John Russell
wrote:
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Hi, guys —
I work at a college as a carpenter. I am a
Catholic, and much to my discredit, have not
been going to Church. However, today something
happened at work, during lunch, where one
of the deans,
a female, came in and proclaimed that she
was a prophet.
She goes to a Baptist church and she promptly
told all of us at lunch that she was instructed
by God to convey a message to us; the message
was, To come to Christ. I have known this
dean for two years, and she came up to me
when all were gone and told me I had better
start going to Church, and that God
has been to good to me! This shocked
and bothered me. I felt if I didn't go to her
Church, I may wind up losing my job.
I wanted to ask the following questions:
- Is it proper, or even right at all, for
a person to proclaim themselves a prophetess?
- What does the Bible say about this?
- How should I handle this?
She means no harm and there is certainly
nothing wrong with bringing people to Christ
but I just don't know what to do!
I would appreciate some help.
Thank you so much for your time and help,
John Russell
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Is
it proper, or even right at all, for a dean of a school
to proclaim themselves a prophetess? }
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John
replied:
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Hi, John —
Thanks for your question. It sounds
like this person is more of a Pentecostal
or Charismatic than your typical
Baptist, irrespective of her denominational
affiliation. She was, in a sense,
speaking prophetically. Everything
she said is consistent with the Scriptures
and with God's will.
God does expect you, and for that
matter, the rest of us, to surrender
our lives to Him. He wants us to
go to Church and worship. The book
of Hebrews makes it clear that we
should not neglect the assembly of
the saints.
The Church, Herself, requires us
to attend Church on Sundays and Holy
Days of Obligation.
Now it is quite possible that this
woman was prompted by the Holy Spirit
to admonish you. This is actually
pretty common. God is always speaking
to us. The problem is that we're
not listening or don't want to hear
what He has to say.
All that said, we can't confuse this
broader understanding of prophesy
with the prophetic office of Bishop
within the Church.
Nor is such loose, prophesy,
infallible or in any way, shape,
or form to be considered on the same
level as Scripture or Church Teaching.
Rather, this kind of a prophetic
gift must always be judged in the
light of Scripture and Church teaching.
If the prophesy doesn't contradict
Scripture or Church Teaching, then
you at least should pay attention
to it. In this case, everything she
said is consistent with the will
of God.
The only question is whether or not
it was God who was prompting her
to say these things.
John
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Mary
Ann replied:
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John —
The dean was either being playfully
sincere, or she was out of line,
and she may be ill. In any case,
since she is senior to you, what
she did could be considered a misuse
of her position, and you could report
her to your college's (EEOC) Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission
compliance officer.
You could also:
- take her words for what they
are worth
- go back to your own Church
- thank her for the encouragement,
and
- tell her you are returning to
the Catholic Church.
Mary Ann
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John
followed-up:
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John,
Just to clarify my prior answer.
When I said her statement to go to
Church was prophetic,
I should have clarified, as Mary
Ann has, that you should return to
practicing your Catholic faith.
As to whether, or not, God can use
a Protestant to speak prophetically,
well, the answer is pretty clear
from Scripture that God can
even use the prophets of
Baal to convey His message.
Heck, God even used Balaam's donkey.
John
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