Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy.
1 Corinthians 14:1 (NIV)
The other night at midweek Bible Study, we practiced prophecy. Though common in charismatic churches like the one I attend, it was new for many of us, since there are a lot of newer Christians at our church.
For the uninitiated, prophecy is communicating what God is saying. Without context, that may sound odd. But when one considers we believers have the mind of Christ1 and also an anointing from the Holy One who leads us into all truth,2 and further that we are sheep who hear his voice3 that we might follow Him, it is not odd at all. If we accept what the Bible says that we hear God and receive truth from him, prophecy is no more than hearing God on behalf of another.
Some wonder why prophecy exists at all. They say, “Why do we need prophecy when we have the Bible?” The answer I suppose is that the Bible is the very thing that tells us we need prophecy. If you read what the apostle Paul has to say in his letter to the Corinthian church, it is clear prophecy is vital and that we should practice it. Saying “Why do we need prophecy when we have the Bible?” then, is sort of like saying, “Why do I need to make coffee if I have the espresso manual?” You need to make coffee for the benefit and pleasure it brings, and the manual tells you how. It is the same with prophecy. We practice prophecy, just like we practice prayer or worship, because the Manual tells us it is vital.
Still others are uncomfortable with prophecy because it can be misused. But I have always found the best way to ensure something is not misused is by getting good at using it properly. It is for this reason I drive a car to work every morning.
But prophecy to some believers remains a source of deep concern, as though it were a form of sorcery. And God knows no upright believer wants to be found practicing sorcery. They are quick to quote the verse that there will be false prophets in the last days,4 which is true. But the very fact Jesus warns us about false prophets and calls them false and tells us we will know them by their fruit is because there is such a thing as true prophets; otherwise, He would have just said watch out for prophets, and that we would know them by their prophecies.
We should not practice sorcery, of course. But at the very least, we should probably do what the Bible says and practice prophecy. God is speaking all the time. And since he is good, He has very good things to say.
Matthew 17:20-21 (NIV) Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
It is difficult to be at rest when you think you should have more faith than you actually do. After all, if all my problems would go away if I just had more faith, then I really do not have time to rest: I must devote all my time and energy to perfecting this thing called faith. I must believe harder, the difficulties in my life an indicator that, from Jesus’ perspective, whatever faith I possess is clearly not enough.
But if I am going to sacrifice my sense of well-being for the sake of faith, it is important to know what faith actually is. For starters, it is not achieved by human effort. I cannot will my way into having more faith than I actually do. Faith simply does not work that way. So my lack of mountain-moving may rightly indicate an opportunity for me to grow in faith, but striving my way into it will never work.
What then will? Jesus gives us a clue when he says to his disciples (and by extension to us) “Apart from me you can do nothing.” On the surface, this would seem to contradict the whole idea all we need is faith to do anything. But Jesus is actually giving us insight into what faith actually looks like as it is walked out in the Christian life: partnership. When we remain in Jesus, we become aware what he is doing, and participate with him. We find ourselves moving the mountains he is moving and in fact desires to move with us.
When Jesus says “have faith,” he is not encouraging us to try harder: he is inviting us to go deeper. He is inviting us into a life where we, aware of our own insufficiency, come to know and partner with his unlimited provision for every situation we face. To me, there is no greater place of rest.
During pre-service prayer at the church I attend in the heart of Los Angeles, the theme last Sunday was rest. One of the members present shared a well-known verse:
Romans 8:28-29 (NIV) And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son
It occurred to me that, although this “sovereignty verse” is often understood to mean our justification* is secure, it means much more than this: that our purpose, calling and destiny are secure as well. God is telling us he has predestined the perfection of our faith and with it our destiny as well.
I know this passage and others like it have been used by some to suggest our part in life is nothing at all (since presumably everything has been predetermined**), but this is not, in my humble opinion, what this passage is saying. To assume so is to mistake God’s sovereignty for God violating our free will, an idea that is neither suggested nor taught anywhere in Scripture. But what it is saying is that the fulfillment of God’s plans and purposes are as readily available to us as salvation itself. In every moment, God has everything we need to fulfill the amazing life God has for us. We do not need to fear we are missing out.
Which on this particular morning was meaningful to me. I suddenly felt as if I had spent my entire life frantically navigating life as though I would miss out, first by failing to be acceptable to God, then by failing to “position” myself to be blessed by him. It was clear in that moment both of these attitudes were the very thing Jesus had come to deliver me from. That the image he desired to conform me to was that of a son who knew in each moment his Father had everything he needed to share in the fullness of the abundant life He had dreamed for him. And in that stillness I found peace flowing like a river.
*That is, our righteousness before God on account of what Jesus has done for us at the Cross **A traditionally Calvinist perspective
Last weekend as I sought the Lord, an unusual verse came to mind:
Revelation 2:20-22 (NIV) Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways.
As I read, something equally unusual came over me: a holy fear. Not as in “I am afraid of God” but a recognition that he cares about how we conduct our lives and that the Christian life, though profoundly beautiful, is also high-stakes. There are things God has a strong opinion about. I found myself taking inventory of my life and reconsecrating myself to his plans and purposes.
As a general rule, we (that is, most of the believers I interact with) are afraid of God’s holiness. We fear a God who may have a strong opinion about anything. At the same time, however, most of the believers I run with take the Christian life very seriously. It is almost as if it is okay for us to have strong opinions about the Christian life but not God, which really does not make sense. A servant cannot be greater than his Master; if we have strong opinions about any aspect of the Christian life, whether his nature or our role in it, it is likely because he has strong opinions about it.
The question then is not whether God is allowed to have strong opinions but how that translates to our interaction with him. As far as I can tell, the modern fear about God’s holiness stems from the belief that it will result in a relationship with him where God may be angry with us at any moment, and therefore we will constantly live in fear of him. But this is not so. It certainly is not so about any other relationship we have. Does the fact your husband or wife or close friend have strong opinions about things mean you live in constant fear of them? You do if you do not know them. But as you come to know them, what they care about most becomes an opportunity to love them well. And if you treat lightly what they care about most deeply, things do not go well.
So it is really not the fact God cares about things deeply that is really the issue. We do not need a God who cares about very little to feel safe with him. We simply need a God who reveals to us what he cares most about as we draw more deeply in intimate love with him. Understanding the extravagant goodness of God, I feel, is vital to the Christian life. But let’s not use it as a shield to protect us from God, but rather as an invitation to love him well.
No doubt spiritual warfare plays a part in our struggle to overcome whatever evil keeps us from God’s very best, but it plays no part in God’s struggle — because before God Almighty, there is no struggle. There may be something bigger that keeps us from God’s very best, but there is not Something Bigger that keeps God from His very best.
D. Patrick Collins 