A biblical review by Tim Challies
"Sarah Young’s Jesus Calling is a phenomenon that shows no
signs of slowing down. According to publisher Thomas Nelson, it “continues to
grow in units sold each year since it was released [and] has surpassed 15
million copies sold.” Nelson is involved in an expansive new marketing campaign
that involves a new web site and daily radio devotionals. ECPA reports that
“Thomas Nelson began its partnership with the Salem Media group to provide
60-second daily messages on Eric Metaxas’ show, which is carried on more than
100 stations nationwide and worldwide on SiriusXM Radio. The Jesus Calling
radio devotional reaches more than 500,000 people each day through these
segments.” With 15 million copies sold, it has marched its way into rare
company.
Yet it is a deeply troubling book. I am going to point out
10 serious problems with Jesus Calling in the hope that you will consider and
heed these warnings.
1. She speaks for God. Far and away the most troubling
aspect of the book is its very premise—that Sarah Young hears from Jesus and
then dutifully brings his messages to her readers. Jesus Calling makes the
boldest, gutsiest, and, to my mind, most arrogant claim of any book ever to be
considered Christian. The publisher describes the book in this way: “After many
years of writing her own words in her prayer journal, missionary Sarah Young
decided to be more attentive to the Savior’s voice and begin listening for what
He was saying. So with pen in hand, she embarked on a journey that forever
changed her—and many others around the world. In these powerful pages are the
words and Scriptures Jesus lovingly laid on her heart. Words of reassurance,
comfort, and hope. Words that have made her increasingly aware of His presence
and allowed her to enjoy His peace (italics mine).” There is no way to avoid
her claim that she is communicating divine revelation, a claim that raises a
host of questions and concerns, not the least of which is the doctrine of
Scripture alone which assures us that the Bible and the Bible alone is
sufficient to guide us in all matters of faith and practice.
Jesus Calling only
exists because Sarah Young had a deep desire to hear from God outside of the
Bible.
2. She proclaims the insufficiency of the Bible. Jesus
Calling only exists because Sarah Young had a deep desire to hear from God
outside of the Bible. In the introduction she describes the book’s
genesis: “I began to wonder if I … could receive messages during my times of
communing with God. I had been writing in prayer journals for years, but that
was one-way communication: I did all the talking. I knew that God communicated
with me through the Bible, but I yearned for more. Increasingly, I wanted to
hear what God had to say to me personally on a given day.” In those few
sentences she sets up unnecessary competition between her revelation and what
we are told of the Bible in 2 Timothy 3:16-17: “All Scripture is breathed out
by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for
training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for
every good work.” Biblically, there is no category for what she provides as the
heart and soul of her book. Biblically, there is no need for it and no reason
we should expect or heed it.
3. Her deepest experience of God comes through a practice
God does not endorse.
Young does not only endorse her practice of listening,
but goes so far as to elevate it as the chief spiritual discipline. “This
practice of listening to God has increased my intimacy with Him more than any
other spiritual discipline, so I want to share some of the messages I have
received. In many parts of the world, Christians seem to be searching for a
deeper experience of Jesus’ Presence and Peace. The messages that follow
address that felt need.” Notice that her solution to addressing the desire
for Jesus’ Presence and Peace is not Scripture or any other means of grace, but
the very messages she provides in her book.
4. She is inspired by untrustworthy models. In early
versions of Jesus Calling, Young tells of her discovery of the book God Calling
and the way she modeled her practice of listening on it. She describes it as “a
devotional book written by two anonymous ‘listeners.’ These women practiced
waiting quietly in God’s Presence, pencils and paper in hand, recording the
messages they received from Him. This little paperback became a treasure to me.
It dove-tailed remarkably well with my longing to live in Jesus’ Presence.” It
is worth noting that recent versions of Jesus Calling have been scrubbed of
this information. God Calling is an equally troubling book that saw much success
beginning in the 1930s and has seen a revival of interest in the wake of Jesus
Calling. It is at times subbiblical and at other times patently unbiblical. And
yet it is a book she regards as a treasure and a model for her own work.
