The prophetic leaders have spoken: God doesn’t always get it right?

At the start, let me say, don’t blame the messenger - I’m only sharing information about what authoritative spiritual leaders have agreed on, and declared.  I’m just a curious onlooker.   

A number of prominent leaders in charismatic Christianity have laid down the law in an attempt to tame the wild, wild west of unregulated modern Christian prophetic practice.  If you’re not familiar with modern Christian prophecy, there’s an entire world of it readily available thanks to social media and streaming video platforms.  Dozens and dozens of self-proclaimed prophets have YouTube channels, some with large international followings, and others with limited local church community followings.  A huge array of recorded prophetic words are waiting to be discovered by anyone who can hit the correct combination of search terms.  Start watching, and the super-helpful Youtube video recommendation algorithm begins to suggest more and more similar content.  I fell into it just out of curiosity, based on a thought that there were probably Christians out there prophesying that President Trump would win re-election in 2020.  I searched for it, and discovered a lot more than I imagined.  Beyond prophecies about President Trump (which was a feature of a series of posts I wrote on God’s false(?) prophets), I watched prophecies and visions on upcoming natural disasters including a massive asteroid strike in the Caribbean destroying many coastal cities in the U.S., prophecies about military invasions of the U.S., prophecies about the COVID-19 pandemics and the evil plans of the one world government, specific prophecies about happenings in individual states, and prophecies about the coming end times and the primary role that the remnant Christians in the United States play in God’s plan.

A number of Christian podcasters and YouTubers have been responding with dismay and opposition.  Charismatic leaders who spoke against pro-Trump and nationalistic prophets lost many followers.  Dr. Michael Brown became quite outspoken against prophetic recklessness, and was instrumental in the development of the new prophetic standards.  Here is a recent essay Dr. Brown wrote explaining how the prophetic standards were developed and the new for prophetic accountability.

The new prophetic standards have their own website, https://propheticstandards.com/.  Those with the gift of prophecy are invited to add their endorsement to the statement.

While the majority of the statement is sensible, a couple of statements caught my attention as potentially problematic.  Both are near the end of the standards statement.  Here they are

WE REJECT the notion that a contemporary prophetic word is on the same level of inspiration or authority as Scripture or that God always speaks inerrantly through prophets today, since the Bible says we only know in part and prophesy in part (1 Cor. 13:9). 

Finally, while we believe in holding prophets accountable for their words, in accordance with the Scriptures, we do not believe that a sincere prophet who delivers an inaccurate message is therefore a false prophet.

I’m not convinced this is an appropriate use of 1st Corinthians 13:9.  Suggesting this passage indicates error or inaccuracy in prophecy seems to be a stretch.  It seems more like this conveys the sense of incompleteness, rather than inaccuracy or error.  Yet, this statement was vetted by several spirit-led charismatic leaders.  So perhaps I should take their word as authoritative and accept that when God speaks through His prophets, the words He speaks are not always correct.  If the word He speaks is not always inerrant, then it would seem we can say that God sometimes speaks in error through his prophets.

Yet the Bible contains quite a few prophecies, and the authors of this statement indicate the word of God is authoritative.  But apparently, the word of God given through today’s prophets isn’t always authoritative, and because God sometimes speaks errantly through today’s prophets, a prophet speaking inaccurately isn’t necessarily a false prophet.  After all, how can one reasonably hold a prophet accountable for declaring the errant word of God?  That’s on God, not on the prophet.  But when a prophet realizes an errant message was declared, he/she is accountable to admit it (according to the new standards).

I’m not sure I buy into the notion that any true prophet of God would deliver a message of God incorrectly.  I’m not a prophet, so I don’t know what it’s like to receive a prophetic word from God.  I have had experiences where I’ve genuinely felt God, through the Holy Spirit, has given me understanding about something, beyond my own ability to understand.  Once, in the middle of the night I was awoken with a specific Bible verse crystal clear in my mind - I didn’t know what the Bible verse said, but I immediately looked it up, and it spoke directly to an issue I was dealing with at the time.  I chalk that up to God communicating directly to me.  But I don’t know what it’s like for a prophet to hear from God, and how a prophet distinguishes between his/her own thoughts, and those given by God.  I’ve heard plenty of “words” given by individuals during church services, and I’ve experienced a good many messages in tongues with immediate interpretations.  It’s pretty clear when God is speaking through a person, rather than a person speaking for himself.  It has a certain authority to it - beyond what an ordinary person possesses on their own.  Can a prophet mix his/her own thoughts into a prophetic word from God, and in doing so, introduce error into God’s inerrant message?  Wouldn’t God compel that prophet to issue a correction to what was said, so that God’s message to His people was communicated accurately?

The questioning skeptic in me feels like those with a stake in prophetic practice would like to maintain their authority as self-proclaimed prophets by giving themselves a pass, if they happen to declare something on God’s behalf in error (like Trump is God’s chosen one who will win re-election).  Something tells me real prophets are able to proclaim the word of God without error.  

The Gospel Coalition has published a really helpful article outlining the history and practice of prophecy, with numerous Bible references.  It seems to be a balanced presentation, describing multiple views about the practice of prophecy.

Finally, I want to share 1st Thessalonians 5:19-22 as written in The Message: 

Don’t suppress the Spirit, and don’t stifle those who have a word from the Master. On the other hand, don’t be gullible. Check out everything, and keep only what’s good. Throw out anything tainted with evil.

Prophetic standards or not, and regardless of who is speaking, don’t be gullible, and test what people are saying against what you know about God, Jesus, and Christian practice from the Bible, and from your helper, the Holy Spirit.  There is quite a bit of bogus prophesying out there these days, and it is important to have good spiritual discernment.