Fill Me Up

When I hear the word "prophet," I think of a news anchor explaining the DOW/JONES trends. I think of a doctor cautioning good ol' George W. Bush to consider an upcoming, pandemic of the bird flu. I think of storm chasers.
I think of Jeremiah. I think of Isaiah. I think of graduate class work.
I think of environmentalists, nutritionists, fitness instructors and artists. :)

So, who are the prophets, anyway?

One will naturally feel great discomfort around a PROPHET.

A prophet’s perspective is radically different from that of the pastor. He hears from God and quite mercilessly questions everything, including the pastor, from God’s perspective. That, however, is his healthy and God-given duty. For that reason, there is also a historical tension between the pastor and the prophet: one is the defender of the status quo who wants to maintain the community; the other questions everything and is seen (rightly) by many others as a threat, because he disrupts things and wants ‘movement now’ (Wolfgang Simson - Houses That Change the World, p.114).

Prophets feel frustration near excessive organization.

The prophets were not leaders of men. They carried no responsibility for the Temple, for worship, for the institutional side of religion. They had no political power, no party following, no organization, no priestly or pastoral function. They were not involved in the commercial life of the nation, neither were they rulers of men. They were simply servants of the living god whose task was to declare what he was saying to the people (Clifford Hill - Prophecy, Past and Present p.60)

Prophets bring God’s challenges to the forefront.

Prophecy always calls for a faith response. God never gives opinions; he gives orders (Tom Marshall- The Coming of the Prophets).

Prophets bring words from God.

We need to get a prophetic vision of the Church; to see the Church as God sees it (John Brook.).

Prophets appear when people abandon God, and God wants the people's attention.

True prophets appear in times of apostasy. Prophets of quality move in when the people are moving away from the ideal laid down once and for all in the Book. The prophetic mind develops into its finest and most rare expressions during times of apostasy. A Jeremiah is born for and prepared for the Babylonic confrontation. A man who is prepared to watch and to cry will appear. The burden-bearer will be made ready. A man who won’t give in will always be found in times of apostasy. Such a man is made able to see - see reality. He sees God’s intervention coming. His burden is something very real, indeed tangible. He relates to reality, speaks reality, speaks quality. (Lars Widerberg - The Unwelcome Necessity - The Burden).