By Steven Norris
Have you ever encountered a prophet face-to-face? It can be a “mixed bag,” to put it lightly. On the one hand, most people of faith long for a fresh word from God speaking into our current circumstances. However, prophets have a tendency to hold up a mirror, showing us things we would rather not acknowledge about ourselves.
Is it any wonder that prophets are rarely accepted, especially in their own hometown? Early on in the Gospel narratives, Jesus is run out of his hometown of Nazareth (see Luke 4) because his message challenged their understanding of who was in and out of the people of God. They tried to throw him off of a cliff.
It seems that, for those with ears to hear, God continually raises up prophets at just the right time to challenge us and call us back to the way of Jesus. In the middle of the 20th century, Thomas Merton was just such a voice in American spirituality. He wrote, “Do not be too quick to condemn the man who no longer believes in God, for it is perhaps your own coldness and avarice, your mediocrity and materialism, your sensuality and selfishness that have killed his faith.”
Or, as my Mamaw used to say, “Be careful when you point a finger at somebody else. If you look closely, you’ve got three more pointing right back at yourself.”
I am convinced that one of the important prophetic voices in today’s world is that of itinerant pastor, Benjamin Cremer. Recently, I came across a little nugget from Cremer online:
“Please remember: it’s always easier to say ‘the world hates me because I follow Jesus!’ than it is to ask ‘how might I be using the name of Jesus in hateful ways towards others?’ It’s always easier to say ‘the world is just pushing out God!’ than it is to ask, ‘how might I be pushing people away from God?’ May we ask ourselves hard questions rather than resort to taking the easy way out of just blaming others.”
I believe that his words ring with prophetic truth. We are often quick to play the victim — to see ourselves as the target of hatred and persecution. That may be true in some cases. In others, however, we cannot side-step our own responsibility for much of the hatred directed towards people of faith.
When we associate the name of Jesus with hate-filled name calling, belittling others because of their differences, divisive tribalism, and nationalistic propaganda, we have taken the name of the Lord in vain. When we call ourselves Christian, yet the doors of our hearts are completely closed to our neighbor in the interest of safety and security, we have taken the name of the Lord in vain. When our allegiance to the things of the world comes before our allegiance to the Lamb who was slain and calls us to take up our cross and follow, we have taken the name of Lord in vain.
I believe that the answer is found in Jesus’ first prophetic sermon: “Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” I hear you, Lord. Let repentance begin with me.