Paul told the Corinthians to "Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge. (1 Cor 14:29)," but I've always wondered how to do that.
How can one prophet judge another's prophecy without hurting their feelings or undermining their authority?
I gained insight through a story David Cartledge included in his book The Apostolic Revolution. Cartledge repeated a story originally told by Barney Coombs:
"I was sitting with a group of men in a council meeting. The evangelist with us brought a word of prophecy. The prophet turned to me and said, 'Barney, are we allowed to judge that prophecy?' Now we were like family around this table but you could have cut the atmosphere with a knife. I said, 'Be my guest.' He said, 'I don't think it was from God.' I turned to another man who is wise and also a prophet and said, 'John, what do you feel?' 'No,' he said, 'I don't think it was from God.' Then the man who was in charge of the business and also prophetic said, 'The prophecy we have heard is not from God, but the Spirit says that so and so did not share all he saw, and when he shares all he saw, it will be from God.' I felt goosebumps up and down my spine! I turned to the evangelist and said, 'Is that true?' And he said, 'Yes.' When he shared all that he had seen, all the men said, 'This is from God.' It changed everything."
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This is a tricky tightrope but one worthy of discussion as more and more churches embrace prophetic ministry. I taught a class at church a year or so ago called "Growing in the Prophetic" and spent an entire class session working through this issue of judging prophecy. I believe it all comes down to asking the right questions.
ReplyDeleteFor prophetic ministries we stressed the following key questions for start.
Are they rooted in a local church?
Are they accountable within that church to leadership?
Is there covering for their gifting and ministries when away from home?
What redress do we have if things go wrong?
Everyone called to five-fold ministry should subject themselves to the same level of accountability that prophets are held to, but no prophet should ever function as a superstar ministry. They are members of the body of Christ. Prophecy that is not judged produces shallowness in the gift and ministry. It allows the charlatans to grow fat and thrive on our ignorance. Without proper judging of prophecy, it can ultimately do damage to prophetic ministry which is vital for the equipping of the saints (Eph 4). With that said, how do we test prophecy? I submit the following 2 questions. I'm sure there are more but this could be a good starting point:
1. Does it edify, exhort and console? (1 Cor. 14:3) Whether the prophecy is positive or carries a judgment warning from God, ultimately it has to serve to build up the body.
2. Test the spirit (1 John 4:1-3) I see three possible sources behind every prophecy:
The Spirit of God
The spirit of man
An evil spirit
The spirit behind the prophecy has to be discerned before the words are judged. Prophecy must line up with scripture and the Spirit because there is a spirit to prophecy. Here’s a basic guideline for testing:
What is the spirit behind the prophecy?
Does it conform to scripture?
Does it glorify the Lord Jesus?
Is it manipulative or controlling?