Reflections of a Trail Blazer

And He gave some [as] apostles, and some [as] prophets, and some [as] evangelists, and some [as] pastors and teachers, ¹² for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;  (Ephesians 4:11-12)

There is a major difference between the purpose of a prophet and the purpose of a prophecy!

The purpose for all of the ministry gifts, according to Ephesians 4:12, is to:

1. Equip the saints for the work of service
2. To build up the body of Christ

The purpose and responsibility stated above is evidence that our thinking about ministry and its function needs an overhaul.  There are many ministries that really make the effort to train people how to reach into the lives of other people. This type of training is good and much needed. However, there are few ministries that are, on purpose, equipping saints to do the work of an apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor or teacher.

It would not make much sense to us if we went to a doctor that was trained by a seamstress; or flew on airplanes whose pilots were trained by plumbers.  While in elementary school we receive a general education.  We need the basic foundations necessary before we can move into higher education. The higher up our education goes the more specialized it becomes; and the more specialized our teachers are as well. Even though elementary school may seem to be taught by non-specialty teachers, their training is more specialized than we realize. There are teachers who teach general education, but must have specialized training for certain age groups. Others are specialized according to learning abilities. Teachers that are trained for elementary education must be certified differently to qualify to teach in high school. The qualifications for college professors are even more stringent and specialized.

Teachers also must, before they are let loose on the students, must do student teaching under a mentor in that specialty.

We should expect the same specialized training in the church. When an individual first becomes a Christian, that person enters elementary training which will involve general education; the laying down of a foundation on which to build more specialized training. As their Christian walk is more defined and understood, their maturity can be seen.  The growth rate of a new believer depends on the individual.  Regardless of how slow or fast one matures in their Christian life, the discovery of their identity and what their purpose is in this world is extremely important. Few people know how to make this discovery on their own. Their understanding of how their purpose relates to the purpose of the church should be taught parallel to the discovery of their purpose. Otherwise, a Christian will have a difficult time understanding their need for the body of Christ and the church.

This type of education requires specialized training in order for a Christian to be equipped for the work of the service; or better stated, their part in the body of Christ.

PURPOSE OF THE PROPHET

It has been understood that a prophet represents the revelation and vocal gifts of the Holy Spirit:  the word of knowledge, the word of wisdom, the discerning of spirits and tongues as well as the interpretation of tongues. A true prophet will flow in a combination of these functions a lot. How the prophet functions and the purpose of a prophet have been meshed together with an outcome of two things:  The prophet can see and the prophet can speak.

While this may be true of their function, if the reason for a prophet seeing and speaking is not understood then confusion will continue. Let us separate the two areas:  the prophet and the prophecy. We will talk about the purpose of the prophecy in the next lesson.

The purpose of the prophet is no different than that of any of what is commonly known as the five-fold ascension (or ministry) gifts.

The prophet, according to Ephesians 4:11-12 has been given for the

• Equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry [of the prophet]
• For the building up of the body of Christ [in the prophetic]

Now this does not mean that the prophet will teach and train only prophets; or that they will teach and train everyone in the body of Christ to be prophets. Their primary responsibility is to train the body of Christ how to operate in the spiritual senses given to us by God so that we can learn how to recognize what and even how God is doing what He is doing. Let’s look at it from the perspective of an ophthalmologist or an optometrist. Both professions deal with the eyes and the ability of an individual to be able to see.  When you go to either doctor and they test your eyes they ask you to say what you see. Even though they have a battery of machines that help in the testing of your eyes, their final evaluation rests on what you say you see. The ophthalmologist is a little different than the optometrist in that the ophthalmologist is a medical doctor whose specialty is in the diseases of the eye.  There are medical problems in other parts of your body that can cause problems in your eyes, such as diabetes.  An optometrist is well skilled to know when it is time to send you to an ophthalmologist.  The optometrist is able to recognize the cases where eye-glasses can bring temporary relief, but the real problem may be medical. Until the medical problem is addressed, the eye-glasses only relieve a problem, but do not fix it.

This is pretty much how the purpose of a prophet is realized in the body of Christ. They are able to help the members of the body

• learn how to see
• learn how to discern what they see
• learn how to say what they see
• Recognize a sickness or disease in the body that hinders their ability to see

Every member of the body of Christ can learn this.  For definition and clarity sake, we can interject other words for “see” such as knowing, discerning, or perceiving. These are all a form of “seeing.”

