Articles

Getting the Weirdness Out of the Prophetic Movement

by J. Lee Grady

"Let’s reclaim the simple, profound purpose of prophecy—and reject all sensational substitutes."

When I was a college student, a visiting minister regularly came to preach at our campus meetings. At the end of his messages he would often point at someone in the room, smile and say something like, “You in the blue shirt, I believe the Lord has a word of encouragement for you.” Then he would prophesy.

This freaked me out! How could this man know what God was saying to someone else? What if he was wrong? I loved the gift of prophecy because I had benefitted from it myself. But I remember telling the Lord back in those days that I would never, ever stand in front of a group and prophesy to an individual like that. Way too scary!

“If we focus on spiritual gifts as an end in themselves, our distraction will lead us into deception of the weirdest kind. Let’s get our eyes back on Jesus.”

Then, during a trip to China in 2000, an underground church leader asked me to come to a room in the hotel to meet with a group of ministers. When I arrived, the leader told my translator that she wanted me to prophesy over 14 ministers who were already seated around a table. I was cornered! I prayed a desperate prayer—“Help!”—and 90 minutes later I finished praying and prophesying over all those people. The Lord used a scared and insecure American guy to encourage those brave warriors—and I have prophesied to many people since then.

I believe prophecy is a powerful spiritual gift when it is used correctly. Paul told the Corinthians (who had been abusing charismatic gifts) that genuine prophecy has three important functions: (1) edification, (2) exhortation and (3) consolation (see 1 Cor. 14:3). When we give a word from God, it comforts the weary, encourages the fainthearted, propels them toward God’s purpose or breaks spiritual obstacles.

Genuine prophecy is one of the most potent weapons in God’s arsenal. But if we are not careful, the gift can be hijacked—either by devious spiritual con artists or by gullible Christians who don’t have proven character or a solid foundation in God’s Word. This is why the gift of discernment should operate alongside prophecy at all times.

Several people have recently asked my opinion about some of the “prophetic buzz” circulating in churches these days. I’m not the only one who is becoming increasingly concerned about the weirdness that is evident in some charismatic camps. My alarm bells often go off when I read some of the prophetic messages people are claiming to be from God. These messages usually have one or more of these characteristics:

1. Preoccupation with end-time predictions. No prominent prophet in the United States issued a clear warning about the recent earthquake in Japan. But in the aftermath of that disaster, many began to release dire predictions of subsequent quakes—stirring up doom and gloom among the saints. Now some are predicting explosions on the sun that will knock out all electrical power on earth. God never intended prophecy to cripple His church with fear. His word brings comfort, not foreboding.

2. Obsession with numbers. There is certainly a place for symbolic numbers in the Bible. But many prophets today seem to think that every number they see on a clock or a billboard is a message from God. God is not cryptic with His sons and daughters—He wants to speak to us plainly. His will is not a secret code to be deciphered.

3. Overemphasis on dreams. Of course we know God can speak through dreams. But the apostle Paul (whom we are called to imitate) received most of his guidance from the Holy Spirit while he was awake. Some ministers today are spending too much time in the pulpit describing their technicolor dreams—and this could actually lead people into error if the dream has more to do with pepperoni than biblical revelation. Stay focused on the Word!

4. Fascination with exotic visions and manifestations. Our movement has been invaded in recent years by many questionable influences—from New Age spirits to stigmata to a bizarre fixation on gold dust, gems, “angel” feathers and “manna.” In most cases those who claim the substances are real won’t have them verified. In Illinois, a church drew crowds because of reports that giant red and blue gems were falling from the ceiling. The people stopped coming after the guy in charge of the supposed supernatural display ran off with a woman who was not his wife. Please remember that everything that glitters is not gold.

5. Worship of elite prophets. It has become fashionable in parts of our movement today to drop the names of certain prophets in order to establish credibility. After all, if Prophet So-and-So said it, it must be true. Some of these prophets are quoted more often than Scripture—and such glorification of people borders on blasphemy. Groups that focus their attention on hyper-spiritual personalities and their prophecies can quickly drift into cultic behavior.

How do we avoid being deceived by false prophecy and unhealthy spiritual phenomena? The best way I know is to get our priorities in line with God’s Word.

The purpose of any genuine spiritual gift is to edify the church so we can fulfill the Great Commission. If our main goal is to win souls, plant healthy churches, make disciples and advance the gospel around the world, then prophecy can help us do those things. But if we focus on spiritual gifts as an end in themselves, our distraction will lead us into deception of the weirdest kind. Let’s get our eyes back on Jesus.

