On Prophets
A couple of evenings ago I was approached on the street by a pair of Mormon missionaries. They were nice young men and we had a very enjoyable chat. One of the points they stressed was the idea that once again God has raised up a prophet (meaning Joseph Smith and his successors). They asked me what I thought about this, and here is the gist of how I responded: The model of the New Testament church was of small interconnected communities called ekklesia, wherein each person (male and female) had the opportunity to function, for the building up of the community. In knowing one another--worshiping and sharing life together--people's tendencies, abilities, shortcomings and spiritual gifts were recognized and known. Paul's lists of body gifts in Eph 4:11-13 and 1 Cor 12:27-30 are assumed to occur within the context of interactive community. When Paul writes to the ekkesias in Rome he expresses his desire to be with them so that he can encourage them with his spiritual gifts and, in turn, that he will be encouraged by theirs (Rom 1:11-12). There is a noticeable lack of hierarchy in Paul's view of the functioning of these spiritual gifts. Instead there is egalitarianism and interdependence.
I have known real life prophets. It is because I have known them first as friends and fellow worshipers of Christ that I could recognize and trust their prophetic gifting. I could also recognize when they were forcing it and speaking their own mind. Our gifts are intended to function within community--not only for the benefit of the community, but because each of us needs the checks and balances of faithful friends to keep us from going off the deep end.
The problem with prophets comes when they are not known by and accountable to an ekklesia community. Self-proclaimed (or organizationally-proclaimed) prophets come into town claiming to speak for God. This was a problem that the early church was beginning to struggle with as it expanded, as evidenced by the guidelines about prophets provided in the Didache (http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/didache-roberts.html -- See chapters 11 & 13).
In my view, the first test of a prophet is this: Do I know them? Are they a part of my community? If not, are they known and in community and accountable to others whom I personally know and trust? If not, I'll pass. God is not miserly with His spiritual gifts to His body. He gives them freely. Within a community of Jesus followers who are open to receiving and sharing His gifts, there will not be a shortage of prophets or anything else.
Additionally, the presence of prophets in our midst does not negate or diminish our ability--nay, our responsibility--to hear directly from God and follow accordingly. As the author of 1 John wrote, "As for you, the anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as His anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit--just as it has taught you, remain in Him." (2:27)
A statement from Quaker author Lewis Benson is germane to this point: "The objective Word which is addressed directly to man by God is the distinguishing feature of all Hebrew religion. With the coming of Christ this knowledge of the divine Word is no longer mediated through a few uniquely chosen prophets but comes through the living Christ who is inwardly available to all men. This continuously spoken authoritative Word becomes the great organizing principle of a new type of community: the Church of Christ."
This brings us to a fundamental difference in viewpoint between myself and the Mormons (or some Charismatic Christian groups) regarding Apostles & Prophets. The difference is between thinking in terms of "Office" vs. "Gift". "Office" implies position. Position implies hierarchy. Hierarchy implies succession. For the purpose of illustration, let's assume that you work at a job where you have a supervisor. Your supervisor is both a person and a position (or office). If the person who is your supervisor leaves the company, the position/office will likely remain in place and be filled by a different person. That new person's authority over you comes by way of occupying the position/office. This is a similar approach towards Apostles and Prophets taken by the Mormon church and some Charismatic Christian groups.
By contrast, my understanding of apostles and prophets is that they are not offices, but rather gifts given by God--through people--for the edification of the ekklesia. "Gift" implies function, rather than position. A functional orientation--rather than a positional one--implies a lack of hierarchy and certainly a lack of succession. If God is giving the gifts directly to men and women why would He need the mechanisms of succession or transference from one person to another?
The gifts listed by Paul in Eph 4:11-13 and 1 Cor 12:4-28 have to do with the function of the ekklesia (what we have come to call "church"). An ekklesia in the first century was not a hierarchical organization, but rather a gathering of believers mutually edifying one another with their spiritual gifts.
The picture Paul paints in 1 Cor 12 of a functioning ekklesia is decidedly non-hierarchical:
"Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.
