We - as Christians - have developed a characteristic by which we have taught ourselves and others not to see the work of God. It is the characteristic of observing super-critically.
We are so little prepared to have an open attitude towards people who think different from us. As soon as we hear someone speak from another background than we are used to, we will not rest until we have an opinion about him, and we stick on him some familiar label and consider the case closed. We do not wonder at all if, perhaps, God wanted to speak to us even through this person.
Jesus said, ‘Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor.’
Maybe He meant to say that the closer one gets to someone, the more this person is viewed with suspicion. Gurus from the East are listened to attentively, but a Christian prophet is commonly rejected. For as soon as he would say something we are not familiar with, we would ask, ‘Who is he and to which denomination does he belong?’ And so we acknowledge openly, without even batting an eyelash, that we have completely lost the precious gift of discernment of which the Bible speaks.
One of the refreshing discoveries I made when I was in Israel, was that Israelis do not ask, ‘Where are you from?’ or ‘What group do you belong to?’ They listen to someone and they put him to the test whether he is ‘true’ or not, and one is accepted accordingly. Genuine heathens also have that gift. Therefore Jews and heathens will recognize Jesus as their King when He returns.
Will we?