J. Lee Grady is contributing editor of Charisma.

Reprinted from Charisma, 600 Rinehart Rd., Lake Mary, FL 32746. www.charismamag.com. Used by permission.

Don’t Settle for a Fake Anointing

by J. Lee Grady

Many Christians today can’t distinguish between the sweat of the flesh and the dew of heaven. Gideon is one of my favorite Bible characters because I relate to his struggle with inferiority. God pulled this runt of a guy out of a hole in the ground and called him to deliver Israel. Gideon’s classic “Who, me?” response reminds me of conversations I’ve had with the Lord. None of us feels qualified to do God’s work, but we know from Gideon’s example that reluctant wimps can be transformed into valiant warriors.

I’ve heard people criticize Gideon because he laid out a fleece of wool on the ground and asked the Lord—not once but twice—to confirm His promise (see Judges 6:36-40). But the Bible doesn’t say God was mad at Gideon for wanting assurance. In fact, God answered Gideon both times with moisture from heaven. The dew was a sign of God’s favor and blessing.

“I love it when the Holy Spirit does miracles. But when people fake the supernatural in order to get an audience response (or a big offering), I run for the door.”

You know how the story ends. Gideon’s impressive army of 22,000 is downsized to a ragtag band of 300, and they carry only trumpets, clay pots and torches into battle. Through their supernatural victory over Midian, God made it clear that His anointing has nothing to do with
human ability.

How many of us have learned Gideon’s lesson? Do you trust the Holy Spirit to work in you, or do you lean on the flesh? Do you have the precious dew of His miraculous anointing on your life, or have you manufactured a cheap form of human moisture to do the job?

Many Christians today can’t distinguish between the sweat of the flesh and the dew of heaven, but there is a big difference. As I have prayed for more anointing in my life, I’ve realized that we often mistake fake anointing for the real thing. Here’s what I’ve learned so far:

The anointing isn’t in numbers. We place so much importance on church size today, yetGod doesn’t seem impressed by crowds. I have nothing against megachurches as long as they preach the gospel—and many of them do a better job of it than small churches. But we’re headed for disaster if we think seating capacity alone reflects God’s approval.

The anointing isn’t in eloquence. Some people have an uncanny way with words (including non-Christian motivational speakers), but persuasive skill isn’t the same as spiritual anointing. The dew of heaven is holy. It brings conviction and repentance—not self-awareness and an ego boost. And true preaching does not exalt the preacher—it crucifies him and focuses all attention on the Son of God.

The anointing isn’t in looks. In today’s cool evangelical scene, rock star pastors are expected to be sexy, and everyone in the praise team needs trendy clothes. There’s nothing wrong with dressing to reach your audience, but I hope we don’t think the Holy Spirit is impressed with hipness. The dowdy grandmother wearing orthopedic shoes might have a word from the Lord for the congregation—but will we allow her on the stage?

The anointing isn’t in technology. I love to use digital graphics when preaching. But some of the most anointed meetings I’ve been in were in Third World countries where we didn’t even have reliable electricity, much less computers and projectors. When genuine anointing falls on a preacher, he or she can talk for two hours without having to entertain.

The anointing isn’t in emotionalism. In many churches today, lack of anointing creates a vacuum that is filled by screaming, swooning and other forms of religious theater. It doesn’t matter what is preached—it is “anointed” as long as the preacher punctuates it with enough volume and the people shout back. (One preacher I know had everyone hollering while she quoted lines from a Beyoncé song!) Remember: Backslidden Israel shouted so loud that the earth quaked, but by the end of the day the Philistines had plundered them (see 1 Sam.
4:5-11).

The anointing isn’t in contrived manifestations. I love it when the Holy Spirit does miracles. But when people fake the supernatural in order to get an audience response (or a big offering), I run for the door. If we had the fear of God we would never pretend to have the anointing by jerking, slurring words, stretching the facts in a testimony or sprinkling glitter on ourselves.

Charles Spurgeon referred to the Holy Spirit’s anointing as “unction,” and he said of it: “Unction is a thing which you cannot manufacture, and its counterfeits are worse than worthless.” Let’s turn away from every false anointing and ask the God who answered Gideon to soak us with His heavenly power.

J. Lee Grady is contributing editor of Charisma.

Reprinted from Charisma, 600 Rinehart Rd., Lake Mary, FL 32746. www.charismamag.com. Used by permission.