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Woe to the 21^st Century American believer! We have the decidedly mixed blessing of access to an unprecedented amount of Christian thought today. Never have so many books been churned out by Evangelical publishers. A bewildering assortment of titles on every topic from hard theology to thinly veiled self-help theories face us when we walk in the local Christian bookstore. Daily, on the radio and on TV, literally hundreds of teachers come into our cars and living rooms to hold forth on their particular interpretation of the Scriptures. Then there is the Internet. It seems that every Christian fringe group and extremist who can’t get published or broadcast now has a website to use as a soapbox. The truly bizarre dwells on the net. Just type in "Christian" attached to nearly any other topic and you will cross over into the Christian equivalent of the "Twilight Zone". What is the poor seeker of wisdom to do?

All kidding aside we are living in a time unlike any other in the Church’s history. The information explosion has created an environment that makes it very difficult to find and stay on the narrow path of sound teaching. We are in danger of being overwhelmed by the many conflicting voices who claim not only to know what "Real Christianity" is but also the only way to get there. The scary thing is that all these talking heads sound like they, alone, know what they are talking about. Smooth, charismatic voices and seemingly convincing arguments, this is what the average American layman is up against today.

A very obvious example of the advent of "too much information" can be found in the proliferation of Bible translations and paraphrases. We might airily dismiss the King James Bible as hopelessly anachronistic but at least 50 years ago everyone was "on the same page", so to speak, when it came to the Scriptures. Today there are at least two dozen different takes on the Word of God available to us. I hate to sound like an old line fundamentalist but, really, which one is the truly inspired version? We are told that most of these translations do not change the meaning of the old KJV. The publishers say they are just using more modern language, or the latest linguistic and archaeological discoveries, to make the Bible more accurate and accessible. However with so many translations coming into existence (More in the last 20 years than in the previous 2000) how can someone who is not a Hebrew and Greek scholar know which ones are sound?

When you go beyond the Bible translation thicket into questions of interpretation the wilderness only becomes that much scarier. As stated everyone has an opinion and everyone, it seems, sounds as if they have a monopoly on truth. With over 10,000 denominations worldwide calling themselves Christian we find ourselves drowning in a sea of exegesis. What we need is a lifeboat. Thankfully we have that in the Holy Spirit.

The only one who can lead us through the endless propositions and choices foisted upon us by the information age is God himself. One thing most Evangelicals can agree on, even now, is that the simple response to the Gospel found in trusting in and receiving Jesus as Lord and Saviour brings with it the guiding presence and power of the Holy Spirit. By his Spirit Christians have always been able to test the lesser spirits they encounter daily in their pilgrimage through this world. It is no different today. No matter how many viewpoints are vying for our attention we must learn what it is to truly go to the Spirit of God when we need to know the way. Some might argue here that this statement is too general, that anyone can claim to be led by the Spirit and be light years away from the will of God. They would say that we need to trust our Bibles and our leaders. The problem with this approach is that, as stated, their are dozens of Bibles and thousands of leaders to choose from today. There is, however, only one God with only one Spirit.

If we have truly met Christ and given our lives to him we can confidently expect to hear his voice when we seek him in earnest. This is a basic bedrock principle regarding the Christian life, one that endures even amidst the competing voices of the 21^st Century. The true child of God will be led by the Spirit into all truth. A teacher cannot do that alone and neither can whatever version of the Bible they are using. The guidance of the Holy Spirit is what we must trust to steer us to the right teacher, the right bible and, ultimately, the right path. Remember, even the Elect would be fooled, if that were possible, and the Spirit is the guardian of the Elect.