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LEADERSHIP AND THE PROPHETIC.

A WORST CASE SCENARIO.

Relating to leadership can be a real minefield for prophetic people. I have seen it all; I have seen churches where the prophetic is constantly trying to stone the leadership, and the leadership are doing the same to the prophetic people. It turns the church into a warzone! It often reminds me of Inspector Closseau and his servant Cato in the old Pink Panther movies. They don't stop fighting until the house is trashed.

So how do we as prophetic people relate to leadership since their way of looking at things and their calling is so different to our own? I often joke that 'Prophets are from Mars and Pastors are from Venus'. They are so different, and they certainly seem to come from different planets at times! But both ministries are 'out of this world', and when they do come together and get it right, it truly is a 'marriage made in heaven' designed by the Lord to propel the church into it's divine calling.

SOME BIBLICAL TRUTHS ABOUT THE PROPHETIC AND LEADERSHIP.

I have heard lots of people say that 'you cannot be prophetic and be a leader' and that 'the prophetic gift and leadership don't mix'. This confused me a lot in the early days, as I kept on being given words about being a leader and being prophetic. The Biblical truth is this; you can be both and the two can mix. Take a look at Moses; he was both a great leader, and a prophet. David too, was both a shepherd and prophetic. Joseph; again prophetic and a leader. How about Jesus Himself; He is a prophet and He is the Head of the church, and He is certainly not a scizophrenic! So despite what you might hear, the scripture is clear, the two can be combined. This should give us faith and hope that the Lord can bring the two together in our churches, since the two dwell together in perfect harmony and peace within Christ.

HOW DO WE RELATE TO LEADERSHIP AS PROPHETIC PEOPLE?

So how do we relate to leadership? We have to have our heart in the right place! Over the years I have noticed that one of the easiest ways to gauge someones maturity in the prophetic ministry is to see how well they relate to the leadership in their church. Your response to leadership shows your maturity level. So here are three things that I have found useful in my heart response to leadership.

1. HONOUR LEADERSHIP.

The role of the leader is a God-given role, and therefore we can and should honour them. It's important to have an understanding of the reponsibility and role of leadership and elders within the local church. This will help us when they do things that we don't understand; when we look at their role, their response and actions become clearer to us.

The primary role of church leadership is protect and care for God's flock:

1 Peter 5:1-2
'As a fellow elder, I appeal to you: care for the flock that God has entrusted to you'.

Leadership, especially pastoral leadership, is an expression of God's shepherding heart. Often, when local church leadership is attacking the prophetic it is because a prophetic person has shown a lack of maturity by pubicly giving either correctional or directional words that have brought division or wounding to the flock. Since the role of leadership is to protect, they will attack the source of the problem. This results in the shepherds going after the prophetic ministry. In this situation, there needs to be some humility all around. The prophetic person needs to repent publicly (since the damaging word was given publicly). The leadership needs to view the prophetic person as a silly sheep who has just gone astray and needs some help getting back in amongst the flock. In this way the healing can come, and along with it some restoration.

Leadership also tend to restrict the prophetic if they fear it can do damage to the flock. This kind of response again comes from a Godly place, as they are called to care for and protect the flock. It's only natural for leadership to restrict something that could hurt the people within their care. However, the solution here is not to outlaw the prophetic ministry, but to put in a framework for the prophetic to function in which will allow the blessings that come with the prophetic ministry to flow to the flock, but which stops any harmful words being released. In most churches where the prophetic flows and is a blessing, words which edify, encourage, and/or bring comfort (1 Cor 14:3) are given a green light to be spoken pubicly, whereas words which are correctional or directional in nature should be submitted to the leadership for approval and weighing prior to their release to the congregation. This framework generally works well, and provides safety for the flock and a place where the prophetic ministry can florish.

NEVER PUBLICLY COMPLAIN OR GOSSIP.

Honouring leadership means that we never, ever, complain publicly or gossip about leadership. I have learnt through personal experience that the Lord will discipline such behaviour. So don't do it!

In Numbers 11 the people complained publicly about the food situation (verses 1,10). They complained about the Lord and about Moses. The result was that they got the meat that they craved, but the Lord also sent a plague amongst them as He was very angry with them. Moses on the other hand, complained privately to the Lord, in his personal prayer closet (verse 11), and what was the result? The Lord answered Moses prayer; He sent the blessing and added no trouble to it. He set up a system of delegating leadership to help take some of the burden from Moses personally.

YOU CAN COMPLAIN TO GOD.

Yes, that's right you can complain to God, but you must do it in the right way. You can't go around complaining publicly about the Lord or the Leadership that He has put in place. That would be dishonouring them. You can, however, complain privately to the Lord in your prayer closet. Infact, the Lord loves it when you pour out your heart to Him in private. I love the story of Habbakuk. Of all the prophets in scripture, Habbakuk was perhaps the biggest whiner, a man who could complain about anything and everything. But he learnt how to direct His complaints to God:

Habbakuk 2:1
'I will climb up to my watchtower and stand at my guardpost.
There I will wait to see what the Lord says and how He will answer my complaint'.

What was the Lord's response to Habbakuk's complaint? He loved to hear Habbakuk pour out his heart, and He gave Habbakuk a prophecy, which we can read today in the Bible. So complaining to the Lord in private is the way to go. This has changed my life; when I get frustrated (which happens frequently) I know I can cry out to the Lord, complain and whine to Him, and it's okay to do it. Infact, it's the safest place for me to complain.

