A truly prophetic voice is one who has the courage, perhaps even in some sense the calling of God, to look around at the community of faith in its status quo and say, "Not everyone who says 'Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom of heaven." A prophetic voice is one who calls God's people to return to their calling as His people. A prophetic voice is one that will not settle for the status quo, not for the sake of stability, or security, or comfort, or even for the sake of conserving the tradition. A truly prophetic voice is a radical voice, a liberal voice that calls for change, even if that change is a return to a vital tradition long obscured by false piety and self-righteousness.
A prophetic voice will not gloss over injustice or oppression, will not be silent in the face of bigotry or prejudice or false pride, and will not compromise faithfulness for practical ends no matter how noble those ends may be in themselves. A truly prophetic voice is one that will sweep away all the trappings of religion and simply ask, "What does God require?", and answer simply, "do justice, love mercy, walk humbly with God." Or simply "love God, love others." A prophetic voice is one that will settle for nothing less than holiness of heart and life as the result of faithful obedience to the voice of God. In a real sense, a prophetic voice even today is the voice of God.
In our culture, and with our history, it is easy to claim the role of a prophet. But it is also easy to claim that role as its own form of ambition and power. It is perhaps too easy to claim to speak prophetically, but to do so with arrogance, anger, and bombast as David Koresh well demonstrated. A truly prophetic voice speaks in love, not anger, even when it cries "Woe to you hypocrites!" Jeremiah spent 40 years of his prophetic ministry telling the people, sometimes in the harshest and coarsest language possible, that they were sinners and were going to die. But he took no joy in that message. At the same time that he stood firm as the lone prophetic voice against the tyranny, injustice, and idolatry of God's people, he was weeping. He told them they were going to die for their sins, but he did so with tears in his eyes (for example, Jer 8:22-9:1)!
And Jesus on more than one occasion soundly denounced religious folk who could not envision anything beyond their own little world of truth. And yet, he stood overlooking the city of Jerusalem and wept over it, knowing that the very people over whom he was weeping had murder in their hearts.
Do we need prophetic voices today? Perhaps. A few. Not everyone can be a prophetic voice. It's costly. Prophets often get thrown into cisterns and tried for treason. Or beheaded. Or crucified. Or shot. It's just not a very popular position, so it takes a certain kind of person to be a prophetic voice.
Prophetic voices just aren't "team players." They just don't understand that you can't say certain things or make certain people mad. They just don't understand that bills have to be paid and buildings have to be built. They just don't understand how the system works and how things get done.
Prophetic voices are often on the fringe of the crowds who flock to hear the latest "how to" speaker. They just don't fit in with polite conversation about the latest triviality, because they want to talk about much too serious topics. They are socially insensitive because they continually want to bring up topics no one else wants to talk about, and are often politely told that they should find a more appropriate forum, perhaps at that "other" church that really needs to hear it. Prophetic voices often see things that others do not see, and so are often an embarrassment to their "family," who sometimes accuse them of being just a little mixed up.
How does one become a prophetic voice? I don't know. I think there are a variety of factors, but no one thing that I can name. Sometimes life experiences can open our eyes to the injustice and prejudice around us. Sometimes the passion of others provides a model for that "alternate reality." Sometimes the written word of God may call us to see beyond where we are. Sometimes the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to a new vision of His work in the world. Sometimes it is a personality trait that is sensitive to certain things. Sometimes a deep commitment to the things of God leads to a spiritual growth that opens up new vistas. Sometimes, perhaps, God simply speaks.
I don't know how to become a prophetic voice. But I wouldn't recommend it anyway. There's not much future in it. At least, not now.
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