Accountability for the Prophetic

Another word. Another conference. Another season. Another claimed endeavor or work or promise from the hand of the Lord.

I remember the days...there was a time in the early 90's when it became very popular to want to be a prophet and/or have prophetic words given and received. It started with a few out there popularly, and spread amongst certain denominations and circles, to where so many across the Western Church were claiming to be such.

Since then, so much has transpired in this realm, whether genuine, authentic, off the mark, or outright hijacked. But one thing that has seemed to be lacking is a preparation of biblically-balanced guidance and instruction on the prophetic, and manifestations of the Spirit in general, including accountability, which I really want to talk about.

Firstly, we may have a variety of definitions of the phrase 'gifts of the Spirit'. So I'll stick to how the Bible defines these things, according to 1 Corinthians 12-14, Romans 12, and Ephesians 4, just for clarity and common ground's sake.

And many may also not know the difference between having the manifestation of prophecy in their lives and being called as a prophet. We find that the gift of prophecy is one of the manifestations of the Spirit listed in 1Cor12, differentiated from the calling gift of a prophet listed in Eph4 (which is also categorized as an administrative calling/gift in Rom12).

Now, theologically, there are many who believe that there are no more prophets since the Old Covenant days and early New Covenant Church (as prophets were referenced in Acts and a couple other New Testament writings). And many others believe that these calling gifts persist yet today. I will not get into this, nor will I get into the similar debate as to whether the manifestations of the Spirit still exist today or not. I will simply state that I see nowhere in Scripture that these things ceased with the early Church, and that I have personally experienced various manifestations of the Spirit as noted in 1Cor12 in my life.

All this said, whether someone claims to be a prophet and/or to have prophetic unction or inspiration or gifting, or those who do not make such claims but seek diligently after prophetic words or gatherings, my observation of the prophetic realm in the modern Western Church is not without its concerns, to say the least.

I have seen examples of the whole spectrum at this point, from my observation at least. There have been a few I perceive to be and that seem to prove genuinely to be prophetically called on a ministry level (kin to Eph4 level). There have been some that are not along those lines but clearly have a genuine, clear operation in prophecy (or its closely related Spirit-manifestation gifts of word of wisdom or word of knowledge, also listed in 1Cor12).

And of the aforementioned, I have seen some operate in these in the context of a lifestyle of purity in physical intimacy and integrity of motives for the gifts. And I have seen others operate while living in immorality and/or subtle or outright pride, control, or other wrong motives or postures of the heart.

And besides these, I have also seen another category of people who are clearly not called in a prophetic way or vein, and/or do not have the manifestation of prophecy given them by the Spirit, but they are trying to function thusly out of their sincere belief that they have it or can will it enough to have, or out of their self-serving or otherwise off-motives for wanting to have it or experience it.

And there are yet others who do not necessarily fit into any of these categories, but seek and follow people and circles that are said to be prophetic (whether they are operating purely, completely in the prophetic, or to some degree, or not at all), and seemingly without discretion or personal propriety.

What is missing in this entire picture?

Much of the time, I see and perceive a lack of discipleship by and through the Bible, in order to not only guide us through genuineness of operation in the Spirit, but even more importantly, keep us rooted in perspective as to where it fits in within the larger context of the New Covenant experience in Christ and doctrine and the content of the Bible itself. In other words, how to guide and shepherd the Church in such a way that we keep spiritual gifts in their places and keeping central things central, and first things first.

What is meant by this? Sounds like this calls for a video clip to address this. Otherwise, this script will get too long, which it already is for my standards...