I’ve just been meditating on the words of Jesus from Mark 6:4:
Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his own relatives and in his own household.”
I’m not ready to go out on a limb and label myself a prophet. I think I am prophetic. I think the Lord gives me prophetic revelation. I think the prophetic grace is one of the primary ministry gifts on my life. I think I have more dreams, visions, unctions, and “seemed good” experiences (Acts 15:28) than most folks. But, despite these things, it clearly can’t be said that I occupy the “office” of prophet at this time.
Nevertheless, I relate to what Jesus was saying in this passage. Everybody wants a piece of the prophetic ministry in this hour. We want to talk about prophetic teachers, listen to prophetic worship, and attend prophetic services. None of these are bad things. It’s nice to see this type of hunger for the proceeding word of the Lord.
Everybody wants to label stuff as being ‘prophetic,’ but almost nobody really wants a prophet to come to town.
Prophets have a way of leaving people mad, sad, and glad all at the same time. The testimony of Jesus, which is the spirit of prophecy (Rev 19:10) includes both words that are easy to swallow and words that are hard to swallow. Prophets will disrupt your service, speak a word that is hard to swallow, and leave you to deal with it. Since I published the vision that I received of the coming prophetic army, I have been invited to speak about it exactly zero times. I believe that the reason is not because of the message of hope about a generation rising to live in the fullness of their identity in Christ, but rather because of the (necessary) accompanying message that condemns spiritual apathy and calls people to repentance. Shall I change the message to become more socially acceptable?
Rejection is a way of life that prophets have to learn to deal with. The more rejection you can cope with, the more useful you are to the kingdom. There is a certain burden that you carry around when you have a word that needs to be spoken. You find yourself not really wanting to sing karaoke and watch American Idol with your friends. You would much rather pray, fast, and minister by the Spirit. The result is a moderate amount of social stigma. Who wants to be around praying, fasting, worshipping guy? Nobody wants some guy bringing up the topic of justice for the unborn in the middle of Simon’s searing criticism of the last contestant of the (appropriately named) American Idol.
All that being said, is it worth it? You know from the word “go” that nobody is going to let you talk if you aren’t going to bring a nice, palatable message about love and hope and joy and send them home smiling. You already know that, when you finally do get to talk, half of those who hear you will want to stone you. Some of my personal heroes suffer harsh criticism from believers every day for taking a stand for the prophetic message with which they have been entrusted. You will write endless articles on obscure websites that nobody is really likely to read because you believe so strongly in the message that you can’t stop talking about it, if only to yourself. So, is it worth it?
I guess it depends upon your value system. If you’re basing your self worth on how much notoriety you receive or how many accolades people lavish upon you, then it most certainly is not worth it. If you’re just crazy enough to commit to contend for the kingdom regardless of the personal cost, you just might make it. The reward for being faithful is not a mega ministry or a church full of adoring fans, it’s the adoring gaze of a love-sick God who really loves and appreciates your faithfulness and passion.
