We are continuing our discussion of spiritual gifts. These are special abilities God provides for his children. We have discovered that each true Christ follower will supernaturally receive at least one gift and possibly more. Also, God is the one who decides which gifts go to which individual based on his all-knowing wisdom. The gifts are given for our use as we minister to the Body of Christ but will also assist us in the many other roles we fill as men.
As I mentioned last week, there are several lists of gifts in Scripture and we will look at many of them. However, there are five primary gifts God provides to edify the Body of Christ. The Apostle Paul lists them for us in Ephesians 4:11. “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers,”
We are going to use the visual image of a hand to help us remember the five primary gifts and their purposes. Last week we discussed Apostle and represented this gift by the thumb. The Apostle is one who is sent to start new things.
Today, we will discuss the Prophet. When we hear this word, we often think of someone foretelling the future like Isaiah, or Jerimiah in Scripture. However, the purpose of one with the gift of prophecy is different. This is a person who can discern and communicate God’s truth clearly and forcefully. The difference between one with this spiritual gift and others with the ability to understand Scripture is what they do with the information. A prophet has a bold personality and is not afraid to get in the face and confront someone who is being disobedient to God’s directive. This person is represented by the pointer finger. You can envision the Prophet shaking his finger in the face of the one being confronted.
As you may imaging, the person with the gift of prophecy can be harsh and overbearing. This attitude is created by their strong desire to assure the truth is spoken regardless of the consequences. They tend to be so focused on truth they can ignore the responsibility to show love in the process.
This gift is vital to the Body of Christ. We need people who are not timid or shy about standing up for what is right. A true prophet does not simply expound his own version of truth but is adamant about proclaiming God’s truth as recorded in Scripture. A person with this gift is often given the task by God to boldly correct bad behavior or confusion in the Church.
This gift also has practical applications for the man of God who desires to lead his family into biblical living. He knows the Word and can distinguish when family members are straying from the truth. He then will do whatever it takes to point out their struggle and draw them back to a right path. Again, a quick warning. The Prophet needs to be incredibly careful that he doesn’t lose the truth of the message in the harshness of its delivery.
In other relationships, work, hobbies, social settings, the Prophet can be a great asset to those around him. His ability to see truth and discern hypocrisy can work to lead people to faith in Christ. The warning here needs to be even stronger. The Prophet who is too much of a “finger in your face” guy can also scare people away from the Gospel.
The key for the person with the gift of prophecy is to work hard to include a loving and patient attitude in presenting the strength of God’s Word. This should not diminish the power of the message but make it more acceptable to those who hear.