Modern Day Prophets

An icon of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Who are the prophets of our day? Who are those people who are voices crying out in the wilderness? Said another way, who are the inspiring ones whose words and witness challenge us such that we stick them out on their own? I have some answers of my own, but I am curious about you. Who are those people who provide a challenging, annoying, or even infuriating call to change your life? These prophets and their cries often get misremembered—much like with the Pharisees’ own celebration of prophets who came before them—we might believe we would like a certain prophetic witness when in reality that person’s words and actions convict or even condemn us.

A good example of this is the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He was a great leader in seeking change. He started a nonviolent revolution, taught about peaceful resistance, and preached the Gospel of love. However, often we forget all of the challenges that he and others freedom fighters faced seeking better (but sadly still not equal) civil rights. We turn the Rev. Dr. King into a more appealing caricature of himself. One that is easier to swallow. In reality he was one that challenged and condemned the status quo as he sought true and lasting justice for all. King was not the only one though.

We do a similar thing with Mother Teresa. She was less a prophet and more a prophetic witness. Still we think that she was kind and sweet. But, we forget how she struggled with the poor of Calcutta. We overlook the grime, the mess, the filth, the hunger, and the pain that she lived with in her own life.

Even the greatest New Testament prophet John the Baptizer gets a cuddly lacquer applied to his rough life. He wore camel’s hair. He ate locusts. This was not for a fun camping trip or new diet, but for life. He went out into the wilderness for perspective and so that he could have clarity when he cried out against the powerful of his day. But, these prophetic witnesses are not all, we make Jesus into someone he was not and is not.

Jesus did not come simply to make us feel better about our lives. He came to change us, to transform us, and oftentimes this means he came to challenge us. When he called out the Pharisees for pledging their support to prophets of old but completely missing the prophets of their own day he was giving us a mandate as well. We must continue to be open to how God’s word is being spoken to us not just in the past, but right now. So, again I ask, “Who are the prophets of our own day?”

Prophets are those who call us back into lives of integrity—that is to say lives in which our thoughts and actions match up with our beliefs—and lives of righteousness—that is to say right relationship with God. Jesus pointed out that the Pharisees did not do this. So who calls us into lives of integrity? Who calls us back into right relationship?

Those who call us to respect God’s Creation. This means Climate Scientists, Ecologists, and Environmentalists who call big companies and us out for abusing this world we have been given to steward. If we are out of sort with the rest of what God has created can we possibly be in right relationship with the Creator?

Those who call us to respect one another. Protestors who call for equal rights for those who have historically been marginalized, abused, and treated as property (i.e. women, immigrants, and people of color). These who are trying to raise our level of awareness to the hurt that others experience on a daily basis are prophets of our day.

Those who call us to tolerate those who differ from us. Jesus lived in a world that was multi-cultural and multi-religious. The Roman Empire was vast and expansive and its captives and citizens were from all over the known world. At times Jesus tried to exclude those outside of the faith of his people, but the Gospel story shows us that those times usually ended with a widening of the story for Jesus and that person. This is to say that Jesus’ and the other’s vision of who God includes broadened. Today, we are called to see that all of us are God’s children. God wants all of us to be united together as one body. People who call for cross-cultural and inter-faith dialogue are prophets of our day.

There are many others who speak truth, but we might have a kneejerk reaction towards them, especially at first. Prophets though often are too challenging at first for us to accept. This was true with the religious during Jesus’ day and it is true now. I invite you to expand your vision to hear the prophets of our day. No one likes to change, but God calls all of us to be transformed by the prophetic words of Christ still be spoken today. As Max Lucado has written and our Presiding Bishop Michael Curry has often quoted, “God loves you where you are, but God does not intend to leave you where you are.” Who are the modern day prophets? And, how are they calling you in to the power of God’s transformation?