Town Crier or Weeping Prophet

Which are you?

There is a growing trend on social media that I feel needs to be addressed... and before everyone reacts in all their "feels" and "offense," please understand that I very much believe in confrontation and exposure of sin. I believe in Holy Spirit conviction and the need for repentence as well as the need to hold leadership [and for that matter, the WHOLE body of Christ] accountable. AND I believe that victims should be HEARD, UNDERSTOOD, and VINDICATED - and that vindication sometimes involves a court of law and a legal process to enforce ungodly and illegal behavior.

HOWEVER

Being the first to "expose" leaders or "point out sin" or bring the deeds of the darkness into the light ON SOCIAL MEDIA - if not accompanied by a call to prayer, intercession or prophetic declaration - is, in my opinion, just gossip and accusation dressed up as piety and self righteousness.

But hey, you be the judge. How effective do YOU think the social media blitz has been? After all the posts, pros, cons, repentance, rebuttals to repentance, airing all the dirty laundry…Now that it has all subsided, does everyone feel better?

I can only imagine how the Lord must feel - The very one we are supposed to represent. The one who died for our moral failures. I wonder what He is thinking. Not just about leadership - but the reactions of His bride in the wake of it all.

The blessing in disguise? - we were all exposed. Through it all, social media posts included, hearts and motives were laid bare along with the vacuum of immaturity within the body of Christ. We were all shown our lack of discernment, the need for accountability, and a necessary shift in our personal responsibility as believers.

The Bible says to know whom we labor among - but this is also predicated on having the Spirit of Truth, the appreciation of diversity in the body, and the mind of Christ in Kingdom operation. The word "know" here is Yada [Hebrew] or Ginosko [Greek], and signifies deep, experiential, and relational knowledge, including recognizing, understanding, approving and experiencing something personally - [often implying intimacy] - like the covenant relationship with God or marital union. We can not "know" anyone intimately without being in community - in person. The "Church" can not attain the necessary intimacy required solely through online or virtual relationships. Nor can a SOCIAL MEDIA presence accomplish authentic accountability. How transparent is anyone really on their social media feed? Information about a person isn't the same as revelation of who they are in context of relationship. [Not by a long shot]. Example: we can know about Jesus but not know [have personal intimacy with] Him. Hence the scripture: "Depart from me I never knew you."

SOCIAL MEDIA...

First, Do we even understand how it works? We choose our audiences, surround ourselves with like minded people and then algorithms make sure we live in that happy little bubble with no one disagreeing with us. And if someone does, we can quickly argue, dismiss, block or delete them - oftentimes using scripture to justify it. We create a digital "safe space." We ALL do it. It is human nature to congregate around like minded people. But what if our little bubble gets it wrong? Can we collectively think we're right because we have orchestrated our sphere of influence to agree with us all the time and reinforce our biases even if they are wrong?

I believe this is why discernment is at an all time low in the body of Christ. How can we correctly discern without being able to judge ALL the fruit - not just the fruit presented on Social Media? Wolves easily deceive sheep and attract "yes men" if there is no ability to judge fruit. This is vital. If your accountability is not local, you aren't accountable. And if you have carefully selected overseers that won't challenge you - you're not accountable. Prophets, your words are fruit that need to be judged. Who is holding "Social Media" prophets accountable? I have seen a lot of words fall to the ground & very few retractions or apologies from the ones who released them. Only justification and excuses. Please stop. Submit your gift to oversight.

Perhaps this is why we are seeing so many fall from grace and such confusion in the church. Lack of authentic Biblical relationships where people have the courage to challenge a brother or sister without fear of retribution or exile. We need to be a place where disagreement can lead to conflict resolution instead of division [church split], separation and polarization. Biblical debate and conflict resolution strengthens bonds and edifies the Body. Lord grant us the courage to provoke one another to grow up into Christ who is the head!

Likewise, those who are given words, judge them according to scripture. This is YOUR responsibility. Don't assume the well known prophet is right. And stop being led by your emotions. "My sheep know my voice and another voice they will not follow." Take the word before trusted leadership if you are in doubt.

