It's not universal at all, and there's some complexity to how the claims are made even when they are. Imagine three guys:
Bob doesn't claim divine inspiration at all. He sometimes feels like God wants him to say things, so he says them; he also acknowledges he's subject to pride, bad incentives and self-deception like everyone else so he just does as he's told so long as it doesn't conflict with scripture in some clear way.
Dave sometimes feels like God wants him to say things, and says "I felt led by The Lord to tackle this subject this week." But this differs both in what he's saying and what the congregation hears from "every word of this is the inspired word of the lord".
Joel says "God has told me to tell you these exact words, and they are 'please give me enough money to buy six learjets.'"
Dave and Bob are both pretty common; you run into them. Joel is rarer and would give most churchgoers I've known (and I've known SEVERAL) the willies.
It's not universal at all, and there's some complexity to how the claims are made even when they are. Imagine three guys:
Bob doesn't claim divine inspiration at all. He sometimes feels like God wants him to say things, so he says them; he also acknowledges he's subject to pride, bad incentives and self-deception like everyone else so he just does as he's told so long as it doesn't conflict with scripture in some clear way.
Dave sometimes feels like God wants him to say things, and says "I felt led by The Lord to tackle this subject this week." But this differs both in what he's saying and what the congregation hears from "every word of this is the inspired word of the lord".
Joel says "God has told me to tell you these exact words, and they are 'please give me enough money to buy six learjets.'"
Dave and Bob are both pretty common; you run into them. Joel is rarer and would give most churchgoers I've known (and I've known SEVERAL) the willies.