Out Our Way: Pipe down, Billy Bob!

"Let two or three prophets speak and let others weigh what is said. If a revelation is given to someone else who is sitting nearby, let the first person be silent. For you call each prophesy one by one so that all may learn and be encouraged. For the spirit of the prophets are subject to the prophets, for God is a God of peace and not disorder."

- 1 Cor. 14.29–33

Out our way, a lot of folks like myself wear the hat and the boots of a cowboy. It is, after all, part of our heritage on the Hi-Line. But as anyone who has seen me ride or watched me work cattle for some outfit can tell you - it takes more than the hat to make a cowboy. Oh, I have tried to do my best, and I believe it is appreciated - but there is no question that when it comes to real cowboys, I am pretty far down the list.

Fortunately, no harm done. I can ride with the rest of the folks without slowing them down - I can help head off that one cow-calf pair that always makes a break for it as we get the herd moving. (There is always at least one of them on every roundup I have ridden, usually more - but I digress.) Any whom, the point is, I like playing at being a cowboy and the real deal folks are usually pretty forgiving of this dude as they respect the desire if not the ability.

But it is a different case when people pass themselves off as the real article and mislead folks into trusting them when they are as phony as a three dollar bill. Most ranchers are too smart to trust their herds to some stranger based on his bravado and say so - they know their business and are pretty quick to see if these drug store cowboys know theirs like they claim. Used to be the same in the church years ago. 

Over at the Presbyterian Church we are taking a long trail ride through the Book of Acts - and although in many ways it is familiar territory, now and then we run into a thicket or an arroyo to explore and discover some mighty interesting things that we might have overlooked if we never got down into the brush. Like this week, as we are studying the last part of the 11th Chapter of Acts, we run into a crew of "prophets" working out of the main ranch headquarters in Jerusalem, sent to check out the base camp in Antioch where the newest Christians are being "calved" at a prodigious rate.

Now it is sometimes in the out of the way thickets and gullies that we find missing calves and such, so its always a good idea to take our time when moving the herd to go check them out. When it comes to really getting into the Scripture and finding those sometimes hidden, but very important aspects of God's word, we may sometimes turn up the unexpected. At least that was the case for me as I did a little rousting around in this part of the Book of Acts.

What I found in the thickets down this way was the office of the prophet being accepted and encouraged in the church. I knew, but had forgotten, that prophecy is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit enumerated by Paul in both 1 Corinthians and his letter to the Ephesians. Indeed in the early church, there was even a point on the order of worship reserved for prophecy. People expected to hear a word from the Lord! But then again, people were listening for it. Today many of us have grown dull of hearing and have no expectations what so ever of God speaking to them or the church, so they don't even bother to listen. Of course, one of the reasons we have grown dull of hearing is that wherever there is hope of prophecy, there are many false prophets who lead people astray. But just because someone claims to be a prophet doesn't make them one, any more than wearing a hat, chaps and spurs makes the dude into a real cowboy!

Around 100 AD, a book was published in the early church that both celebrated the reality of present day prophets and warned against the wiles of the phony who would surely come to delude the gullible. And here are some of the warning signs this early church document laid out for believers as a guide to tell the true prophet from the false one.

1) The true prophet controls the spirit of prophecy. They wait their turn and speak clearly, not interrupting the service or anyone else. No more than one true prophet will speak at a time. With those who jump in and suddenly to blurt out what they claim is a revelation interrupting the service, this demonstrates that they are no prophet.

2) The true prophet is humble and truly Christ-centered. They have no interest in wealth or status. Indeed, one of the signs the early church warned about was the supposed prophet who asked for money or material goods. That was a sure sign, the church said, that this was not a servant of God.

3) The true prophet is not a burden to the church. They may ask for shelter for one night, but no more. Any who did not labor for their keep was to be considered a fake and dismissed at once from the community.

Was it coincidence that I was discovering these warnings from the early church just as I was learning of yet another supposed "anointed man of God" who claimed God had told him that he was to have a new Gulfstream Lear Jet to go with his mansion in California because it was "the will of the Lord?" Or the fellow who sent me an email claiming the Lord had revealed to him the end of days and how I could prepare for the low, low price of $19.95 and purchase his book that would explain it all? Tammy Faye, Jim Bakker. Jimmy Swaggart ... to mention but a few of those who became rich and corrupt by taking the "name of the Lord" in vain as false prophets. Religion is a favorite hunting ground of the con men and women who seek the gullible. It was the same in the beginning - but the Church gave us ways to tell who was real and who was fake. Maybe its time we go back and let the wisdom of our ancestors teach us afresh. 

Not everyone who claims to be a cowboy is one, and neither is everyone who claims to be a prophet sent from God. It's really not all that hard to tell the difference if we know what to look for.

  (John Bruington is pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Havre. His columns, cartoons, sermons and children messages are available at http://havrepres.org .)