Modern day prophets aren’t infallible but they can be ‘messengers of God’

Before the 2020 presidential election, and in the weeks of confusion and controversy that followed, I heard several Christian prophets proclaim on YouTube that God had predestined Donald Trump as the winner.

The outcome was a done deal: God would, miraculously if need be, return Trump to the Oval Office in January.

Well, January came and went. It didn’t happen.

I don’t closely follow contemporary Christian prophets, although I know a handful. I stumbled across these recent oracles online while looking for other things.

But apparently modern-day prophets have become all the rage in certain Christian circles, drawing huge internet followings. They offer up prognostications about everything from political races to Super Bowls and World Series.

Several prominent prophets now find themselves with egg on their faces—and with disillusioned, angry followers—after blowing it with their assurances of a Trump victory.

One prophet, Jeremiah Johnson, to his credit, issued a public apology, reported by New York Times religion writer Ruth Graham.

“I was wrong, I am deeply sorry, and I ask for your forgiveness,” Graham quoted Johnson as saying in a letter to his followers.

In evangelical/charismatic/Pentecostal circles, and other Christian circles, too, “prophecy” refers to a God-given ability to speak with unusual—indeed, supernatural—insight about some particular problem, whether it’s a personal message to an individual or a wider message to a nation. Often, but not always, this gift includes the ability to foretell the future.

It might surprise you to learn (or then again, maybe it won’t) that I believe in modern-day prophecy and prophets. Which is to say, I believe they exist. I don’t believe that all “prophecies” are equal or that everybody who claims to be a prophet is one.

Still, I’ve seen prophecy operate uncannily enough to know there’s something to it beyond grifting, audience manipulation or wishful thinking.

When it’s real, it can make the hair stand up on the back of your neck. It will convince you there really is a God who’s paying minute attention to human affairs.

Indeed, one startlingly accurate prophet I know will sometimes cap off a personal prophecy that has just left its recipient trembling and weeping—God has “read her mail,” as Pentecostals say—by throwing up his own hands in wonder and exclaiming, “Maybe there is a God!” He seems as surprised as the rest of us.

But there’s also bad prophecy and half-baked prophets, and there are a few charlatans. Let the consumer beware. Never, ever make dramatic life changes just because some prophet gave you a “word.”

The biggest mistake Christians make about prophecy is to take one of two extreme views: They either become hornswoggled or cynical.

That is, they’ll embrace a self-proclaimed prophet as the infallible messenger of God and uncritically accept everything he or she says, no matter how silly. Or else they’ll get burned a time or two and then declare that God, who spoke through prophets in ancient times, has gone mute.

The truth lies between. No prophet is infallible. As even St. Paul put it (in the Bible, no less), we know in part; we prophesy in part; we see through a glass darkly. A healthy skepticism regarding prophecy is wise.

Yet God can and does speak through anybody he so chooses, whenever he wants. God is, after all, God. And when God speaks, you’d be smart to listen.

So, how can we discern a real prophet from a counterfeit?

There’s no foolproof way, and we’re all fools to one extent or another. But having encountered prophets for 40-plus years, I’ll suggest a few tips:

▪ Look for a deep, almost unsettling humility. True prophets have been bulldozed by life and express little faith in their abilities. They’re not trying to intimidate you with their “anointing” and special status. They’re reticent. They’re empty vessels.

They may stop in the middle of a prophetic service, turn to the pastor and say, “Am I doing OK? Is this speaking to anybody? Am I missing it?” They never know.

▪ They’re not big-time operators. They don’t have an entourage or a block-long Lincoln limousine or $900 reflector sunglasses. They’re more likely to show up alone, driving a 1998 station wagon and wearing a Timex watch.

▪ They don’t embarrass people. If the Spirit reveals something too personal about a person they’re ministering to, they keep it to themselves or address it after the service. Perhaps they’ve been publicly shamed themselves and understand how that feels.

▪ They operate from love, not condemnation. As St. Paul said, “If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.”

▪ They know specific details they couldn’t have figured out on their own. If they foretell the future—it comes to pass. When a prophet speaks, it’s not like reading your horoscope; it’s not generic pablum that might apply to anything. (“You’ve had dark times in your life!” Uhm, yes, but who hasn’t?) This is the acid test: Does the prophet possess knowledge only God would have?

Every prophet misses it sometimes. Again, no one’s infallible. But real prophets mainly get it right, and when they do get it wrong, they’re quick to say so.

Paul Prather is pastor of Bethesda Church near Mount Sterling. You can email him at pratpd@yahoo.com.

This story was originally published February 19, 2021 at 2:36 PM with the headline "Modern day prophets aren’t infallible but they can be ‘messengers of God’."