5. She provides lesser revelation. Young admits that her
revelation is different from the Bible’s (“The Bible is, of course, the only
inerrant Word of God; my writings must be consistent with that unchanging
standard”), but does not explain how her writings are different. Jesse Johnson says,
“She does grant that the content of Jesus Calling should be measured against
Scripture—but that is true of Scripture as well. In the end, there is no
substantial difference in how Young expects us to view Jesus’ words to her,
than how we are to view the Bible. I mean, Jesus’ words to Sarah are literally
packaged into a devotional, so that we can do our devotionals from
them every day.” If her words are actually from Jesus, how can they be any
less authoritative or less binding than any word of Scripture?
6. She mimics occult practices. The way in which Young
receives her revelation from Jesus smacks of the occult. “I decided to listen
to God with pen in hand, writing down whatever I believe He was saying. I felt
awkward the first time I tried this, but I received a message. It was short,
biblical, and appropriate. It addressed topics that were current in my life:
trust, fear, and closeness to God. I responded by writing in my
prayer journal.” This is not a far cry from a practice known as “automatic
writing” which Wikipedia describes
as “an alleged psychic ability allowing a person to produce written words
without consciously writing. The words are claimed to arise from a
subconscious, spiritual or supernatural source.” Her inspiration was God
Calling where it is even clearer that the authors allowed their minds to go
blank at which point they supposedly received messages from God. This practice
is very different from the giving of biblical revelation where God worked
through the thoughts, personalities, and even research of the authors.
7. Her emphasis does not match the Bible’s. Young’s emphasis
in Jesus Calling is markedly different from the emphases of the Bible. For
example, she speaks seldom of sin and repentance and even less of Christ’s work
on the cross. Michael Horton says, “In terms of content, the message is reducible to one
point: Trust me more in daily dependence and you’ll enjoy my presence.” While
this is not necessarily an unbiblical or inappropriate message, it hardly
matches the thrust of the Bible which always pushes toward or flows from the
gospel of Jesus Christ. Horton adds, “The first mention of Christ even dying
for our sins appears on February 28 (page 61). The next reference (to wearing
Christ’s robe) is August 9 (p. 232). Even the December readings focus on a
general presence of Jesus in our hearts and daily lives, without anchoring it
in Jesus’s person and work in history.”
The Jesus of Sarah Young sounds suspiciously like a
twenty-first century, Western, middle-aged woman.
8. Her tone does not match the Bible’s. It can’t be
denied: The Jesus of Sarah Young sounds suspiciously like a twenty-first
century, Western, middle-aged woman. If this is, indeed, Jesus speaking,
we need to explain why he sounds so markedly different from the Jesus of the
gospels or the Jesus of the book of Revelation. Nowhere in Scripture do we find
Jesus (or his Father) speaking like this: “When your Joy in Me meets My Joy in
you, there are fireworks of heavenly ecstasy.” Or again, “Wear my Love like a
cloak of Light, covering you from head to toe.” And, “Bring me the sacrifice of
your precious time. This creates sacred space around you—space permeated with
My Presence and My Peace.” Why does Jesus suddenly speak in such different
language?
9. She generates confusion. By fabricating the spiritual
discipline of listening and elevating it to the first place, she generates
confusion about the disciplines that God does prescribe for Christians. Michael Horton addresses this one well: “According to the
Reformation stream of evangelicalism, God speaks to us in his Word (the arrow
pointing down from God to us) and we speak to him in prayer (the arrow directed
up to God). However, Jesus Calling confuses the direction of these arrows,
blurring the distinction between God’s speech and our response.” What she
models and endorses is both confusing and unhelpful.
10. Her book has been corrected. Most people don’t know that
Jesus Calling has undergone revisions, not only in the introduction where she
removed references to God Calling, but also in the words she claims to have
received from Jesus. This, of course, casts even further doubt on the trustworthiness
of the revelation she receives. After all, why would words from Jesus need to
be revised? Did God lie? Did he change? Did she mis-hear him? There is no good
option here, other than to doubt all she has ever claimed to receive. This
comparison from CARM highlights one significant correction to the text:
The point is clear: Jesus Calling is a book built upon a
faulty premise and in that way a book that is dangerous and unworthy of our
attention or affirmation. The great tragedy is that it is leading people away
from God’s means of grace that are so sweet and so satisfying, if only we will
accept and embrace them."
