W.W.I.D.

As of late, we've seen an abundance of "prophets" in modern Christianity. As with anything, there are those who abuse and misuse their gifts, but in my experience, many of these modern-day prophets have spoken words of truth and power that have served as a tough but welcome change to my soul. But something upsets me about these guys.

A few years ago, our church brought in an amazing speaker who was powerfully anointed to preach the whole counsel of God - even the hard stuff! I was amazed. I loved it. However, after the service, a woman in our congregation approached the speaker with a gift basket. A gift-giver by nature, she had worked meticulously and spend a moderate sum of money designing a collection of books and snacks to give the speaker in thanks for his time.

The speaker looked at the basket and noticed that one of the books was written by an author with whom he had significant theological differences. The man quickly told the woman in no uncertain terms that he didn't like the author and did hold to the same line of thought regarding God.

Was that necessary? What did that accomplish? It certainly didn't "sway" the woman to boycott the author. (I doubt she knew much about the book, anyway.) It certainly didn't communicate gratitude. Do we let our kids do that at family Christmas? When Jonah gets a toy that he really hates, do I just sit idly by while he says something to the effect of:

"I really don't like this."

I keep thinking about the prophets of old - they had families, acquaintances, crowds even. Did they act this rude all of the time? There's no way to know, but there's something to be said for asking for God's wisdom in discerning sincere hearts. That woman didn't mean anything wrong by buying that book...but she left feeling chastised nonetheless.

What would Isaiah do?