The Nature of Prophecy ...continued

Examples of Prophecy and their problems

By William Kay (used with permission)

ANSWER 6

6. A woman in your congregation plays the keyboard and in your opinion attempts to control worship Services by making use of her instrument and microphone. She is the wife of a member of your pastoral team and he is very pleased with her ministry. Two older members of the congregation, however, become upset and begin to resist having to sing the same songs again and again at the leading of the keyboard. The musician begins to resent their opposition and one morning brings a prophecy saying, "Many in this place are not seeking to go on into the sanctuary and worship me, says the Lord, and they must repent and praise me for only in so doing will they be released from their bondage and their fear. You must praise me to the uttermost, says the Lord. You are resisting my will and will lose the blessing of your salvation. Look to your ways".

In judging the prophecy you take several factors into consideration. You know, for example, that the woman and her husband take a very strong position on praise and worship and believe that only when the congregation "dances in the Spirit" is true liberty found. You also know that the husband of the keyboard player has said several times that the authority structure in the family is altered when the Spirit of God comes upon his wife. He believes God gives her special authority to exercise her undoubted talents. In addition you know that friction in the leadership team is not going to be good for the church.

After prayer, you might like to proceed like this. Speak first to the husband. He is a member of your pastoral team. Ask him why a prophecy was given by his wife which condemns the congregation. He may answer that she knows that some of the older members of the church are unhappy with her emphasis on praise and worship and that she felt she should speak to them.

If this is what is said, ask him to point out to his wife that it is not her prerogative to rebuke members of the congregation. Then agree that she should meet the whole oversight and decide what should be done. It may be that the oversight will wish to discuss its attitude to praise and worship and attempt to help older people adjust to new emphases. But, leaving that aside, you will be very concerned that the keyboard player should attempt to use prophecy to rebuke members of the congregation. And this for two reasons: First, because the prophecy is consciously manipulative and, secondly, because it would have been far wiser to speak personally to the members concerned (Mat 18.15f) than to broadcast a general condemnation through prophecy.

You have the makings of a major problem on your hands. You do not want to break up the unity of the Spirit on the oversight and, if relationships among the elders are good, it ought to be possible to assure the keyboard player that her ministry is appreciated while, at the same time, reaching agreement about the role of praise and worship and prophecy on the oversight. If you cannot reach agreement on these matters, it will be necessary to part company with the member of your oversight and his wife. If the errors are not caused by deep-rooted attitudes, then biblical teaching will put matters right.