Color of Grace

Color of Grace

Just for fun I have to tell a story.  I was at a conference recently with a couple friends and there were a few prophetic people there that were bothered by my/our presence.  Apparently we were making a disturbance in the spirit.  That's unfortunate!  Don't you think?

I wonder if it was because we were having fun.  Perhaps we should have been uptight and warring, keeping our eyes open for possible battles in the room.  Did we not raise our hands enough? Cause we didn't dance maybe!

I find it slightly hurtful and mostly ridiculous.  Did I mention mostly ridiculous?  

How has the "prophetic" become so arrogant and presumptuous?  What right does one person have to cast such judgement on another?  Maybe we were actually paving the way for God's presence that night.  Never know.

How does the prophetic give us the right to stop listening to each other, to stop loving each other?  Ever had someone have a "word" and then they don't even listen to you anymore because their mind is made up about you?  Where can we even go from there to walk together as a community of people?

If love is not the center, I have to doubt the word.  Anyone can be critical.  That's not prophetic!  Anyone can walk into a room and find fault with people. That doesn't take God.  That takes humanity.  What takes God is to see through humanity into the goodness in people.

If I speak with the tongues of men and angels and have not love.... (maybe that can be tomorrow's song)

Spiritual things can be so subjective and yet we walk around like we are the ultimate authority of everything that goes on around us.

I remember in Lakeland (oh yeah. Lakeland... speaking of judgement) and I went into this totally strange worship moment where I was blowing air into the mic like the sound of a storm or something. It was for sure out there.  I loved it!  Todd loved it!  Afterwards one of the other leaders came up to me and said "I did not get that at all!" And that's totally fine.  He is free to not get it and I am free to enjoy it. That's why we are a body with different flavors and tastes and preferences.

I like red and you like blue and I can't stand purple and somehow that needs to be ok.  I like a loud service. You like a quiet one.  I like this topic you like that one.  You like dancing with a tambourine and that drive me nuts.. I mean... it all works together.  (someone throw me a high five!)

But the people who like red "discern" that the people who like blue are "off" and the people who like "purple" all huddle in the corner and tell each other how purple is the only way.

Prophetic should be how we call each other into the best we can be, how we speak life and destiny over each other.  It should be how we love each other in the face of struggle.  It's how we see in the storm! Prophetic should above all be the heart of God for a person, not the judgement of man.  I've been that myself. I get it.  I've been judgmental and thought I "knew better".  (In fact I'm feeling pretty judgmental of those ridiculous prophetic people right about now)
But the highest place we can ever stand is in the place of love and love trumps all.  If your "word" separates you from people, it might be time to question if it's really a word.

At least if nothing else, we gave the prophetic people something to do that night.  They were able to fight off the darkness that we brought in.  They might have been bored otherwise so in the end... all things work together for good for those who love God.