For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot says, "Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body," it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. And if the ear says, "Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body," it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired. If they were all one member, where would the body be?
But now there are many members, but one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you"; or again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary; and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable, whereas our more presentable members have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.
Now you are Christ's body, and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the ekklesia, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues. All are not apostles, are they? All are not prophets, are they? All are not teachers, are they? All are not workers of miracles, are they? All do not have gifts of healings, do they? All do not speak with tongues, do they? All do not interpret, do they? But earnestly desire the greater gifts. And I show you a still more excellent way."
What makes gifts "greater" in Paul's mind? Their ability to edify the body.
As Paul explains in a more abbreviated way in Eph 4:7-16 (I'm skipping verses 9 & 10 for the sake of brevity):
"But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore it says, "WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH, HE LED CAPTIVE A HOST OF CAPTIVES, AND HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN." And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love."
In the Quaker meeting within which I worship, as well as in house churches I've been a part of, we have recognized that everyone seems to have certain "clusters" of gifts in varying mixtures and degrees of prominence. Anyone is free to function in their gifts when the ekklesia meets--for the edification of the body--so long as they are led by God to do so. Through the expression of these various gifts, we see the body of Christ formed in our midst.
"For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellors there is safety". (Prov. 24:6) We were designed and created to function within community. Although we have direct access to God through Jesus Christ and can be guided and instructed by the Holy Spirit, we still need one another. We are interdependent. This is why God gives a multitude of spiritual gifts to the ekklesia. Within the community of a functioning church, we complement each other, compensate for each other, provide wisdom and council for each other, edify each other, instruct each other, help each other discern what the Holy Spirit is saying, etc. No person is above this interdependence.
One last note about Prophets: Foretelling the future is a very small part of prophecy. Prophecy is God speaking to His gathered people. Sometimes it is encouragement, sometimes it is corrective, sometimes it is warning. In the instance of warning, sometimes God will reveal something that is going to occur. An example is Agabus' prophecy in Acts of an impending famine. The Old Testament prophets were typically issuing corrective prophecies that went along the lines of; "You are screwing up big-time (for example by allowing injustices to occur), if you don't change your behavior, this is what is going to happen..." In these cases the future events foretold were conditional upon how the Israelites responded to the prophesy.
When predictions of future events are included in prophetic pronouncements, the point isn't the prediction itself. The point is the word of correction, warning or encouragement spoken to a community--by God--through those in their midst that have been thusly gifted.
8 Comments:
Thank you for this important--even urgent--essay. The concept of spiritual gifts in a mutually accountable, historically aware community is part of the genius of Friends. Without this crucial dimension, we Friends are in danger of being nothing more than a disconnected affinity group reflecting a self-selected pot of advanced tastes and prejudices.
My experience has been similar. HoweverI have found a tendency to confuse the gift with the person. No doubt this is what leads to the formation of cults around someone with a very strong gift. For this reason it is very important for all the members of the community to be open to and seek the gifts of the spirit so the community does not come to rely on a small select group. Familiarity with the bible also allows each member of the community to discern the validity of individual gifts and the spirit with which it is being exercised for as Paul said prophecy without love is like a clanging gong.
It is interesting to me that Jonah would not pass thy test.
While healthy, and prayerful, skepticism is much in order when determining a stranger's prophetic gift, it is clear God can and does sometimes use strangers and those from outside of our communities to deliver his messages . . .
That's a really good point, Jane. We have to be careful about presuming who God may (and may not) use to speak to us.
On the other hand, the story of Jonah harkens back to a period when, as Lewis Benson pointed out, the divine Word was mediated through a few uniquely chosen prophets (who's reputation probably preceded them wherever they went). The events of Pentecost would seem to have inaugurated a radical change to that approach.
Thanks, Danny, for this great post. To the passages in 1 Corinthians and Ephesians, we could add Romans 12: 3-8, which speaks directly to your theme of gifts of the spirit as nonhierarchical (though I'm not so comfortable with God "assigning" each of us a measure of faith):
"For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. . . We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness."
