When God makes one of his kids a prophet, he doesn’t anoint us.
’Cause
1 Samuel 3.3-10 KWL - 3 Samuel laid down in the L
ORD ’s sanctuary, where God’s ark was, before God’s lamp was put out. - 4 The L
ORD called Samuel, saying, “Look at me.” - 5 Samuel ran to Eli, saying, “Look at me; you called me.”
- Eli said, “I didn’t call. Go back. Lie down.” Samuel walked back and laid down.
- 6 The L
ORD called yet again: “Samuel.” - Samuel stood and walked to Eli, saying, “Look at me; you called me.”
- Eli said, “I didn’t call, my son. Go back. Lie down.”
- 7 Samuel hadn’t yet met the L
ORD , - who hadn’t yet revealed the L
ORD ’s word to him. - 8 The L
ORD called Samuel again a third time. - Samuel stood and walked to Eli, saying, “Look at me; you called me.”
- Eli realized the L
ORD called the boy, 9 and Eli told Samuel, “Go lie down. - If he happens to call you, say, ‘Speak, L
ORD : Your slave hears you.’ ” - Samuel walked back and laid down in the L
ORD ’s room. - 10 The L
ORD came, stood there, and did as he did before: “Samuel. Samuel.” - Samuel said, “Speak: Your slave hears you.”
There are dramatic stories in the bible of a prophet’s first
So when someone starts referring to themselves as an anointed prophet, what we’ve got here is someone who doesn’t know how God selects prophets. Who thinks being able to hear God, automatically makes ’em some sort of leader. Following their logic, Eli should’ve just made Samuel a co-head priest, little boy or not. Jeremiah ben Hilqiyahu should’ve been made a co-regent with King Josiah ben Amon. The ability to hear God catapults you into a position of power, so back up, everyone!
Anyone can hear God. Immature Christians included.
For those churches who are into the fivefold ministry model, they certainly consider prophets to be leaders. After all, prophets can hear God and share what they heard… so maybe our churches oughta listen to what they have to say, right? And aren’t prophets equal to pastors under this model? Aren’t they listed second in Paul’s list of fivefold ministries?
In
To me, it sounds more like someone’s trying to stage a coup. To “usurp authority,” it’s commonly called
And too often, what we see in any church with “anointed prophets” is a power struggle between them and their pastors. It might be a subtle or passive-aggressive struggle; it might be blatant and vocal and ripping the church apart. But it’s there: Pastors recognize they’re called to lead the church, self-anointed prophets think they’re called to likewise lead the church (plus they hear God), and people gotta decide who they’ll listen to more. Sometimes pastors cave. Sometimes they don’t, and drive out the prophets… and anyone who’s come under the influence of these prophets will leave right along with ’em, because “Pastor won’t listen to God”—by which they really mean the prophets.
The division they generate, should tip us off
It’s a particularly deceptive sort of pride, because it’s disguised as humility. The self-anointed prophet claims they’re just doing what God told ’em to do. Who are they to second-guess, challenge, or counter God? And for that matter, who is anyone else to push back against God? Pastors included.
But too often, self-anointed prophets confuse their message with themselves. Pushing back “against God” is really pushing back against them.
How do we counter this idea?
The antidote to this type of
Y’see, self-anointed prophets try to demand leadership prerogatives because there’s nobody else around whom God’s granted equal prophetic ability. And there are—but in too many churches, people don’t step up and share what God told ’em. It’s not that they lack the ability: They lack the faith, or the nerve. They don’t wanna. And when crows don’t see any scarecrows standing up in the field, they’re gonna eat your corn.
So when there are many prophets in a church—and rightly, none of these other prophets demand attention, authority, obedience, or otherwise acts like a brat—there’s our defense. And our corrective, in case any self-anointed prophet tries to pull the “I speak for God, so you better heed me” stunt. They can remind this joker we’re all equal in God’s eyes, and we’re meant to be equal in the church’s eyes. And if you wanna be great
Self-anointed prophets thrive in churches where nobody else steps up to prophesy. If your church is plagued with people who won’t share what God tells ’em, you have bigger problems than self-anointed prophets.
But you can fix that problem this way: Bring in some ringers. Borrow some mature prophets from another church
Yeah, it’ll make your self-anointed prophet jealous. They’ll fight it, or refuse to participate… and the rest of your church will find out this self-anointed behavior is wholly inappropriate. And who knows?—maybe your self-anointed prophet will listen, learn, and repent. Hope so.