Ever wonder how the Sanhedrin missed their Messiah? They created an echo chamber of thought - a belief system that couldn't be disputed.

Could we also be creating these echo chambers? I believe so through our technology and Social media platforms.

I'm convinced that we can easily dismiss contrary opinions to avoid wrestling with our own beliefs and/or the WORD of GOD or BOTH. The result: we find people like us and congratulate ourselves on how well we collectively interpret and "apply" scripture - all the while assuming our interpretaion is infallible AND denouncing all of the people that disagree. This is how social media works. In essence we reduce our community to a very small percentage of the earth's population - but are deceived into thinking our opinions are the norm. It is a mind trip of confirmation bias... BUT, what if we stay in our bubble? Who is going to tell us the emperor is naked? We deleted everyone that disagreed with us. What if those dissenting voices are necessary for growth? What if we NEED to be offended - confronted? Scripture says the GOSPEL will offend. What if we have become like Pharisees and Sadduccees and surrounded ourselves with such arrogance that we miss our messiah? AND we use scriptures to defend our position?

Faith without testing is weak. Immature. After Jesus' baptism He was led into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit to be tested. We are no different. To have the mind of Christ it is necessary to have our beliefs provoked and challenged so that we become steadfast - and are not tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine.

James 1:2–4

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.  And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

As a marketing professional - I have become all too aware that social media [in and of itself] doesn't sell. In the early days - consumers were buying from their SM feeds, but because of fraud and the bombardment of ads, marketing and advertising efforts [at best] only bring brand awareness. If a marketer can cause a consumer to see & recognize a "brand" then they are more likely to become interested in the product. But consumers can stop a brand from coming across a "feed" by changing preferences. Once again we have insulated ourselves by deleting anything we don't like or aren't interested in.

My questions are:

1- As believers, What do we wish to accomplish through Social Media? What can be accomplished? How do we do it in excellence?

2 - What brand of Christianity are we promoting?

3- Are we representing Jesus well? Are our hearts close to His or are we just giving Him lip service? Do we have a form of godliness but resist His power to transform US?

Don't get me wrong... advertising on social media is a must for any brand. As believers we ALSO need a presence on all platforms. But my point is, what are we selling? Are our posts bringing people closer to the Lord? What is the heart behind our communication? How much confidence do we have that our lofty ideas and carefully timed scriptures or sermons are expanding the Kingdom? The unfortunate reality is we are often shouting into an echo chamber of our own beliefs. SM is designed that way. It's also why people are having trouble "people-ing" in the real world. We work with people we can't block. We interact with people with whom we disagree - and the deception of our own echo chamber has given us a false sense of reality. We are losing the ability to navigate situations that challenge our beliefs. There is no hiding behind a profile or screen. We become frustrated and sometimes even violent - because deleting, blocking and bullying online has taught us this behavior. We "eliminate" our adversaries rather than considering a different point of view. Conflict resolution is a foreign concept. Often times we try to recreate our virtual reality by alienating the dissenter - or even worse, conspiring to get them fired.

These tactics can become dangerous - especially in light of today's culture.

Believe it or not, there are lots of scriptures that warn us against echo chambers. No matter what the belief, we can create a world that perpetually tells us what we want to hear. Even if it is a LIE. Like the Pharisees and Sadduccees, their perceived reality was on a collision course with TRUTH. There will always be wake up call.

Isaiah 5:21 [NIV]

"Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight."

Jeremiah 9:23-24 [ESV]

This is what the Lord says: "Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, nor the strong man in his strength, nor the wealthy man in his riches. But let him who boasts boast in this, the he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD, who exercises loving devotion, justice and righteousness on the earth - for I delight in these things," declares the LORD.

2 Corinthians 10:12 [NLT]

"Oh, don't worry; we wouldn't dare say that we are as wonderful as these other men who tell you how important they are! But they are only comparing themselves with each other, using themselves as the standard of measurement. How ignorant!"

