The prophetic has come under fire in the last few months, and for very good reason. The best I can say about some of these so-called “prophets” is that they’re pretty good at swindling the gospel. As Paul told the Corinthians, “Some of you were swindlers and worse before you met Jesus. But you were washed, sanctified, and justified by the Spirit of our God” (not a direct quote of 1 Corinthians 6:9-11). The problem is that just because someone misrepresents the gospel acts as though they weren’t washed, sanctified, and justified doesn’t mean that there aren’t other people ministering the gospel with a pure heart and through pure methods. This goes for evangelism, prophecy, church administration, healing, and many more facets of what we would call the Christian life (and all of which have had swindlers come along and either falsify what “God” has “done” or else use the gospel for their own gain (Philippians 1:15-18)).
Today I want to give a few thoughts about prophecy. And while I don’t want to deep dive into this specific topic, part of the problem with prophecy in the church today is that we don’t understand what prophecy is, so we try to make it something it isn’t. People try to cater to what we want prophecy to be, at which point, not only do they miss the heart of God in prophecy, but everyone ends up disappointed, because prophecy was never meant to be what it’s not. So let’s start with what prophecy is.
Revelation 19:10 says, “the spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus.” In other words, at its very core, prophecy is the testimony of Jesus – what Jesus is doing in you, in me, in the world today, creating testimonies in each one of us and through us in the world we live in right now. Nothing about condemning the wicked. Nothing about predicting the future. Just what Jesus wants to do in us and through us.
Other mentions of prophesy in the New Testament include Paul speaking about prophesy in the context of teaching and encouraging a group of people (1 Corinthians 14:3). Again, this is about what God is doing in and through His people, only in the realm of “edification [to promote their spiritual growth] and… encouragement [to uphold and advise them concerning the matters of God] and… consolation [to compassionately comfort them]” (AMP).
Too many people consider prophecy a kind of Christian fortune-telling. The number of people who have come to me or others close to me and asked for a “prophetic word” about their future is appalling (and more appalling, the number of people who, after receiving the encouragement of the Lord, come back the next week and want another “word” because they haven’t gotten what they wanted, or they just want another “word” without doing anything with what God has spoken to them). God will give direction and even mentions of the future. But prophecy isn’t intended for someone to give you a 5-year plan. Only God can do that. And while God will graciously reveal things to people, usually, it’s not the whole story. Only you and God can write the story together.
I like to think of prophecy as an invitation to talk about a topic with God more than as a specific direction. (Yes, there are specific directions sometimes – I’m thinking about the time someone I love was told, “You need to say no!” – but even this is an invitation to a conversation with God. Where do I say no? How do I say no? When do I go about saying no?) For example, let’s say someone prophesies over you about your ministry reaching Cambodia. Some people would take this as a directive to get on a flight to Cambodia tomorrow. A healthier approach would be to enter into a conversation with the Lord about Cambodia and how your ministry will reach Cambodia.
We all know in part and prophesy in part (1 Corinthians 13:9). God rarely gives the prophet the entirety of your story. So when they try to tell you what God told them, it can easily get garbled. Using the Cambodia example, what if they heard “Cambodians,” but what God is saying is, “Cambodian refugees in the United States?” This is why it is absolutely vital for every person to take any word of prophecy to God. He knows what He meant. And while he may be trying to get your attention on a topic, only with Him can you walk out what He is speaking to you, even if it does come as prophecy.
There’s quite a bit more I want to say on this topic, so we’ll continue talking about prophecy next week.
