The prophet's handbook

males were considered heads of their houses, and so the authority to do so rested in Micah. However, this was not a pagan family but an Israelite one, and his deviations exacerbated the situation. Meanwhile, a Levite (minister) was preparing to launch out on his own. Seeking a place to dwell, and presumably to offer his services, he happened upon Micah the idolater. The two men forged a covenant whereby the Levite would be the priest and officiate over Micah’s new family religion. Judges 17:6 explains how Israel’s spirituality so deteriorated: “In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” There was no kingship or headship, and so the people did whatever came into their hearts and minds. The Levite was supported by the idolater and lost sight of his initial calling. He ended up staying with Micah the idolater to serve as his personal priest. Read the last verse of the account. God discourages prophets from seeing themselves as envoys of individuals rather than envoys of the cause of Christ, dispatched to His church. When the cause of Christ is intended, keeping sheep in their churches and serving the wider body of Christ become the prophet’s primary objectives. If this is not so, it is safe to mark such a prophet as a wayward usurper of divine authority and to shun his or her divisive spirit. I have had many conversations with prophets rising to the call from within a local church where they may have spent years. Suddenly, they legitimately sense the call to the office of the prophet. What happens next determines their credibility and God’s long-term use of them in His service. Sadly, a great percentage of them respond to God’s awakening crudely. They awkwardly manifest their gifts, abruptly sever ties, and callously crush loving pastors’ hearts. In naive zeal, they recklessly disrupt the flow of the church where they grew up in the Lord so badly that they must be excommunicated. In other cases, emerging prophets foster division by exercising their newfound ministries outside the confines of the church, refusing to be supervised by the pastors they now feel are beneath them. A distasteful struggle begins that can fragment the loyalties of the membership and wound many vulnerable sheep. Both extremes are infectious and should be avoided. I remember talking to one church prophet who started a prophetic school outside of the church and declined to submit it to the pastor, even though the lion’s share of the students came from the church’s sizeable congregation. This is quite common, although somewhat unethical, by the way. As if starting