Our primary models for prophetic ministry are the Old Testament prophets. We admire these spiritual warriors. They spoke boldly. They stood their ground fearlessly. We admire the OT prophets yet we resist imitating them.
Prophets find themselves isolated, rejected, rebuffed and ridiculed.
Modern day prophets, like Martin Luther King, Jr. or Oscar Romero, found the world intolerant and hostile to the prophetic word. We don't want to join the martyr hall of fame. The prophetic spirit has grown quiet in our day. We are more hesitant, more tentative, less confident. Your task, as pastor-prophet, is to confront people with the demands of holy living and to empower people with the resources for holy living.