The Gift of Prophecy
“The Holy Spirit gives the gift of prophecy to some believers to make God’s heart known and to edify the church. This gift is for the benefit of both believers and unbelievers and is a sign that God is truly among the church (1 Corinthians 14:22-25). Those with this gift are sensitive to both the prompting of the Holy Spirit and the needs of the church body. They should be humble and continually study the Scriptures to test these revelations before speaking them. When they do speak, they should allow and even expect others to weigh what is said against the Scriptures and interpret the message accordingly. In this way the church may be continually built up together in unity.”
This is some spiritual gift: to be responsible for helping make God’s heart known in the world. And they should be humble about it! The thing I like most about the definition above is that others do not simply take things at face value but are expected to push back and challenge the prophecy when it does not follow scripture. This is the way to know if it is truly God’s heart.
How does someone with this gift convey it? The definition (not quoted above) says, “These messages can take the form of exhortation, correction, disclosure of secret sins, prediction of future events, comfort, inspiration, or other revelations given to equip and edify the body of Christ.“ This is a sacred task because some of these forms of getting the message out will surely destroy the church rather than equip and edify it.
For those of us who do not have the spiritual gift of prophecy, we are still called to exercise this gift with the possibility of gaining skills in this area. So here are four ideas to ease into welcoming others while using some of your God-given spiritual gifts:
1. Be a Prophet
Even if we don’t have this gift, we know from scripture that we are to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and visit those in jail (in addition to other social justice issues). After much prayer, ask your pastor for the opportunity to testify and prophesy about a social justice issue that is been raised in your mind through the study of scripture and praying. Give your congregation a challenge to either join you in working in a particular area of social justice or to get connected with a group that works for social justice in general.
2. Craft your Way
Craftivism is the movement to craft something that speaks to social justice. It can be getting together with those we don’t know, to crotchet a rug, bake a cake with a justice quote on it for the next potluck, or make and put up peace poles with the permission of those who own the property of course.
3. Micah 6:8
Form a group among your friends and family or in your church whose mission is to do what Micah 6:8 says: do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God. Meet for the first time to brainstorm ministries that speak to Micah. Then meet regularly to do these ministries. Have a person act as “project manager” for a project to make sure equipment and supplies needed are available. Rotate this job so that everyone has a chance to lead.
4. Justice Google
Google justice scriptures found in the Bible. Write each scripture on a slip of paper. Find a way to display these so church members can see them. Invite them to take a slip of paper to put on their refrigerator or a bathroom mirror. Ask them to begin each day letting that scripture speak to them so they will be aware when a justice issue comes along in their day. Ask them to spend a few minutes every evening reviewing the day to see if they were able to live out that justice.