prophets for hire: preaching God in a congregation’s image

This is what the Lord says: “As for the prophets who lead my people astray, if one feeds them, they proclaim ‘peace’; if he does not, they prepare to wage war against him.”  – Micah 3:5

In my last post, I wrote about the dangers of creating a God to confirm what we already believe.  I believe the hiring of “professional teachers” often is indicative of, and contributes to, this problem.  I’m not arguing a minister / preacher / pastor is not worth his wages, but I am suggesting that, just like in Micah’s day, there exist today too many prophets for hire.

We create an atmosphere in many of our churches of “absolute correctness” in doctrine, and we come together several times each week to further convince ourselves of what we already believe.  We hire a preacher from an approved school, to teach us our approved doctrine.  We may even give that preacher a list of topics or texts he is to preach (and state how often).  It’s well communicated to the professional teacher he’s expected to teach this party line in order to keep his paid position.  And another prophet is hired.

I believe every church should interpret scripture in order to find truth; and I believe they should then teach that truth.  But we enter dangerous territory when we begin to exchange open dialogue on the truths of God for the preservation of predetermined conclusions.  When we require our preachers to arrive at a fixed interpretation of scripture, we’ve traded objectivity for pride and comfort.  It’s become more important for us to defend our position and stance, than to be led by God to his heart.  We quench the Holy Spirit in order to drink of our own arrogance and pigheadedness.  Tradition trumps truth.  And we pay a guy to cultivate this in us.

Joe Preacher is married with three children — he’s moved to a new city and state in order to proclaim the truth of God in a congregation there.  They’ve hired him to be their prophet.

• When Joe argues the plan for salvation is not as cut and dry as they’ve made it out to be;
  
• Every time Joe suggests God is more concerned with greed and the abuse of material possessions than with the method of “worship” on Sunday mornings;
  
• Each time Joe questions the congregation’s longheld view of the church down the street;
  

…He is putting his family in danger of being without food and shelter.  We’ve created this system, and Joe Preacher’s willingly submitted himself to it.

Proclaim the truth at any cost.
Or conceal the truth at a certain price?

So not all blame goes on the church.  Every teacher should count the cost (and not the zeroes) of that salary before making a commitment to proclaim the word of God in the midst of a particular congregation.  If I’m called by God to proclaim his truth, I must be willing to proclaim that truth at any cost.  Too many preachers today are willing to conceal God’s truth for a certain price.

The dangers of a prophet for hire are many:

• God’s truth is not proclaimed as he desires.
• Members of a congregation are unable to wholeheartedly pursue God and truth — and often are ignorant that this is the case.
• The Bible is not the final authority on the word of God.  An already agreed upon tradition / position is.
• Security and a salary are pitted against honesty and integrity in the life of the prophet.
• A prophet and his family are placed on the scales opposite preserving the status quo — and will always find themselves on the lighter side of that scale.
• The line is easily blurred between being called to another place and being “called” to another salary.
• If God is the same as in Micah’s day, the prophet will eventually be unable to see or understand the truth of God he was originally called to proclaim.

My goal is not to convince churches they shouldn’t be sure of any position on any issue.  And my goal isn’t to convince congregations never to pay a preacher.  But a church has to open to God’s truth.  And a prophet has to preach God’s word, no matter the cost.  I am only encouraging us to take an honest assessment of our current position.

Are we paying someone to further our own ideologies and opinions?

Am I willing to lose my paid position in order to speak on behalf of God?

making God in our image

If a liar and deceiver comes and says, “I will prophesy for you plenty of wine and beer,” he would be just the prophet for this people!  – Micah 2:11

Nicholas Epley, social psychologist and associate professor at the University of Chicago, has done several studies showing the connection between egocentrism and God.  It’s assumed that religious individuals will attempt to align their views with God’s, as he is always right.  But Epley suggests we are actually more likely to align God’s views with ours.  Epley asked participants in the study what they thought about several current issues, such as abortion, same-sex marriage, and the death penalty.  He also asked them how God felt about those same issues.  It’s no surprise the overwhelming majority of people believed they were siding with God on every issue.

What’s interesting is that when researchers were able to convince individuals to change their minds on certain subjects, God’s mind also “changed.”  In fact, even the participants’ confidence in their own positions (on a scale of 0-5) corresponded with their estimation of God’s own level of conviction… and changed as theirs did.

Epley and his staff explain that people set their moral compass in accordance with what they believe to be God’s standards.  The researchers add, “The central feature of a compass, however, is that it points north no matter what direction a person is facing. This research suggests that, unlike an actual compass, inferences about God’s beliefs may instead point people further in whatever direction they are already facing.”

If I like to dance when I sing,
you should see God get down.

Epley’s research is nothing new.  We like for God to agree with us on issues.  And we’re willing to “change his mind” if necessary. That’s certainly easier than seeking the mind of Christ and allowing our own beliefs, hearts, and actions to be transformed — so that we would align with the desires of our Father.  It’s just easier to assume:

• If I’m a protestant, so is God.
• If I’m a premillennialist, so is God.
  
• If I’m a Baptist, so is God.
• If I know turning the cheek is only a metaphor, so does God.
  
• If I believe miracles don’t happen anymore, God doesn’t do them.
• If I believe Catholics are going to hell, it’s because God’s sending them there.
  
• If I like infant baptism, God intended it.
  
• If I think everyone should close their eyes when they pray, it’s only because Jesus closed his.
• If I’m a Republican, God invented that party.
  
• If I believe same-sex marriage should be against the law, God’s writing legislation even as I write this blog post.
• If I believe we should only use one cup during communion, God’s wondering what took me so long to side with him on this incredibly important issue.
• If I believe instruments are wrong in worship, it’s because I’ve seen God’s fingers in his ears, trying to block out their noise.
• If I like to dance when I sing, you should see God get down.
• If I believe I should kiss dating goodbye, God jingled his keys and told dating to go start the bus a long time ago.
• If I want to buy a really expensive car and “use it to God’s service,” that’s why he gave me that money.
  
• If I’m tired of my marriage, God just wants me to be happy.
• If I think Texas should’ve won the national championship, God’s wearing orange.

I’m not suggesting truth doesn’t exist… or that we can’t know it.  I’m merely suggesting sometimes we don’t care to know it.  Often we don’t want to know it.  We may even ignore it when we do know it.

And the problem isn’t specific to individuals .  Churches are just as guilty.  We often mold God into our own shape and form. Just like Israel in Micah’s day, we hire preachers who tell us what we want to hear.  And we fire them if they teach against some prescribed doctrine… or don’t teach that prescribed doctrine well enough.  There exist entire denominations that vote God into their likeness, and pass their “findings” down to individual congregations.

A creator made in the image of his own creation.

We like having God in a box.  But even more, we like to select the box ourselves, wrap it with our favorite paper, and decorate it with ribbons and bows of our own choosing.  And then we call it a gift as we share it with others.

“Here’s a God that looks like us.  Believe in him, and you’ll be saved.”

Next post in this series: prophets for hire — preaching God in a congregation’s image.