Skepticism of prophesy as a "Motivational gift"

[Pavel Mosko]

Many years ago (the early 1990s) I first studied about spiritual gifts from reading books at the Christian book store, and watching shows on TV, like Marilyn Hickey on TBN. I thought what was said was interesting, but I soon had some doubts about some of it, the biggest area was the notion of prophesy as being a "motivational gift". I can see some gifts like teaching, mercy, exhortation etc. being tied into with personality, but I had my doubts on this one. A few years later, when I got a Concordance I studied the Lexicon words and checked it out and I could see absolutely nothing in the actual Greek and Hebrew words for prophesy other than it describing a person literally speaking a "thus sayeth the Lord" type message or a person acting as a seer having visions etc. of future events, heavenly realities and so on.

But anyways, here's an example of what I'm talking about.


Prophecy
A person with the motivational gift of prophecy applies the Word of God to a situation so that sin is exposed and relationships are restored. He or she has a strong sense of right and wrong and speaks out against compromise and evil.

• Biblical Example
  The Apostle Peter played a significant role in the establishment of the early Church. Through his preaching, ministry, and writing, Peter encouraged men and women to believe in Christ, repent, and live according to the truth of God’s Word. “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19).

What are the seven motivational gifts?


Anyway I tend to believe this teaching is a legacy of people rationalizing the gift of prophesy in Protestant circles prior to the Pentecostal and Charismatic movement.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

The only actual teaching about the nature of prophecy and the outcome is found in 1 Corinthians 14. The Romans reference about prophecy says that one prophesies according to his faith, but does not give any teaching about what it actually is and what it should do for Christian believers.

In Paul's teaching in 1 Corinthians 12 it is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit for the building up of the body of Christ. This links in with the reference that prophecy is for "ediification" of believers, which is actually the building of the the body of Christ, which are the believers themselves, rather than any organisation "scaffold".

Paul's teaching also describes that prophecy is also for "comfort" and "admonition" of believers. Therefore genuine prophecy would have those three expected outcomes.

Because the sin of genuine believers is taken off them and placed on Christ, there is no teaching that prophecy is designed in any way to expose sin. Exposing sin in a believer's heart is private between God and the person and The Holy Spirit never "gossips" or discloses personal sin to third parties, unless the sinful conduct is so obvious that it doesn't need prophecy to see, and for the leadership to deal with in the normal way as prescribed by Scripture.

But someone, for example, giving a prophecy exposing a particular believer's "masturbation problem" is not of the Holy Spirit because it would not give comfort to the embarrassed person, nor would it build him up. Also, a prophecy like that would be unkind, and therefore not consistent with the fruit of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit will never do or say anything contradictory to His nature.

Although there are examples of predictive prophecy in Acts, they are not directed at believers in the body of Christ. The notable one is about the famine that came to pass in the days of the emperor Claudius. The other one was a prophecy warning Paul about the consequences of going to Jerusalem, and although had an element of prediction, was not specific in detail.

Therefore a prophecy to a believer that says "Before the year's out, you will enter into a place of great prosperity and wealth and be looked upon as a great man of God" cannot be of the Holy Spirit, because it is exalting the man and not Christ, and could give an expectation of making a lot of money, and so turning his heart toward increasing wealth. Such a prophecy could well come from a spirit of divination that could have catastrophic effects on the believer and the church.

One of the most powerful prophecies ever given, which has had a dynamic effect on a believer's faith is simply, "God loves you." Said at the right time it can be a life changer. Jeremiah gave a prophecy which is the standard of good prophecy: "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope" (Jeremiah 29:11).

The way to distinguish true prophecy from false prophecy that comes from the world, flesh and devil, is to go through and mark every faith-building prophecy that was given by any of God's Old Testament prophets. You will see that for every judgmental prophecy (given, not to believers, but to those who were rebelling, rejecting God and worshiping false idols) there is a corresponding plea from God to return to Him. Judgmental or condemning prophecies are not for genuine converted believers, because there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ because they are walking not after the flesh but after the Spirit.

Often, good sounding prophecies are given by those who are seeking to control others, these are witchcraft prophecies because they are using a counterfeit to control others using the Name of Jesus falsely. There is the story about a young Pentecostal pastor who had two elderly ladies in his church who had been there for 40 years and every time they felt that the pastor needed spiritual direction, one would give a tongues message and the other would interpret! That is a clear example of a witchcraft prophecy. It is sad that this type of prophesying is quite widespread in churches. The Holy Spirit gives guidance and direction through the written Word, not through the gift of prophecy.

This is why we must be very careful of personal prophecy. Controllers with a witchcraft spirit can give personal prophecies to control individual people, and it is inexperienced and vulnerable believer who is seduced and deceived by such counterfeit, controlling prophecies.

We must remember that the Holy Spirit never intimidates, manipulates, or controls believers.

 

[topher694]

I don't like putting labels like this on the gifts, it narrows their vision and application too much. If prophecy is simply "thus sayeth the Lord" then the question becomes, does God ever want to say something to motivate us. I certainly wouldn't want to take that off the table.

There are 2 main areas of prophecy, the gift of prophecy and the office of a Prophet. One does not have to be a Prophet to prophesy. The gift of prophecy is an extension of the ministry of the Holy Spirit and according to 1 Cor 14 should provide: edification, exhortation and comfort. However even that sometimes gets narrowed too much. If a prophetic word attempts to steer you away from sin and towards God, that will ultimately save you from destruction, so, in the end isn't that edifying? The trick is in the delivery, I could prophesy: "Turn from the wicked sin in your life or face the consequences" OR I could prophesy, "You have come to a fork in the road, one path leads to light, one to dark, the Lord says, walk the path of light for my grace is sufficient and I am with you always". Both talk about the same thing, but one is release in a much more comforting, exhorting and edifying way. This is where untrained, immature people miss it. The gift of prophecy should never, and need never, embarrass or confuse.

A prophet can and will operate in the gift of prophecy as well, but there will be times when they take on a different mantle. Their ministry is an extension of Jesus's ministry as the Head of the Church. Not that they (prophets) are more important, but there will be times they release something at a different level and of a different scope than just the gift of prophesy. These types of prophetic words might fall into the motivational category more often, but again, I would not limit it to that alone.

The thing with prophecy is, that it can be a very powerful influence in our lives both for those receiving it and those ministering it. Because it can be so powerful, it can also be powerfully abused. It requires training and supervision, and in many circles that is lacking or rejected. But just because some misuse it, whether that be out of ignorance, pride or whatever, that does not mean the gift should be rejected.