PROPHETIC NO-NO S Jacob Biswell
SOUNDING BRASS AND TINGLING CYMBALS Self-Promotion and Ministering Without Love
WITHOUT LOVE If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:1-2
NOISE MAKERS We are to minister in love, and if we minister for any other reason... we are not really ministering, we are just making noise.
SHOW-OFFS If our motivation is to show off our great prophetic gifting or to impress people with detailed words of knowledge.. we are not moving in God's love and our ministry is ineffective. And when we "minister" like that... according to God's economy, we are nothing. So if our motive is to impress man, we certainly will not impress God.
WHO IS BEING PROMOTED? YOU OR GOD? When you get up to minister, ask yourself who is the one being promoted? True prophecy is revealing God and God's plans and purposes in the person's life (1 Corinthians 14:6, Gal 1:12). T he Holy Spirit and the prophetic word testify of Jesus (John 15:26). Our purpose in prophetic ministry is to point the person to Jesus, not to ourselves. One way we can judge our motives (after all it is sometimes hard to be truly honest with ourselves) is to examine where the focus of our attention is. It is on ourself and our own agenda, or is it on God and His agenda?
WHO IS THE ONE BEING EDIFIED (YOURSELF OR THE ONE YOU ARE MINISTERING TO)? First we must have right motives, and then we can translate those right motives into right actions. Our motive should be to breathe the life of God into the person, to build them up in their faith, and to draw them closer to God. Our motive is also to encourage, exhort and comfort the person. (1 Corinthians 14:3) It is perfectly natural and acceptable to be delighted and excited when God uses us to minister. We are to enjoy participating with Him in ministry. But our posture is to be that God is the one being exalted, that we recognize that He is the one who is making this ministry happen and that we give Him all the credit/glory for what He does.
PULLING THEIR PANTS DOWN IN PUBLIC Revealing too much
PURPOSE I Cor 14:1-3,12 says: Follow after love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you might prophesy. For he that speaks in an unknown tongue speaks not to men, but to God: because no one can understand him, however in the spirit he speaks mysteries. But he that prophesies speaks to men to edify, and to exhort, and to comfort.... Even so you, insomuch as you are zealous for spiritual gifts, seek that you might excel in edifying the church.
EDIFY, EXHORT, COMFORT The goal of those moving in the prophetic is to edify, exhort and comfort. It is to build people up in God and to encourage them in their faith and in their relationship with God. Here is the pattern for new testament prophets, taken from the lives of Judas and Silas from Acts 15:32: Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the brothers. Philippians 2:1-4, encourages us to move in Christ's love and comfort, from a heart of tenderness and compassion, not from selfish ambition or vain conceit.
HUMILITY We are to minister in humility, and not to look to our own interests but to the interests of others. This posture in ministry is one that draws people to God, that helps them open to His good touch in their lives. It encourages and motivates them to move into the fullness of all God has for them.
DRAW TO NOT PUSH AWAY This type of ministry does not embarrass or humiliate the person. It does not evoke terror or dread in them... they should not be made afraid of coming to their loving Father, who has good gifts for them (Matt 7:11). Rather, they should be encouraged to "draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. [To] hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful." (Heb 10:22-23). Our role in this is to "consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.... let us encourage one another... " (Heb 10:24-25
BAD EXAMPLES I was at a meeting where the prophet would call people up front and minister to them over the microphone. He had a tendency to expose quite a bit more than was appropriate. Another prophet also liked to expose more than he should. He had a favorite saying, "Let's just lift the covers up a bit and take a peek." Then he would go on to expose their secret struggles or sins and then he would pray for them deliverance style.
DO NOT MANIPULATE God sends us to encourage and build up, not to manipulate people or play with their emotions. We may see a weakness when speaking over them, but do not dwell on this. Instead, dwell on the strengths and purposes God has for that person. We are to minister God's life, the person is to be encouraged and built up, edified, motivated to walk after God (to open themselves to God's good and healing touch). For God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Heb 11:6). And part of our job is to encourage them to diligently seek (and find) Him.
LOVE FLOWS When people watch you minister to someone, they should see the love of Christ flowing forth (1 Cor 13 teaches that we are to prophesy in love). As they watch you minister to someone, hope and encouragement should build up in their own heart.. so that they are eager for their word instead of feeling fearful or worried about what you might say/expose. We are to be kind to one another at all times (Eph 4:32), including when we are doing ministry.
APPROPRIATE LEVELS OF EXPOSING There may occasionally be times where we are called on to deal with and expose something. This does not mean that every grisly detail has to be laid bare for all to see. Sometimes we can make vague references to a situation, and it will be enough to convict the person's heart and lead them to repentance. The goal in "exposing" is not to embarrass the person. It is not to impress others with the level of detail you know about someone's secret sin. The goal is to help the person repent and turn back to God and be restored. So we must exercise care in exposing. We must not destroy the person or force a scenario where there is no room for restoration.
DAVID AND NATHAN Let's examine a real-life situation from the bible where Nathan had to expose sin and bring correction to King David. This is found in 2 Samuel 12. We know that David was a man after God's heart. Yet David had sinned (committed adultery with Bathsheba and then murdered her husband Uriah). We know that "this thing David had done displeased the Lord." (2 Samuel 11:27) As a result, David's heart was separated from God and he was out of relationship with God. And David had committed some pretty serious offenses (murder, adultery, etc). So God sent a prophet to deal with him.
DAVID AND NATHAN The purpose of Nathan's ministry was not to expose David's sin to all in the kingdom... it was to restore David to right relationship with God. He limited the scope of the rebuke to a need-to-know basis; he did not broadcast it publicly. And that gave room for David to repent and be restored.
