In The Tears of Things, Richard Rohr identifies the elusive nature of prophetic leadership:
The normal power systems of our world worship themselves and not God. For that reason, prophets almost never hold official positions, like that of king, priest, or elder. However, neither do they dismiss the proper roles that rulers and priests play in maintaining the basic order of society. A good example is when Jesus on several occasions, after healing people completely outside the temple system, still tells them to follow its rules (see Luke 17:14; Matthew 8:4). Elsewhere he critiques religious leaders loudly and publicly, but in the end, he does not set up an antagonism. He does not cash in on another group’s failure, as I would be tempted to do. Everything finally belongs.
Throughout history, we have waited for the charismatic prophet and the institutional leader to come together in the same person, but it happens only rarely, as with King David after he submitted to the prophet Nathan. Later in history, we saw more leaders who managed to perform both roles at once: individuals like Thomas Becket, the archbishop of Canterbury; Queen Elizabeth of Hungary; Mother Katharine Drexel of Philadelphia; and Óscar Romero, the archbishop of San Salvador, all of whom were institutional people who nevertheless operated in a critical distance from their church role to be faithful to their own call. In our time, Pope Francis is an amazing and most rare example of one who can operate as both high priest and high prophet (not without his critics, however).
Often, prophets emerge from the rank and file, paying the dues of their group so they can later critique it and not be seen as outsiders. They have shown themselves not to be iconoclasts, but legitimate reformers from within. They are in fact “exciters” of the critical mass, always wise beyond their years and living by higher values that are foreign to their contemporaries. They seem to lead just by living their lives and do not need any honorific titles or initials after their names.
There are plenty of prophets among us now in every church and society, and it is vitally important that we listen to them, support them, and protect them. Often, they are not formally aligned with religion, yet they are deeply influenced by its deepest values, like the “heroes” CNN celebrates each year, or those who work tirelessly for women’s rights, children’s rights, and human rights without much notice or reward. I deliberately do not begin to name them specifically, because there are so many of them. Like the Suffering Servant of Isaiah, they
Do not cry out or shout aloud,
or make their voice heard in the streets;
But faithfully they bring true justice
refusing to be wavered or crushed,
until true justice is established on earth.
—Isaiah 42:2–4
The Idol of Mission: Calling vs. Treasure
After a miraculous conversion, Paul was called by God to carry the message of Jesus throughout the Roman Empire well beyond the Jewish community where the earliest Christians emerged. This calling would occupy the remainder of Paul’s life as he tenaciously and faithfully took the gospel from city to city. He proclaimed the good news, taught converts, planted churches, and raised up leaders to take his place before moving on. Along the way, he faced unimaginable difficulties including beatings, imprisonment, and shipwrecks, and through it all Paul refers to himself as a “servant of Christ Jesus.” When in prison he calls himself a “prisoner for Christ Jesus.”
Paul strove to see others come to know Christ. He said, “I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do this all for the sake of the gospel.” Paul was a man on a mission. The mission of Christ dominated his life, but it did not define his life.A careful reading of Paul’s letters reveals something remarkable—everything in the Apostle’s life, including God’s mission, took a backseat to his paramount goal: God himself. While in prison and unable to accomplish more for God, Paul wrote to the church in Philippi saying, “I count everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him.”
Paul valued his personal connection with Christ above all else, which is why he found joy even while in chains. When Paul expresses his deepest desire for others, it is not that they would do more for God or transform the world for Christ and his kingdom, as good as such service may be. Instead, he prays that they might know God’s immeasurable love in Christ.Paul, the most celebrated missionary in history, understood that his calling was not the same as his treasure. His calling was to be a missionary. His treasure was Christ himself.
DAILY SCRIPTURE
1 CORINTHIANS 9:19-23
EPHESIANS 3:14–19
WEEKLY PRAYER. Ignatius Loyola (1495–1556)
Lord Jesus Christ, fill us, we pray, with your light and life, that we may reveal your wondrous glory. Grant that your love may so fill our lives that we may count nothing too small to do for you, nothing too much to give and nothing too hard to bear.
Amen.
