"I am learning to shut up more, in the Presence of God...Like when you sit in front of a fire in winter. You are just there...you don't have to be smart, or anything. The fire warms you."
-- Desmond Tutu, on how his relationship with God has changed with age. N.P.R.'s Morning Edition series "The Long View" (interviews with "people of long experience"), 11 March 2010.
ADDENDUM:
A "Christian conservative" friend to whom I sent this quotation objected to it; on the grounds that Tutu is a "false prophet," and that being silent before God is a counter-scriptural teaching.
If anybody wishes to reject this quote, that's their call. But it's worth looking at the reasons for doing so.
My friend sent me some quoted teachings from Tutu that are clearly contrary to scripture. I wouldn't advise ANYone to become a follower of Tutu: but that wasn't my point anyway.
The point is the wisdom of silence before God. If you consider wisdom is a product of human beings, you'd best discern carefully who you listen to. But if wisdom is from God, the question is discerning God's voice: even when He puts His wisdom in the mouths of evil men (Balaam, for example; or Caiaphas, the High Priest at Jesus' trial).
If you consider, as my friend does, that being silent before God is a dangerous anti-scriptural idea, entirely derived from deceptive eastern religions, I'd adduce these scriptures (all NASB):
"...the LORD is in His holy temple: Let all the earth be silent before Him."
Habakkuk 2:20
"Be silent before the Lord GOD! For the day of the LORD is near."
Zephaniah 7a
"Be silent, all flesh, before the LORD; for He is aroused from His holy habitation."
Zechariah 2:13
"Be still, and know that I am God:... I will be exalted in the earth."
Psalm 46:10
Similarly, those who have been in the Presence of God frequently write that its effect was to render them silent. After God spoke to Daniel, the prophet said he became "speechless" (Daniel 10:15). Ezekiel testifies likewise to being "speechless" after the "hand of the Lord" had been upon him (Ezekiel 33:22).
I don't find, as my friend evidently does, that scripture teaches a flat either/or choice here. We are commanded to sing, shout, and praise: we are also commanded in scripture to be silent before God. It seems a matter for spiritual discernment: of being able to differentiate between "a time to be silent and a time to speak." Ecclesiastes 3 says there is an appointed time for both.
ADDENDUM:
A "Christian conservative" friend to whom I sent this quotation objected to it; on the grounds that Tutu is a "false prophet," and that being silent before God is a counter-scriptural teaching.
If anybody wishes to reject this quote, that's their call. But it's worth looking at the reasons for doing so.
My friend sent me some quoted teachings from Tutu that are clearly contrary to scripture. I wouldn't advise ANYone to become a follower of Tutu: but that wasn't my point anyway.
The point is the wisdom of silence before God. If you consider wisdom is a product of human beings, you'd best discern carefully who you listen to. But if wisdom is from God, the question is discerning God's voice: even when He puts His wisdom in the mouths of evil men (Balaam, for example; or Caiaphas, the High Priest at Jesus' trial).
If you consider, as my friend does, that being silent before God is a dangerous anti-scriptural idea, entirely derived from deceptive eastern religions, I'd adduce these scriptures (all NASB):
"...the LORD is in His holy temple: Let all the earth be silent before Him."
Habakkuk 2:20
"Be silent before the Lord GOD! For the day of the LORD is near."
Zephaniah 7a
"Be silent, all flesh, before the LORD; for He is aroused from His holy habitation."
Zechariah 2:13
"Be still, and know that I am God:... I will be exalted in the earth."
Psalm 46:10
Similarly, those who have been in the Presence of God frequently write that its effect was to render them silent. After God spoke to Daniel, the prophet said he became "speechless" (Daniel 10:15). Ezekiel testifies likewise to being "speechless" after the "hand of the Lord" had been upon him (Ezekiel 33:22).
I don't find, as my friend evidently does, that scripture teaches a flat either/or choice here. We are commanded to sing, shout, and praise: we are also commanded in scripture to be silent before God. It seems a matter for spiritual discernment: of being able to differentiate between "a time to be silent and a time to speak." Ecclesiastes 3 says there is an appointed time for both.