BEATING THEM WITH A STICK Rebuking
THE REBUKE 2 Tim 3:16 to 4:2 says: All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction
TIMOTHY THE PASTOR, NOT PROPHET This is a passage on teaching and rebuking. Note that it is given to a pastor, who is in relationship with his flock and who is lovingly and carefully watching over them. Rebukes and correction are not given lightly, but "with great patience and careful instruction" and also with encouragement. These instructions were given to Timothy, as a pastor, not as a prophet. And the rebuke is to come not from a prophetic source, but using scripture. In the New Testament, the role of rebuking and correcting falls primarily to the pastors and apostles. Why is it that so many current-day prophets think their job is to rebuke and sometimes to harshly correct?
OT VS. NT The Bible makes it pretty clear that the role of prophecy is to "strengthen, encourage and comfort" (1 Cor 14:3) and to "edify the church" (1 Cor 14:4). The words "rebuke" and "correct" are not in this list of things that New Testament prophecy is supposed to accomplish on a regular basis. In the Old Testament, prophets did bring correction, rebuke and even warnings of impending judgement... in fact this pattern is repeated over and over.. Noah, Jeremiah, Jonah, Ezekiel, and on and on... But even in this there was room for repentance and healing. God's intent of Old Testament rebuking/judgement prophecy was not to condemn, but to cause a turning of the people back to Him... to win their hearts back to His ways.
THE NT REBUKE Rebuke and correction is not a regular aspect of New Testament prophecy. In fact, these types of operations usually fell to the apostles and leaders (who planted the churches in the first place. We see this frequently with Paul, particularly in his interactions with the Corinthians). The role of correction and rebuking also fell on those who were appointed to care for and oversee and pastor these churches, e.g. Timothy and Titus (2 Tim 2:14, Titus 1:9, 2:6, 2:15).
IS THERE ROOM FOR REBUKE? I am not saying that God NEVER uses New Testament prophets to warn, rebuke or correct. But this is not their common role. That type of assignment typically goes to those who are very mature in the office or to ones who are in some sort of relationship with the one who is being corrected. And when God does use modern-day prophets to correct/rebuke, it is not usually in a harsh and condemning way, but in a loving way a that turns the person back to God and helps them align that area of their life with God's perfect will for them.
JUDGE NOT We should take care not to judge those around us (Romans 14:13).. for Judgement belongs to the Lord. In fact, the Bible directs us not to judge one another but rather to judge ourselves (1 Cor 11:31). Moving in the prophetic does not give us a license to violate the principles that are clearly set forth in scripture.
IN LOVE There are times when we, in a nonjudgmental way, need to warn or rebuke our friends. We might have a dear friend who is making some bad or hurtful decisions. We may want to talk to them because we love them, to warn them of the consequences of their actions and to help them to get back on the right path. This is ok, this is part of relationship and body ministry. But it is done in love and compassion and out of a mutual relationship.. where we have earned an authority to speak into this friend's life. This is not about prophetic correction, this is about walking together in a loving relationship.
SOMETIMES GOD REVEALS TO INTERCEDE, NOT TO DELIVER A REBUKE There are times that God shows us things so that we can intercede or pray for the person. He does not intend for us to talk to them about it.. but to talk to Him about it on their behalf. Eph 6:18 encourages us to be constantly and continuously in prayer and intercession for our brothers and sisters and "watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints." Sometimes God shows us things so that we can pray for them.
THE WHY When God shows you something negative about someone, do ask Him **WHY** He is showing that to you. Chances are that He just wants you to watch and pray for them. He may not want you to confront them with that information. If it turns out that He does want you to talk to them, then you need to discern His timing. Often He will show you something in advance and have you pray and intercede as He prepares their heart. Then, at a later time He will open the door for you to talk to them. If God does open a door for you to talk to the person, you might want to try a subtle approach instead of a "thus sayeth the Lord". Go with a heart and attitude to help them, not to put them on the defensive or to accuse them.
THE IF You see, when God sends a prophet to correct, He usually sends that prophet to help and assist the person to get and remain in the center of God's perfect will for them. When He sends His prophet with correction, He usually sends them with love, mentoring and support and encouragement. If God sends us to prophetically rebuke someone, then we had better be prepared to walk along side of that person, to be in relationship with them, and to help them walk into the fullness of what He is calling them into.
TELL THEM NO LIES Adding to/fabricating prophetic words
HIS WORD IS ENOUGH Prov 30:5-6 says: Every word of God is flawless; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. Do not add to His words, or He will rebuke you and prove you a liar. Deut 12:32 says: See that you do all I command you; do not add to it or take away from it.
DO NOT ADD OR TAKE AWAY Rev 22 ends with a strong warning against adding to or subtracting from that prophetic word. Rev 22:18-19 says "Warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book." From these scriptures, we see that God is serious here. He insists that we accurately represent Him when we speak for Him (or prophesy). The delivery of a prophetic word is not the place to exercise our creative skills (2 Peter 1:20). Instead, prophecy is the place to clearly and accurately reflect what God wants to communicate (2 Peter 1:21).
TICKLING THEIR EARS There are many ways that a prophetic person can misrepresent God.. One way is to tell the person what you believe they want to hear. If we speak something God is not speaking, this is false prophecy, and this makes the Lord very angry. Another form of this is to give someone grandiose words. A grandiose word is where you paint a bigger (more grand) calling or anointing on the person's life than God really has for them.
THE WHOLE TRUTH Let's NOT do this to someone spiritually. Yes, prophecy is to encourage and exhort (1 Cor 14:3). And yes, grandiose words tend to encourage and exhort for a season.. until the person realizes this word is not being fulfilled in their life. But prophetic words must be truthful.. because Jesus is the spirit of prophecy (Rev 19:10) and He is truth (John 10:10). God would never speak anything but truth, and we are not to prophesy anything except what God is saying.