Prophetic Maturity

Prophetic Maturity: it's not a game

  My wife Kathy spent several years working in a large kitchen for a ministry. Starting at the bottom cooking for the daycare she eventually moved up to assistant chefs. Managing the entire kitchen, the team fed groups sometimes as large as 500 to 1000. I believe her record was 1200 for a youth group.

   It was amazing to her that in time several chefs who had graduated from serious cooking schools had no problem calling her “Chefs.” Because to them, she had become one of them.

  Before this, her only real experience was being a housewife. But her skills over the last thirty years of marriage, of thick, thin, and hard times finely honed her skills of understanding the basic flavor foundations of the foods she was working with. This helped to ground her understanding which gave her a platform to take foods in many different directions.

  I am finding the same is true of spiritual things. Over the years to many people have haphazardly launched into all sorts of ministry not really understanding the basics. As a result, they have become burnt out, wounded, and scarred. Or they have created a long line of burnt-out, wounded, and scarred people.

What are some of the factors that contributed to this?

  “Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law, I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law, I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.” 1 Corinthians 9:19-23

  This is often referred to as “being all things to all people.” As a result, many pastors and evangelists have often used this scripture to young believers as a way of saying, “Hey, get out there and win some souls.” But there is a serious flip side to this that is often overlooked. Paul (the writer of this) had already by the time of this writing spent a serious amount of time before he became a Christian and then after (at least 14 years in the desert by some guesses) learning who he was.

  Learning who you are and who you are not is valuable as it gives you context in your life. Without context, you are “all over the map,” trying to help people. Jumping from one emergency to the next. Because of this, I have a simple guideline I would like to toss out to everyone is; “You can not be all things to all people if you don’t know who you are!” Or to say it another way, “A ship can’t transport the shipment if it ain’t got no rudder.”

  Too many people in an effort to comply with being “all things to all people” have “adapted” to the crowd only to become evangelized by the culture. Remember what is also written: “Bad company corrupts good character” 1 Cor 15:33

  For Paul, who spent a serious amount of time in the Lord's presence after the Damascus incident, he had a good understanding of his foundation. I have known people who have totally changed who they were just to reach a certain group of people. Only after many years not only did they never convert anyone to the Lord but they became so deep into that culture it resulted in a set of very bad, long-term effects on their family that have the potential of lasting generations.

  Paul’s foundational understanding of himself in Christ was well established when he wrote the book of Corinthians. This was the understanding he needed to be strong in any group. Otherwise, he would have become double-minded and “tossed about by every wave.” 

  If you are a new Christian and you are reading this. Don’t give in to the pressure around you, learn who you are in him before you rush out like Don Quixote. The best way I can recommend doing this is to start learning to rest in His presence. And to cut out of your life “the stuff of earth that competes for the allegiance, I owe only to the giver of all good things.”... A quote from, “If I Stand”, a song by Rich Mullins

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  Not understanding this basic fact of who God made you be is like a man pretending to be a chef, haphazardly putting together recipes in the hope of it turning out and not delivering food poisoning along the way.

  A long time ago I had a conversation with some people in the bookstore of the ministry I was working for who were discussing various prophetic people out in the world and their prophetic words. A lot did not “seem” to happen with the words of these prophets we were talking about, but several people rose to there defense stating that some of the prophetic words did come to happen. I once again opened my mouth without realizing what I was about to say.

  Me: “Well you know any blind squirrel can find a nut under a tree from time to time.”

Got a lot of shocked looks over that comment.

  But it is true, we have pushed and convinced so many that they have this gift and given them “unrealistic rules” of how to operate. Some are just desperate for a word so that they can continue to have the title of a prophet. And that can be a dangerous position to be in.

  One of those “rules” is what I can vending machine theology. The idea is that if you put a request in a word pops out. Yes, this is an oversimplification of an established teaching, but sometimes simpler is better. Wading through the spiritual language used to validate this concept, it’s no different than walking up to a vending machine, putting your money in, and get a product out. No relationship, no seeking a direction, just a simple law of input and output. So what happens when the Lord go’s silent, do you make something up? Do you go silent? Or does your flesh rise up and give a word? I don’t know about you, but I’ve seen a lot of fleshy words.

  I, like many young people in the early 80’s who experienced the rising prophetic movement wanted to “be” a prophet just like the ones we were watching. It wasn’t until later in life I realized you can have a touch of the prophetic in your life and still not be called to the office of a prophet. You can’t chase the “Glory life,” of a Prophet, because that’s only a Hollywood illusion that corporate Christianity has generated. A prophet, is a lonely life.

  As a result, too many have rushed forward to “assume” a position they were either not called to or had not been prepared for. I fear in our rush as a church to see the prophetic movement become strong. We may have laid our hands on too many in confirmation, creating Saul’s before they could mature into Davids.

  Nowadays I have seen a few, very few who I would really call a Prophet. But I have seen many who think they are.

  In this coming age, we are going to need two major things. One is real mentorship or as some call them “Father’s.” People of wisdom with real rudders attached to their ships who can carry the next generation to destiny with Faith, Hope, and Love. For example, these Fathers will help people become free of the slavery of the mind and other’s expectations to discover what the Lord put in them. No classroom, Bible class, or preaching will do this. If it did, it would have done it already. This is a spirit-led education, and a spiritual prophetic father (or mother) must help guide the process.

  The second is the collapse of the old system. As long as the Spirit of Pharaoh still holds God’s people under the aging promises of fading banners. Then the next Generation will never leave to worship in the wilderness for the birth of life they long to see. This fortunately is starting to happen.

Knowing who you are helps the war.

  Many men have been called to be true warriors, but they have been fed a pacifist diet of weak nutrition. Remember it took David to open the door for Solomon to build the Temple. Likewise, we need the warriors to open the doors for others to build. To do that we need people who can see and own the place the Lord has for them.

  Too many ministries point to the Harvest and say: “Hey get out there and win some souls for the Lord.” Without realizing the army of ogres who now protect the field in Satan’s name. There is a war to fight just to unleash the harvest that wants to come.

The enemy really is scared to see what this next generation has. If his defense is breached by the Lord's warriors, then the next harvest could be mentored by the Fathers and will shake the world. 

  A revivalist once said, “Revival was never brought about by the professional but by the hands and hearts of the Laity.”