SAMUEL'S HEART FOR LEADERSHIP.

Samuel was a great man of God. He was a great leader himself, as he was the judge of Israel (1 Sam 7:15). He was also a prophet and a man of God who displayed amazing character in the way that he related to Saul. In Samuel 15 we learn about the Kingship being stripped from Saul. The response of Samuel really shows his tremendous character and his love for leadership. In verse 15 it says 'Samuel never went to meet with Saul again but he constantly mourned for him'. Even though the leadership (Saul) had messed up in a big way, Samuels heart was so pure, and he showed his class by mourning for Saul, and I bet he prayed for Saul often.

DAVID HONOURED SAUL.

I'm also touched by David's response to the Saul. Saul was actually possessed, and yet David would only speak honourably about him. No matter how bad the leadership is in your church, it's doubtful that it's as bad as Saul was. I love the story of David and his mighty men in the cave in 1 Samuel 24. Saul goes into the very cave where David and the boys are hiding to relieve himself. Saul is totally alone; all David has to do is strike him down and the Kingdom is his. David's men are telling him to go for it and take Saul out. Still, David shows that his maturity level and character is at a diferent level to his companions by his response:

1 Samuel 15:35
'The Lord forbid that I should do this to my Lord the king, and attack the Lord's anointed one,
for the Lord Himself has chosen him'.

David and Samuel had both set their hearts to honour leadership, and we should do likewise.

2. PRAY FOR LEADERSHIP OFTEN.

I have a saying that 'Those who pray often, allow Him to soften'. I say this because so often when we have an issue with someone, if we pray for that person the Lord begins to soften our heart towards them. So praying for our leaders is a great way to allow the Lord to keep our hearts soft towards them. Paul wrote that we should pray for our leaders:

1 Timothy 2:2
'Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives,
marked by godliness and purity'.

'The oils flows from the head down' (Psalm 133). A prayer of blessing on the leadership (the head) will flow down through the ranks and eventually become a blessing for you personally.

INTERCESSION OR ACCUSATION.

If you see a problem in the church, if the Lord reveals a weakness in the leadership to you, what is your first response? Our first response should be to pray. We're called to a ministry of intercession, not a ministry of accusation. Again, we can take our concerns to the Lord in our prayer closet. Once again, Samuel shows his maturity in his response to Saul loosing the Lord's blessing to rule in 1 Samuel 15:11

'Samuel was so deeply moved when he heard this that he cried out to the Lord all night'.

Samuel's first response was to pray; to cry out to the Lord. Emulate Samuel; let your first response be to pray, and keep on praying for leadership often.

3. BE SUBMISSIVE TO LEADERSHIP.

It's really important to be submissive to leadership. This is a watershed issue in the life of any prophetic person. You show your trust in the Lord in the way that you are willing to submit to leadership. Ultimately, it is the Lord who releases us into the prophetic ministry. If leadership doesn't release you or recognize the gifting in you, consider it a test from the Lord. As you submit to leadership, the Lord will trust you and will make a way for you to be released. In this way you show your faith in the Lord by submitting to the leaders in your church.

It is so important to submit to church leadership. It's also one of the hardest things you are called to do. Historically, the prophetic ministry has had a tendency to be, or seek to be, above the other ministries (rule over), or to be outside of the church (be independent). Both of these positions are contrary to God's will for the prophetic ministry. The role of the prophet in the New Testament church, is to work alongside the other ministries, including leadership, in a team (Ephesians 4:11-13). On it's own the prophetic is limited in it's effectiveness. When yoked to the other ministries, and in submission to church government, the prophetic ministry is truly an incredible ministry. Even one mature prophet on his own is limited in his ministry, as we all 'prophesy in part'. But when we prophecy in a team evironment incredible things happen (1 Cor 14:24-25 for example).

1 Peter 5:5-6
'In the same way you younger men must accept the authority of the elders.
And all of you serve each other in humility because
"God opposes the proud but gives His grace to the humble".
So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God,
and at the right time He will lift you up in honour'.

SPIRITUAL ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDER.

Over the years, I have seen a certain disease afflict certain prophetic people in the church. It's called 'Spiritual Attention Deficit Disorder', and it happens when a prophetic person thinks they have heard from the Lord, and a certain crazy zeal overcomes them. They rush ahead in great zeal on some project or word, without first submitting their word to leadership or mature believers first. The result is that they run out of zeal and are left out on a limb, and a little embarassed and a little sad too. To avoid this common affliction, run your revelation passed someone in leadership before you act on it. This too is a great way to submit to leadership. All of the prophecies that I receive I run passed my pastor (Clint Batchelor). This shows honour to him, and is a safeguard to me personally. I trust Clint 110%. No matter how much zeal I have, if he says 'stop' I don't act on the word.

My advice to all prophetic people is this; submit yourself to leadership. Go out of your way to be accountable to them. The Lord Himself will honour you if you humble yourself in this way.

IN CONCLUSION.

It's never a case of 'if' there will be issues between the prophetic and leadership in a church, it's always a case of 'when'. We can't avoid issues coming up from time to time, but we can choose to have a good heart, and respond in a Godly way by choosing to honour leadership, pray for our leaders, and to submit to them. This is God's calling for those who are prophetic, and it is also God's challenge for us.



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