Modern Prophets and Priests

In gen­eral, prophets and priests live in dif­fer­ent worlds. Prophets live on the fringes and tell the harsh truth at great risk. Priests are more likely to main­tain the sta­tus quo and keep the reli­gious home fires burn­ing. There is a place for both, and there are temp­ta­tions and pit­falls in either role. As a min­is­ter, you have to do both in bal­ance. The counselor’s hat is part priest and part prophet. In a priestly role, you reas­sure the per­son con­fid­ing in you that it is going to be okay. As a prophet, you tell of inevitable out­comes to cer­tain view­points and choices. True reas­sur­ance also has to be hon­est.

Preach­ing has to include both. Speak­ing prophet­i­cally day in and day out will give you an oppor­tu­nity to move all over the coun­try. Con­gre­ga­tions can­not take a steady diet of doom and gloom. Even in the sea­son of Lent, one has to let up on the reminders of human and social flaws. Tak­ing the priestly approach for the sake of secu­rity can get you branded as a spir­i­tual cow­ard — and rightly so.

Valid min­istry is always a bal­ance. Even the sternest prophets of old had mes­sages of reas­sur­ance. Gen­er­ally, the prophetic books began with fiery warn­ings and ended with pas­toral scenes of restora­tion and renewal. Judg­ment must be bal­anced by hope. That same for­mula is nec­es­sary for your own self-talk as well. You must be brave enough to tell the truth about your­self to your­self. You also have to stop beat­ing up on your­self for your mis­takes.

Polit­i­cal media falls into these same two modes. There is naïve reas­sur­ance and there are prophe­cies of cer­tain doom. Being polit­i­cal pro­pa­ganda, it is good to take either with a grain of salt…then go find a good movie or some good music. There is more to life than the voices of the polit­i­cal or reli­gious priests and prophets.

Jesus had bal­ance in his per­son and mes­sage. Attempts to make him one or the other end in dis­tor­tion. He had some grim warn­ings and ter­rific con­so­la­tions. Life between the two is rich enough to be called eternal!