Romans 10:17 – “So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word [rhema] of God.”

Have you ever played the game “Telephone”? The one where someone whispers something into one person’s ear, and then they pass it on to another, and then they pass it to another, and so on. Almost 100 percent of the time the person at the end of the line hears something completely different then what was said at the beginning. Did you know that there are “telephone” Christians? There are many Christians who are living their life and trying to walk in faith based off of what someone said, or by what they think was said, instead of the Word of God. They believe something because this minister said this, or they do something because this minister said that, and they never hear what God is saying.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that we shouldn’t listen to God-anointed ministers, that we shouldn’t read books put out by true leaders in the Body of Christ, or that we should try to get our revelation from only reading the Bible for ourselves. That thinking is not from God, even though some may try to say that it is. You’ll hear people twist the scriptures in order to say they don’t need to listen to or submit themselves to Godly leaders because, “God can speak to me just as easily as He does to them.” If you remember there were two people in the Bible that made that same statement, their names were Aaron and Miriam, the brother and sister of Moses. Numbers 12:2 says, “And they said, Has God indeed spoken only by Moses? Has He not also spoken by us?” This angered God because Moses was ordained by God to stand in an area of leadership to the people of Israel. In the same way, there are people that God has ordained and anointed as ministers to teach, train and lead His people either through sermons, books or whatever; and we must submit ourselves to those that God chooses to place over us.

What I am saying, however, is that in submitting ourselves and listening to God-anointed ministers we must not let their words become what we base our life and faith on. We cannot simply take what they said, or what we think they said, and believe them to be God’s Word. We cannot just assume because a man or woman is speaking from a pulpit that they are communicating correctly the Word of God, or that we are hearing it correctly. It is this “telephone” Christianity that has caused much failure in the Body of Christ and has been the source of countless false doctrines being taught.

Rhema is the difference between “telephone” Christianity, and true discipleship and teaching.

So how do we stop from being a “telephone” Christian, and what is the proper way to be taught and trained through an anointed minister of God? The key is to not be listening to the words of the man, but to be listening to the Word of God through the man. This “Word” is not just someone quoting the Bible, but in the same essence as it is used in Romans 10:17, “So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word [rhema] of God.” The Greek word translated as “word” in this verse is “rhema.” Rhema is what will cause the words of a minister or teacher to be more than just men’s words, but God’s own Word. Rhema is the difference between “telephone” Christianity, and true discipleship and teaching.

What is rhema? First, you must understand that in the ancient Greek, which is the language of the New Testament, there are two words for what is translated as “word” in our modern Bibles. They are logos and rhema. Now I’ve heard it said that logos is just the written word and that rhema is the spoken word. This is one way to describe it, but that doesn’t really mean anything to us. Where the Word of God is concerned the logos is God’s Word declared, whether written or spoken. However, rhema is when the logos is energized by the Holy Spirit and it becomes “alive” to you. It is no longer words on a paper or words coming out of a man’s mouth, but it is now God speaking to you.

Rhema then is the difference between just playing Christian “telephone” every Sunday morning and truly hearing and receiving the ministry of the Holy Spirit through an anointed minister. This is difficult to explain to those who have never experienced it, but when you are listening to a minister preach or teach there must come a point where the Holy Spirit energizes and quickens those words so that they become “real and alive” to you. When this happens you are no longer hearing words that may be being communicated incorrectly or heard incorrectly. You see, logos can be misinterpreted because it is coming from one human vessel to another human vessel, both of which are limited in their abilities to communicate and hear. Rhema, on the other hand, is not misinterpreted because it is coming from the Holy Spirit, who is perfect, into your re-born spirit, which is able to hear uncorrupted.

This is the difference between living a true life of faith that is full of the blessings and the goodness of God, and living a life that is full of condemnation and failure. You see, Romans 10:17 has already told us, “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the rhema of God.” That means that unless what you are reading from your Bible, or what you are hearing from a minister, becomes rhema to you, you cannot have any faith at all. Even if what you heard or read was truth, it is not real to you until it has been changed into rhema.

As you continue to grow and develop in Christ, make sure aren’t just a “telephone” Christian. Don’t live your life based on what you’ve heard God has said or what you think He has said. Don’t simply take the words of a man to be the basis of your life and faith. When you hear a minister speaking the truth of God’s Word, begin to ask and believe that the Holy Spirit will quicken them to you. Meditate on them until they are alive, until they are no longer the words of a man but the very voice of God. When you read your Bible, don’t just allow yourself to interpret it by what you think it means. Study and meditate until the words on the page become a fire burning in your heart. Let the logos become rhema. Let that rhema be the foundation of what you believe and how you live. It is only when you have received the rhema of God will you be able to live the way God intended His children to live.