As we've just launched into a Lenten preaching series in Jeremiah, I've been thinking a good deal about prophets, and what it means to be prophetic. There is no doubt in my mind that the church is called to a prophetic ministry, that the church must sometimes speak in the prophetic voice. But what does that mean? Jeremiah has been helping me to think it through.Most fundamentally, before one can speak in the prophetic voice one must adopt (or be placed into) the prophetic posture. This is basically the position of the humble listener. What the prophet has to say must first be heard by the prophet. God's words are put into Jeremiah's mouth; he is a recipient (and sometimes not a particularly enthusiastic one). It is characteristic of the false prophets whom Jeremiah encounters that they speak without first hearing; they have not stood in the council of the Lord, they have not received his words. The true prophet is first of all a humble listener, and for the church to speak in the prophetic voice it must first of all be a community which is devoted to the reception of God's word. That means primarily devoted to Scripture as the one divinely commissioned and inspired witness to God's revelation in Christ. A prophetic church is a biblical church.
A second thing that struck me about the role of the prophet in Jeremiah is what a vulnerable role it is. The prophet is entirely without weapons (except the word of God), entirely without defences (except the word of God), and entirely without a solid place to stand (except the word of God). The priest has his role in the temple, his ancestry, his legally-backed position in society; the prophet has nothing but the word of God. To speak in the prophetic voice is a venture, a reach, a stretch - into the void, humanly speaking, but for the prophet a step onto the firm foundation of the word of God. For the church to be prophetic it will need to understand the authority of God's word and have deep confidence in it, so that it can go out in the strength of that word alone, expecting and needing no other resources. A prophetic church is a bold church.
Then again, one of the key characteristics of the true prophet as we see that role in Jeremiah is speaking unpopular truths. The false prophet says everything will be fine. But Jeremiah has to proclaim judgement on sin, the inevitability of the fall of Jerusalem. He is even driven to call the people to surrender to the enemy, a stance which in time of war look distinctly treacherous. Because the true prophet has heard God's word, and because he knows he can stand only on that word, he will speak, regardless of the consequences. The prophetic voice in the church must surely include this aspect: saying what has to be said (and it has to be said not because we think it is important, but because we heard it from the Lord) regardless of the unpopularity of the message. I think something for me and churches like mine to look out for is a faux-prophetic stance which criticises sins which none of us are particularly guilty of, or only makes those denunciations which will play well in the group to which we belong. (It is easy for me to critique materialism and greed in the pulpit; the liberal-ish world around us also denounces those things. What about if I speak against sexual immorality? Might one test of the prophetic voice be: would this get me thrown into a cistern?) A prophetic church is a counter-cultural church.
All of which leaves me thinking we have a long way to go. But...
Most fundamentally a prophetic church is one which looks to Christ, who is in his person the fulfilment and sum of all prophecy, and expects from him the Holy Spirit. In other words, the prophetic church is empty, and recognises that it cannot possibly be the prophetic church, but needs God to move if anything worthwhile is to happen.
So perhaps we're on the starting block at least.
