Alexia Salvatierra is a prophet in our midst

This is a guest post by Rev. Alexia Salvatierra. She is currently the Special Assistant to the Bishop for Welcoming Congregations for the Southwest California Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.  She also serves as a consultant to many major organizations and just released a new book, “Faith-Rooted Organizing. See her full bio, and book her to speak, train, or consult your group here.

What is a prophet?  For many evangelicals, the calling/category of prophet is more confusing and controversial than apostle or evangelist.  Some believe that the Old Testament prophets’ focus on communal repentance for culturally common sins (idolatry, adultery, social injustice) has been replaced from the New Testament forward by prophets who speak particular divine messages to individuals about the consequences of specific choices.

While the New Testament does place greater emphasis on the spiritual choices of individuals, individual decisions do show up in the Old Testament and collective decisions in the New Testament.  I believe that we get farther (and avoid limiting God) when we look at the common core of the prophetic call.

Rabbi Abraham Heschel in his seminal work on the Old Testament prophets defines the prophetic task as an

“exegesis of existence from a divine perspective…not simply the application of timeless standards to particular human situations, but rather to a particular moment in history, a divine understanding of a human situation.” 

Prophets speak God’s truth into a specific place and time for the transformation of lives and communities.

I have been engaging believers and Christian communities in doing justice for over 35 years.  Doing justice involves enabling people to work together to ensure that the systems that impact their lives operate in ways that are more in accord with the will of God – more just, less oppressive, more beneficial to all of God’s creation.

Where You Will Find A Prophet

The barriers to systemic change are deep, profound, easily overwhelming. It’s easy for middle/upper class people to feel that we don’t really need to take on the burden of systemic change.  To have a certain level of privilege is to be able to escape the power of systems.  If you are born a citizen, you don’t need to deal with the immigration system.  If you have the money to pay for a private Christian school, you don’t need to care about the public education system.  If you have health insurance through your job, you don’t need to worry about the public health care system.  But if you are poor, you don’t have a choice as to whether or not you deal with the burden of the systems; if the systems are ineffective and oppressive, you often find yourself crushed under those burdens.  When members of our Body are crushed under these burdens, we are called to bear one another’s burden and thus fulfill the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2).

To overcome the barriers to systemic change, we require prophets – people who can communicate the word of God for that place and time with such power and grace that congregations, community members and leaders are moved to sustain the struggle until change occurs.

As I have identified and developed many leaders with prophetic gifts over the years, I have noticed that there are two different kinds of prophetic gifts that God is rising up at this time in history.

There are prophet-provocateurs and prophet-organizers.

Prophet Provocateurs

Prophet provocateurs are called to break down ungodly assumptions and break apart smug contentment with the way things are.  They are always passionately eloquent, and often fierce.  They offend with the “offense of Christ.”  They don’t make friends but they do influence people.  Prophet provocateurs can cast a general vision for a new and better way to be, but they are not usually able to design a better system, particularly one which builds on the good elements of the existing system.

Prophet Organizers

Prophet organizers, on the other hand, are able to communicate the call for change more gracefully.  They awaken gently instead of rudely, often through the building of relationships that open and change hearts.  They “fish”, pulling on the “underwater lines” to bring communities and leaders through a series of steps into a new way of seeing and acting.  They speak God’s truth in love and shrewdly.  The apostle Paul manifested both kinds of prophetic gifts.  When Paul dealt with King Agrippa about the persecution of Christians and with the Council in Jerusalem about the system for allowing Gentiles into the church, he abandoned his usual confrontational style and created change through collaboration.

Prophet provocateurs and prophet organizers need each other; the church and the world need them both.  However, we will only be able to utilize them if they are recognized, trained, developed and prayed for by the larger Body of Christ.

How has this post helped you understand the role of a prophet better? Are you identifying these people in your ministry?

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