In all of my years of ministry the two major questions I hear more than anything else are:

1. How do I hear from God?
2. Is that me, God or the devil?

I cannot find these questions in the bible. This is an indication to me that many prophets are not functioning fully according to their purpose. This has been done more out of ignorance than maliciousness.  Ignorance means “don’t know, so don’t do.”  Stupid means “do know, but will not do.” I believe the body of Christ is ignorant in some of these areas and are eager to know the truth. In order to know the truth, there are some old ways of thinking that really have to be discarded. Many times the teachers do not teach incorrectly; we tend to hear according to our maturity in the word and according to our immediate need.

As a Prophet I can see in a measure that others may not be able to see.  My value to the body of Christ should be my willingness to not only share with you what I see but how I see and help you to see the same thing according to the measure the Lord has given to you. The word of God works through the uniqueness of the personality God has given to each of us.

SEEING IS NOT A GIFT

The gift is not to be able to see. The gift is to be able to discern what you see (know, perceive, etc.) Everyone has spiritual eyes just like they have natural eyes. Some people are spiritually blind just like there are some who are naturally blind. Even those who are naturally blind can be taught to “see” in some measure. Spiritually blind people (who are in the body of Christ) can also be trained how to see (perceive, know) what God is saying, doing, etc.

WHAT DO I DO WITH WHAT I SEE?

The body of Christ cannot be built up [prophetically] if we do not know what to do with what we see or know. Practical application must be taught. Let me say this again. Practical application MUST BE TAUGHT.

When you give your child a fork at the age of eighteen months, your child does not know what to do with the fork. They will hit the table with it; aim for their eyes (or yours) or clumsily try to get it to their mouth as they have seen you do. However, the food does not make it to the mouth. They have to be taught. So, we give them a smaller fork to take smaller bites: and we hold their hand and guide the fork toward their mouth.

This is the same way you train the members of the body on how to apply what they hear, see or know.

WHAT ABOUT ME?

As I am writing this I can hear a community of prophets yelling, What about me??? Isn’t my job to tell the body of Christ and the world what is wrong with it and how to fix it? No, that is not your job. This was Jonah’s problem and it got him eating a buffet of seaweed in the belly of the large fish.

A parent continues to eat even though their child may be learning how to hold the fork or spoon. The prophet must do the same thing. You continue to see, hear, know, perceive and discern. There are things that must be done or said. However, if you do not understand the purpose of that prophecy then, regardless of how long you have been a prophet and even in the “prophetic ministry” you still need some training.

Even in the declaration of a prophetic word God always gives instructions that will equip the saints for the work of service and for the building up of the body. If the manner in which I deliver a prophetic word does not do these two things, I am functioning outside of my prophetic purpose. God never requires anything of us that He is not willing to do Himself.

We will talk later about the differences found in the Old Testament and the New Testament prophet. However, one thing I see consistent throughout the entire bible is that God never destroys anything or anybody or any place without giving plenty of warning. No individual, family or region encounters pain and/or problems without plenty of warning. Sometimes these warnings go on for several generations. These warnings are part of God equipping and building up His people. He wants us to hear Him and to understand what He is doing and why He is doing what He does.

We must not stop with the words; His ways are not my ways (Isaiah 55:9).  We must continue with, Teach me your ways oh Lord (Psalms 27:11). His ways may not be my ways now, but they can be.

THE VALUE ISSUE

We talked about this in previous lessons about Prophetic Integrity and Prophetic Pain. We must continue to look at this. If our value is not found in Christ we will do whatever it takes to get value for ourselves. When people honor and respect us for being able to see and know things, without a proper connection of intimacy to the Father, we will develop “puff head demons” and think of ourselves more highly than we ought to. By the same token we need to know how high we can think. Prophets, like all of the ministry gifts, are placed in a leadership position to effectively pave a path for others to get to the “wells of salvation (Isaiah 12:3)” so others can drink. If we are the only ones who get a drink we raise up weakened sheep who have malnutrition, lacking in the strength for the challenges of life.

For too long we have walked as a gift and in an office that said to the people that we were better, higher up and walked closer to God. Our teachings have plummeted them in disgrace, lording it over them, rather than getting down with them and on purpose bringing them to the same well we drink out of so that they, too, can drink.

My father always said this:  You should not stoop to someone’s level and act just like them. You go to someone’s level and help bring them up.

Paul said it another way:  For though I am free from all [men,] I have made myself a slave to all, that I might win the more (1 Corinthians 9:19).

© J. M. Bush February 2010