an unhealthy interest in the "paranormal" and opening themselves up to other "energies" or "possibilities".

Ephesians tells us not to be ignorant about these spiritual realities. But it also tells us not to focus directly on these things (ie. get distracted, piss fart around with things that seem "sexy" but are counterfeit and twisted). Rather, it says, focus on what God has finished in Christ Jesus and to continue in prayer, scripture and real community so that Jesus' mission is continued through families, marriages, places of employment and vocation and beyond. It might be that in doing this gear––which is what Jesus is on about––God may grant visions, prophecies and all that jazz, and the person who receives them has to be mature about discerning their meaning and their personal responsibility with/to those things.

In these scenarios I've described I am putting the responsibility back on the person. In some respects I am ignoring the question "Is it from God?" I believe that a mature believer who is studying scripture, praying like a banshee and who lives in vulnerable community with people who both encourage and rebuke will be able to discern that question.

How do you respond to someone in that situation? Here's a stab at some general principles for a pastoral response:

• You pray and ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom, insight, guidance and discernment.

• You ask Jesus to use you to encourage and build the person up in their journey––that they might see Jesus clearly, may seek to glorify Him with their life and they'd follow him in truth.

• You listen to their story and you pay attention to how they talk about the situation (what do they emphasize, what seems significant to them, what do they ignore or minimise etc.)

• You ask them how they know it's Jesus. You ask them what they think Jesus wants them to do with it? You ask them how they think it lines up with scripture?

• You keep the focus on Jesus, prayer with Jesus, scripture that reveals Jesus and the community of faith that follows Jesus.

• You offer to study the scriptures with the person over a period of time (once a wk for 6wks) in a focused way.

• You offer to pray with them knowing that God can reveal what's going on and that discernment often happens in community.