The body of Christ is not just virtual nor is it without conflict. If iron sharpens iron then there will be a clashing of ideas. It happened with the disciples, the early church and should happen today. The clash of swords is necessary. It's called rightly dividing the Word of Truth. As a body with many members - all with differing functions - we will inevitably have conflicting perspectives and priorities. It doesn't give any of us the right to cut off a foot or isolate into one big eyeball - or even worse, one big rear end.

Now for the Town Crier Vs. the Weeping Prophet

WHAT is the motive? What IS the motive? What is the MOTIVE?

I urge you to ask GOD why He is exposing, revealing, uncovering. According to scripture, what is the purpose of revelation? Amos 3:7 tells us God does not act without FIRST revealing His plans, His judgments, or His secrets to His servants, the prophets. Why? Pause and reflect! [aka Selah]

Some have taken it as license to become the town crier for the body of Christ. To what end? Is this to validate a calling? To beat everyone else to the punchline? To prove to the world [or a social bubble] an anointing or gift? Yikes. It's proving something, but I'm not sure it is Jesus. Some [out of immaturity] are in dire need of affirmation, validation and identity. Please stop trying to get it from a platform or social media presence - actually, please stop trying to get it from anywhere but a personal relationship with Jesus. Anything that "affirms us" outside of Him is destined to become a god - [an insatiable one at that].

The first calling of a prophet is to intercede on behalf of the people - not gather consensus on a platform. Jesus' entire life on earth was an act of intercession - an example of who we are to be. According to Hebrews 7:25 Jesus lives to make intercession for us. He's not exposing our sins to the world, He is covering us until we can see them and repent. He's prophesying over us, declaring over us, singing over us. Praying to the Father on behalf of us. Praying that our repentance will be private and not public. [2 Peter 3:9] That we would humble ourselves instead of being publicly humiliated. [1 Peter 5:6-7] By the way, what do you think HE does when one of us is humiliated? And, conversely, what does all of heaven do when one of us repents?

I'm not saying exposure isn't necessary. What I am saying is this: What is our first response to exposure? Is it broadcasting and "warning" all of the world? or is it weeping before the throne for a lost soul or a lost city/country? Who is weeping with the Lord? Who is weeping over the victims? Who is interceding for the families of victims and predators? Who is weeping over the territory lost by a leader that fell? And who is weeping for all of the leaders, prophets and saints who will bear the consequence of someone else's failure?

What are we advertising? What and whom are we glorifying? Are we aware that when we agree with the voice of God in the earth, no one else needs to agree to bring it to pass? God + us = a majority. Have we forgotten that one man [Moses] stood between God and the destruction of Israel? OR that one man [JESUS] stands between us and eternal damnation? Instead do we feel it is our responsibility to do a media blast and shame pastors and wolves in sheep's clothing? Hey! What is your MOTIVE? Examine your own heart. How about we encourage believers to read the Word for themselves and ask the Holy Spirit to lead and guide them into all truth? Let the light expose our own sin - then we won't need anyone else to expose us.

Watchmen remember that the first call is to pray over what you see coming! Watchmen remember that the Lord is capable of warning His bride HIMSELF! Church repent for being immature and depending on "men" to hear the Lord for you. Lord, forgive us! For justifying "incognito gossip" with scripture... Forgive us, Lord - when we feel more important or better than others because we put out a warning, it came to pass and then we said, "I told you so," as if it were our natural ability. Lord have mercy! My friends, your gifts didn't originate with you. They came from Him, should only be used by Him to glorify Him. The only applause we should be seeking is His "well done." Not the adoration of others for something the Lord planted in us before we took a breath. And certainly not gloating over the destruction of a Christian witness because the Lord revealed it to us ahead of time.

WEEPING...

We. Should. WEEP. And grieve because our brother or sister in Christ wouldn't or couldn't heed the warning. But for the grace of God... there go each and every one of us.

It is OUR responsibility to hear the voice of our beloved. Not our pastor's not our mom's or dad's, not our co-worker's, and certainly not the self-appointed or church-approved "prophet."

Time to grow UP into His likeness.

What will your first response be?