I really don't like being misunderstood. I really don't. What I would really like is to be liked. But that's not the way it goes for prophets—or should I say visionaries (knowing things before they can be known and all that). The problem with it is being one-eyed. You never see it all—just more. Truth be told, I think there are a lot more prophets out there that we know. Most of them have learned to close their good eye and play it blind. It's really no fun to be misunderstood. I can't think of anything fun about it at all. The first time my friend Jon told me, In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is not king—he's a raving lunatic. I knew it was true. I just didn't know how true.
Speaking of prophets, I've always felt a little off about what the West (or maybe it’s fundamentalism) has done to prophets. It's mainly because of fear and science, and lack of trust in God. In other ages they murdered prophets. In this age we wrote them out of the scene or turned them into something weird and insignificant. The role of a prophet of Israel was to tell time.
I'm reading an amazing book right now called Jesus Before Christianity by Albert Nolan with a fascinating discussion on the pre-modern Hebrew view of time. They didn’t see time as past, present, and future. It was not quantitative like some big abstract yardstick running through reality, laid out for plotting events and measuring distances between them. Time for them was qualitative. Time for Jesus was qualitative. What that means is not easy to communicate to time-bound Westerners. You see, to a Hebrew in the days of Jesus, all time was in God’s hands. More than that, the definition of the time at hand was always God, not the day planner, the clock on the wall, or even the sundial. Times were ordained by God and were measured not in years, hours, and minutes, but by what God was doing. What was God doing? That’s what time it was. Time was a quality, not a quantity. We have vestiges of this in our language. “This is no time to joke.” Or as Dickens brilliantly wrote, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way…”
Better even than Dickens is the writer of this poetry in the book of Ecclesiastes, which succinctly captures the Hebrew view of time:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
That is the time of the prophets, the time of the Bible. It was important for them to know what time they lived in, what kind of time they lived in. And the role of a prophet was to tell the time. It is the same today. As Nolan observes,
The prophets were inspired to read the Word of God for their time in the signs of their time. It was this extraordinary insight into the nature of one’s time that made a person into a prophet.
Was it a time of repentance? A time of tearing down? A time to contemplate? A time to get busy? A time to rejoice? A time of victory? A time of captivity? Prophets used their one good eye to tell the time. They had such a non-yardstick view of time that they even would see themselves as contemporaries of former generations! If Moses and Israel were in a time in the desert and so are we, then we live at the same time. Or another way of saying we live in the same time is God is doing the same thing, just like he did before. So you see, this insight of prophets gives them a very important role. Prophets are these one-eyed men and women who have an eye for the signs of the times.
And this leads to something else very interesting about God’s compassion for the blind. God always has a prophet to tell the time any time He does something. In Amos 3:7 God says, “Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.” He always gives, because you always need, someone who can speak the times. The whole idea of “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime” is baloney. When the fishin’ hole dries up, everybody goes hungry—hook, line, and sinker in hand. The visions of the prophets don’t lay out principles and “timeless truths”. They are for a season. “Born for such a time”. Nolan again:
The message of a prophet is therefore never a timeless message based upon timeless ideas. It is a particular word spoken to a particular people in a concrete situation about the meaning of their time and about what they should or should not be doing there and then. Later generations may be guided by a prophet who spoke centuries before only to the extent that they find themselves in a somewhat similar time and are, to that extent, contemporaries of the prophet. Much of the value and effectiveness of the prophet’s message is derived from the relation of the message to a particular time. The idea that a message or teaching is of much greater value if it is timeless is a thoroughly Western notion based upon a Western concept of time.
I don't even have to mention what an absolutely foreign concept this is to any Westerner. The suggestion that we could give up on timeless truth, absolute principles, flow charts, lines of communication, lines of authority, institutions, and such—in favor of our own contemporaries reading the signs of the times would freak most of this generation right out. The suggestion that we could learn to be comfortable with a God who says one thing in the Bible in one place and elsewhere says the exact opposite, and it’s OK, is absolutely crazy around here. Surely it must be the translation. We’ll hold a council on that and figure out how to reconcile all these things so they don’t blow our blind faith out of the water. But that’s not even what all this is about. Institutions and authority.
