Thursday, April 23, 2015

Prophetic Wannabees and the Prophetic Reformation

By Jerimiah Johnson


     
   R. Loren Sandford, one of my great friends and mentors, once wrote, "A group of prophetic wannabees is any pastor's worst nightmare." While this statement can be  seen as both humorous and incredibly sad, I have personally spent the last five years sitting with pastors and leaders from across America listening to one painful story after another regarding their unpleasant encounters and interactions with prophetic people.
"Jeremiah, our church has been incredibly wounded by the prophetic ministry, but yet we believe in it! Can you come help bring healing and restoration here?" I cannot count how many of these types of phone calls I receive every year from churches across the USA.
In fact, for every 10 churches that call and invite me to speak at their conference or gathering, nine of them have had bad experiences with prophetic ministers and people. Whether it's a big name prophet that everyone in the charismatic movement would recognize or an immature prophetic person that no one has ever heard of, how is the body of Christ so desperate to hear from prophetic voices, but yet so wounded by them at the same time?
From my personal experience traveling across the nation, it appears that church leadership understands how necessary and powerful the prophetic gift can be, but they simply do not know who to trust. To drive the point home even further, I was recently at a meeting where a well-known prophetic voice with over 40 years of experience was asked how many other prophetic voices in America did he trust to hear from the Lord. His response: "Probably only one."
Where Have We Gone Wrong?
How has the prophetic ministry become recognized as so needed in the body of Christ, but yet so distrusted in the eyes of many? I do not claim to have all the answers, but I believe asking questions seeking dialogue and resolution is not only healthy, but absolutely needed in the prophetic movement.
From what I can see, one primary reason by the prophetic movement in America is being discredited by too many is because of the complete lack of accountability on the part of prophetic voices ranging from character issues to "thus saith the Lord" prophetic words that have never come to pass.
According to 1 Corinthians 14:32 where "prophets are subject to other prophets, we have to ask ourselves, "Where are the protectors of the spoken word of the Lord?" and "Where are the guardians of the word of the Lord to evaluate, examine and judge what prophets are claiming God is saying?"
Are Prophetic Roundtables Helpful?
I had a dream several months ago where I found myself seated among many well-known prophetic voices in America. Everyone had a buzzer set in front of them and a question kept flashing on a large screen, "What is God saying to America?"
Over and over again, buzzer after buzzer was going off and I could not hear anything because all the prophetic voices were shouting over one another to share what they had heard. The Holy Spirit immediately spoke to me in the dream and said, "The prophets love to gather to hear what I am saying, but where are the prophets gathering to discern what I am not saying?"
Blessing or Collateral Damage?
"I've been called by God as a prophet to blow the roof off this church and destroy the leadership" is what one woman told me her prophetic calling was while I was recently ministering in the western region of the United States.
Another man in the Midwest claimed that, "I have been sent to this church to wreak havoc for Almighty God and I will not leave unless they escort me out of here." And the most common rhetoric I hear launched against church leadership by prophetic people on their way out the door is this: "If you do not listen to the judgment I have pronounced upon this house, judgment will come upon you and your family."
Old Testament Delusions
Out of compassion and mercy toward so many hurting prophetic people, I have spent significant time over the years with many of these precious souls. From what I have discovered, many of them simply cannot understand why their accusations and judgments against churches and their leaders are not received.
Taking them to the Scriptures in 1 Corinthians 14 and trying to help them see that the gift of prophecy is for exhortation, comfort and strength has proven nearly impossible. Desperately trying to understand, I have begun to realize over the years that many of them are filled with delusions of being an Old Testament prophet like Isaiah, Jeremiah or even Elijah.
Others of them believe they are the next John the Baptist ready to rebuke the brood of vipers that, in their minds, is anyone that works at a church. The one common denominator between 99 percent of these hurting prophetic people is this: they have absolutely no desire to build relationship with the body of Christ.
Those Lowdown Prophets
In September of 2013, I received a series of dreams about a shift that the Holy Spirit is bringing to the prophetic movement. In the first dream, the Holy Spirit said to me, "The days of the 'showdown' prophets are coming to an end. I am raising up a company of prophets that will give their lives to the 'lowdown.'" I said to the Holy Spirit in the dream, "I do not understand what you are talking about. Show me this in the Scriptures."
Immediately my very own Bible was placed in front of me and was open to 1 Kings 18. I began reading in Verse four, "For it came about, when Jezebel destroyed the prophets of the Lord, that Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave, and provided them with bread and water."
After I read this verse in the dream, I awoke. The following night I had another dream and the Holy Spirit again spoke to me and said, "I am releasing Obadiah's prophets in the earth. These prophets will have three distinct features to their calling."
He said, "They will be prophets who give themselves to community. I want to put a stop to wandering prophets. They are not only lonely, but the bitterness and anger in their hearts toward others is destroying the gift that I have given them. I am raising up a new breed of prophetic voices that have been fostered in community. Even as the prophets that Obadiah hid in the caves had to learn how to live among one another where accountability and checks and balances were a must, so I am releasing this very same thing in the earth right now."
He continued, "The second earmark of these prophetic voices is that they are comfortable in hiding. They do not have a need to be seen and heard. They walk humbly before Me and give their lives to staying out of the spotlight until I release them. Elijah was a showdown prophet, but Obadiah's prophets were lowdown prophets. Many are going to be surprised as these voices who, without reputation or finances, carry My words with greater accuracy and timing than many well-known prophets."
Finally He said to me, "The last thing I want you to know about this new prophetic generation is that they live on bread and water as their sources of life. These prophetic voices will not dine at the table of the world or sit among kings. They will work jobs and provide for their families, but they carry the bread of life and water from heaven."
Radical Prophetic Restoration
I see a radical restoration process being released to the body of Christ by the Father Himself between the shepherds of the flock and prophetic people. There will be levels of healing and repentance toward one another that has not been seen in any other generation.
A key part of this restoration process is the decisive ending of a group of lone ranger prophets in the body of Christ that have no accountability and who do not want to submit to any type of spiritual authority.
In past seasons, prophetic voices would prophesy to the body of Christ as outsiders, like ones banished to places of hiding, but in these days a new prophetic generation is going to prophesy to the bride of Christ as one's belonging to her. These men and women have been forged in community and will possess a love for the body of Christ that has not been seen in any other generation.
This new prophetic generation will be called friends and comrades of pastors and other leaders. They will interact and minister as those who are a part of the body, rather than those who have been cast aside and seen as not needed. Be encouraged, hope and change is on the way!

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