If you’ve been around the church for a while, you’ve probably run across “prophets” – people full of judgment and condemnation who reveal others’ sins and call them to repentance, usually with anger and a sour expression. Actually, if you’ve been around Christian YouTube, you’ve probably run across these people, except instead of anger and a sour expression, they often have a self-righteous attitude, talking about all the evil in the world and why God is going to judge America. But you don’t need to any prophetic ability at all to see sin, call it what it is, see how God judged people in the Old Testament, and decide God’s going to do the same thing today. Honestly, it doesn’t take any talent, spiritual or natural.
In reaction to the sour-faced, accusing, judgmental prophets, there has been a movement to prophesy encouragement and never say anything negative or judgmental. They’ll call people into ministry, tell people God loves them, and try to be generally encouraging. When it’s done by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, this can be a much more helpful thing than judgment and accusation. Remember, it’s God’s kindness that brings us to repentance (Romans 2:4), and I’ve known many people who would never have left a life of sin by being condemned, but love, acceptance, and hope breaks them entirely. Encouragement can also can follow a Biblical model – even when God spoke of judgment, He also usually spoke of hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11 is a great example, but it’s not the only one by far).
So here’s today’s question: Should “prophesy” be used to call out sin and prescribe judgment, or should it be lovey-dovey “Jesus loves you and you’re amazing” all the time?
I believe the answer is “Yes” and “Yes.” We have been called to encourage, not pull others down (1 Thessalonians 5:11). We have also been called to not live in sin (Romans 6:12-13) and to gently restore those who are in sin (Galatians 6:1).
The difference between someone calling out a person’s sin and a person who restores gently isn’t necessarily the words used. (Nor is this situation necessarily prophecy – as I said above, you don’t need to be a prophet to see sin and call it out.) The difference is the heart. If you see someone in sin, most of the time, the first thing you do should not be to address it publicly (see Matthew 18:15). Instead, our first response should be, “God, what is Your heart for this person?” In this way, you’ll avoid a self-righteous, accusatory response to the sin. When we know God’s heart, we can feel His sorrow over the sin, and the sorrow will result in a much more humble, Godly response, reproof, and/or correction.
To quote a story I saw on Instagram last week, “If you don’t hurt when you correct someone, you’re probably not the right person to correct them… God does not give authority where there is no love.”
So yes, there is a time to correct in prophecy. And if you’re properly using prophecy for correction (remember, you don’t need the gift of prophecy to call someone out for their sin), the correction will not be simply, “You’re bad, bad, bad.” It will include hope and possibly even future strategies or outcomes. For example, when Jesus told Peter that the disciple would deny Jesus three times, He (that is, Jesus) said, “I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” (Luke 22:31) Jesus didn’t say, “Simon, you’re gonna fail really, really badly. And that’s that.” He said, “I see in you a weakness, and I know it will lead to horrible sin; I am praying for your faith, I am reassuring you that you will make it through this to the other side, and I am telling you what to do when you get to the other side.”
That’s corrective prophecy! It calls out, yes, but it goes beyond to give a hope and a future.
So if you’re a prophet or if you hear a prophet, I highly encourage you to ask: Does the “word of the Lord” include a hope and a future? Is it going to discourage because there is no hope, or will it encourage even as it may correct? You’re much more likely to find a genuine and helpful prophecy not in positivity but in the prophecies that offer hope of getting out of the sin and into God’s best for life.