And also 1 Peter 4:10-11, where the writer seems to categorize gifts into two groups, gifts of speaking and gifts of serving:
"Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received. Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ."
I developed an exercise once for Friends to use to identify gifts of the spirit that started with a little teaching about the gifts a la Paul and Peter's epistle, followed by Friends pairing up to 'interview' each other with a set of queries designed to highlight the interviewee's gifts. When preparing the lecture part, I thought there should be a third category besides speaking and serving: gifts of signs, to include healing speaking in tongues, interpreting tongues, miracles, etc.
I think Friends today could use some encouragement to pay much more attention to these gifts and their nurture. We don't see them at work very much, yet presumably, God is still bestowing them—or trying to. Paul's descriptions of the gifts of serving, for instance, taken together with the passages in Acts that describe the community taking care of the poor, especially Acts 4:32-5:12, suggest a fairly organized system for poor relief that we could emulate.
Good stuff, Steven!
I would like to add to what Quaker Jane was pointing out here by noting that the traditional view of Neviim (Prophets) is not that of a select group of the few whose reputation preceeded them.
Most of the Prophets were nobodies before their call. Abraham was "a wandering Aramean" a man born into (relative) affluence in his tribe when God suddenly tells him to up stakes, leave his tribe and start a new life in a new land. Abraham of course is also a the first Patriarch.
Jonah is an unforgiving man who God sends to give a warning to his (Jonah's) enemies which Jonah doesn't want to give lest they be spared. Ezekiel's wild shenanigans with the hair-cutting and lying around and then baking bread over feces were not exactly adding to his reputation any more than Hosea's marrying a prostitute did. A great many Prophets were NOT well received in their day and were initially dismissed as lunatics.
Contrary to opinions professed about Hebrews and the "written word" most of the Prophets did NOT bring a new book or a new Law but gave warnings and taught by means of behaviour and action as much as by words. Yes, their stories were passed down and eventually written down but they are not Torah (the written Law and Teachings). The Hebrew term for the Old Testement is TaNaK for Torah (given by Moses, including pre-mosaic Prophets), Neviim (histories of the later Prophets) and Ketuvim (Writings -the additional esteemed writings of Sages and the learned)
It is also made clear that not all Prophets are Hebrew. Balaam is a Moabite Prophet asked to give information about Israel to the King and God causes him to say, "How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy dwellings O Israel!". There is some argument over whether Jethro is a Prophet or not. They are also not all men, since Sarah and Miriam are also said to speak with God.
The mark of a Prophet is not how well-known or respectable he or she is. In fact, it is shown over and over that most people preferred false prophets because they brought pleasant, palatable and respectable teachings that didn't upset the status quo too much. By contrast the real Prophets often brought challenging messages that often rocked the boat. Listening to them would mean making hard changes and it was easier to dismiss and ridicule them than face reality. In a world of empty sacrifices by rote made by comfortable and "respectable" Elites, "I desire Mercy and not Sacrifice" doesn't really go over well.
Sometimes, unfortunately, the people you know well and respect simply reinforce your existing viewpoints and biases. A real Prophet is willing to look foolish if necessary and give up "respectability" and even their lives in order to speak truth to power. Prophets are also not perfect, a category that would also exclude Jonah, who is in fact, beyond reluctant and has to be virtually forced by God to do his job. Prophets have human failings, sometimes glaring ones.
I often don't understand why Friends continue to recite tired old canards about "the Hebrews" that were originally said in anger when early Christianity was seperating from Judaism, when in doing so they disparage the roots of Christianity. The Light was always available, it didn't suddenly become available with Jesus' entry into historical time. The Light that George Fox experienced was the same Light the Hebrew Prophets experienced and taught them renewal; to live beyond and question narrow interpretations of "the Law" just as it did for Fox and others. It taught them to pursue Justice and seek Peace as it still does today.
Thank you Karen! Great stuff!
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