If the people are not themselves seeking to determine the Word of God in the tangle of their individual and shared lives, how can they discern the accuracy and adequacy of the theologian’s interpretation of that Word for the group?

The church as a group, as a gathering of believers, must test the Spirit’s movement…

If only one is interpreting, then the process fails. In such an atmosphere, both false prophecy and demagoguery flourish.

from Scripture and Discernment