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.