Let’s cut the bs. The reason we don’t like the idea of a prophet, the reason we like the idea of a mystical prophet of old who lived a long time ago in the bible (old or even new testament) and is now gone with the wind, is not because we are concerned about the fabric of our society or our institutions or final authority. It’s because we like our sins, we harbor our offenses, we hide from our fears, and we won’t allow our wounds to be healed. It terrifies us to think that someone with one eye might come into our church or our life and tell us what time it is. Time to confess, time to repent, time to move on, time to forgive, time to forget, time to shut up, time to open up, time to speak up, time to speak out, time to be still, time to let go, time to mourn, even time to dance. We don’t want anyone to tell us what God is doing and what God is saying, because it sounds awfully like what the seer is doing and what the seer is saying, and we won't have anyone tell us what to do. We don’t want anyone to tell us what time it is. And we certainly don’t want to believe in this scary thing called sight.
I saw a play one time where all the actors lived in blindfold land. Someone had taken their blindfold off and was trying to convince the others to do the same. One by one they either scoffed or became angry or blew the seer off. Finally, I think they killed her.
I really don’t like being misunderstood, but when you see something, you can close your good eye, but just because you pretend it’s not there doesn’t make it go away. God is the Lord of the blind and the one-eyed. Well, if I don’t like being misunderstood I’m sure I was a lunatic to write this!
6 comments:
Amen, and amen. My word, that was an authentic piece of writing.
I have been given this message:
it is time for us to embrace our true identities as Sons and Daughters of God. [See the book of Hebrews for details.]
Psalm 82 also comes to mind:
God presides in the great assembly; He gives judgment among the "gods" [elohim]:
"How long will you defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked?"
Selah
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Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
They know nothing, they understand nothing. They walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
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I said, "You are elohim; you are all sons of the Most High." But you will die like mere men; you will fall like every other ruler.
--------|--------
Rise up, O God, judge the earth, for all the nations are your inheritance.
I see two problems with prophets today. The first is the one you describe awesomely.
The second is people/churches/movements diluting and desecrating the good name of "prophet".
To elaborate, I was flipping channels a month ago and saw a local church service on the tube. I decided to check it for a few. Plastered at the bottom of the screen throughout was the tag line "Prophetess So-n-So".
Not that the sermon was weak, or even false, but it was certainly not prophetic. This is dilution of the name/term. I've not visited but have heard of fellowships that are heavily into the "prophecy movement", and it sounds like people can become prophetic if they want to.
Prophecy is not something for every Tom, Dick and Jane Follower to aspire to, or be attracted to, and decide they want to operate in. Yet it is happening within the Body.
A prophet is someone chosen by God, not someone who says "ooh, ooh, can I do that too?" The Bible says that not many should desire to be overseers, for they will be judged at a higher level. Would it be too far of a stretch to say God would say "Okay, you said you were a prophet. Let me then judge you as a prophet."
I think, in America anyway, the terms are too loose and churches are too acquiescing toward the prophetic movement blah-blah that seems to be running around. This all has to do with the dilution of the term and position of prophet.
There is also a desecration of prophets going around. A group, or groups, of folks, of eclectic people calling themselves prophets, setting themselves on a higher pedestal. As opposed to "hey, you wanna prophecy like these many other folks", they are proclaiming themselves an elite group of prophets for "true Believers" (direct quote) and are not.
Ran into one of these dudes last Fall in Nashville. He met two or three other "prophets" like him online, and they have allied. Their vision as prophets is to see America completely restored to its original foundation as a God-fearing country.
They believe it can happen, and it is to that end they walk, believe, teach, preach.
Well, I can whip out two simple verses showing this "restoration" ain't gonna happen in America, thus proving these guys are false and got their head in the sand or their kiesters.
When Jesus warned of false prophets, He said "they come in sheep's clothing but inwardly are wolves" (Matt 7).
On the surface (at first), then, they will appear legit, but Jesus said "by their fruits you will know them".
What's extremely disheartening is the lack of discernment among the Body with regard to both the dilution and the desecration of the role/gift of prophet/prophecy.
It's itching ear stuff run amuck, in the U.S. at least.
I feel a little inadequate jumping in this conversation. I feel as if I it is like Goldie Hawn try to carry on a conversation with CS Lewis, George McDonald, and JR Tolkien. Here goes a shot, though. Being misunderstood is my biggest fear in life. I hate it. I was reminded of how bad I hate it when I had a conversation with the pest control man today. I was explaining the home church movement to him and he asked if we had some kind of "alternative world view" Mind you, this man is a fellow believer and we have had many deep spiritual conversations before. But he just doesn't get people leaving the big church scene. He is from another generation and I know it seems like a strange concept (even thought it was the first concept for believers of Jesus). I found myself getting so frustrated as I tried to explain the entire last year of our journey to him. I finally had to be OK with the thought that it doesn't matter if he gets it. That is so huge to me. I hate being misunderstood (have I mentioned that already). I hate people thinking I am wacky or that my motives are selfish or that I am way off.
The thought I wanted to leave here is - I think that is when I feel the closest to Jesus - when I am totally misunderstood. Maybe because that is the hardest thing for me and it is a step of faith for me to be misunderstood. Maybe because I know that He was WAY misunderstood. Maybe because when I am misunderstood I want my daddy. Maybe because He always understands... :)
Thanks for letting me jump in with my simple thoughts. Steve, I am honored to be your wife. You rock.
First of all, Jill Coan coming on here and just saying "Hi" puts all three of us men, or at least me, on the back row of this conversation.
Second, to your point Jill, about feeling closest to Jesus when misunderstood--boom! One of the great paradoxes of today the Body doesn't see. [It should not be a paradox, for what you speak of speaks of becoming like Jesus. Phil 3:10-11, Romans 8:17)]
Letting go of, surrending and dying to the things we by human nature hate (being misunderstood, losing things we love, seeing the power/control we have over our lives taken, the list is endless) is painful.
It's part of going through the fire to become like Jesus. What's beautiful is at the same time we go through it we understand more what He went through--a snowball effect of loving Him more, understanding Him more and becoming more like Him.
With the overwhelming emphasis in the Body toward life being blessed and God's purpose being to smooth out life's hiccups and discomforts, it is no wonder (1) as Steve says, prophets are not seen as kings but lunatics, and (2) those who discuss real Christianity (deny/take/follow, Luke 9:23), or as I've seen Steve describe this lately, abandon self/become poor/divest, the things we talk of, which are the foundational tenets of the Christian faith, are a foreign language to so many who claim the name of Jesus.
I had another thought about prophets. How do they "hear" from God? Do words just pop into their mouths? their pens? their heads? their hands? their hearts?
Moses didn’t hear from God. He saw an Egyptian mistreating a Hebrew and he killed him. Moses saw something and decided it was time. No word from God. No thus saith the Lord. Just Moses, and he saw something, he read the time, and he killed the guy (Exodus 2:11-14). But his church misunderstood him. When Moses later confronted one Hebrew who was mistreating another, he was rejected. The guy asked him, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?” God disciplined Moses. But not for this. Never. Never said a word to Moses about “taking matters into his own hands” or anything like that. 1500 years later, Stephen gave more insight into what was really going on when he retold Moses’ story. He said, “Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not.” Later, God did speak to Moses, but this came after his one eye was open. Before I leave Stephen, he was one who saw, too. He saw heaven opened and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. When he said this, they killed him.
How about Elijah? He’s the other one that appeared with Moses on the mountain with Jesus when He was transfigured. How did he get his start as a prophet? This is where a concordance is handy. The first time Elijah is mentioned is in 1 Kings 17:
And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.
No thus saith the Lord there either. In fact, the very next verse after Elijah made this bold, one-eyed pronouncement, the word of the Lord did come to him. The word said, “Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.” Good advice for prophets. The truth is that the church doesn’t like prophets. They are misunderstood. And lest we write them off to some mystic fairyland past, James reminds us that “Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.”
So how could Moses do such a thing, and how could Elijah say such a thing? I don’t know. I just know what I’ve said and what I've done. How about you? I do think I know which words of God these guys saw for their time. For Moses it was Genesis 50. For Elijah, Deuteronomy 28. But how they perceived? That, my friends, is as mysterious as the sky being blue.
think about this: with as much of the Body who thinks God's purpose is to bless us and make our life baby-butt smooth, all we have to do is stick to the true Gospel--dying, divesting, etc.--and we're speaking prophetically.
That's said tongue in cheek, but there's a kernel of Truth in it. In my opinion, the Way has been warped. So, to adhere to its true course is what we do, but because of the vastness of false teaching it seems prophetic.
To preach/speak that "we must share in His sufferings if we are to share in His glory" (Rom 8:17) is unpopular, and makes some padded-pew jaws drop. It also bids the question from some, "What on earth is THAT message?"
I'm not trying to oversimplify prophecy, nor am I saying that everyone who holds true to the Way is a prophet. I'm saying that those who follow the Way appear prophetic because of itching ears teaching.
It has been 20 years this year since I went to a church and saw a true, undeniable prophet.
UNDENIABLY the most powerful service I ever went to, period, and I have been to some solid ones. I still get overcome with the Spirit every time I reflect on that service.
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