I'll confess up front, I'm not comfortable with charismatic expressions of Christianity, never have been. They don't fit well with either the more stoic tendency of my personality, nor the analytical nature of my thinking. In fact, in high school I was asked by one of my best friends to accompany him to a charismatic church service because he was interested in a girl but nervous about going to her church. Baptists are in many ways adjacent to the Charismatic Movement. A minority of the people in our churches like to lift their hands when singing, some like to respond to the prayers of others out loud with "Yes, Jesus!" and the like, this affinity is typically even more pronounced among our majority Black congregations. In my mind, there has always been a significant divide between enthusiastic worship expressions (more of a personality thing) and manifestations of the Spirit like speaking in tongues or faith healing (a question of theology).
Which brings us to recent events and the question of prophets. You may or may not be aware of it, but a number of prominent "Prophets" in the Charismatic Movement predicted that Donald Trump would win the 2020 election. Given that there were only two real possibilities, and the advantage that Republicans have thanks to the Electoral College, that was at least a 50/50 shot. But he didn't win. Now what?
Until yesterday I had never heard of Jeremiah Johnson of North Carolina, although he has 60k followers on Facebook which is about 6,000 times as many as follow me. Jeremiah Johnson was one of the ministers who predicted that President Trump would be reelected, evidently because of a dream in which he also predicted that the Dodgers would win the World Series this year, and Amy Coney Barrett would be elevated to the Supreme Court. As Meatloaf famously said, "Two out of three ain't bad". Except when it comes to prophecy it isn't. Two out of three is as bad as two out of one hundred when you claim to be a prophet, we're not talking about stock tips or guessing answers while watching Jeopardy. Prophecy is supposed to be the sharing of communication from Almighty God, since God exists outside of time as the Alpha and Omega, how can true prophecy every be wrong? There's the rub. True prophets are always right if what they're given by God is a prediction concerning the future. Their words may unfold in unexpected ways, or at unexpected times, but they never fail because true prophets speak God's words and His Word is forever True.
How did Jeremiah Johnson respond to his error? He actually did the right thing and repented of leading his flock astray on this issue, and took a step back from his involvement in politics with some introspection. He also notably didn't blame Christians for failing to pray hard enough to 'make God's will happen' (there's a number of theological questions about that notion that are prickly), or tell them to cling to the false hope that the election results will be miraculously changed in the next few days (as some false prophets continue to do). The result of this public apology and willingness to admit error?
"Over the last 72 hours, I have received multiple death threats and thousands upon thousands of emails from Christians saying the nastiest and most vulgar things I have ever heard toward my family and ministry. I have been labeled a coward, sellout, a traitor to the Holy Spirit, and cussed out at least 500 times. We have lost ministry partners every hour and counting.
After publicly repenting on January 7th, I fully expected to be called a false prophet etc in some circles but I could have never dreamed in my wildest imagination that so much satanic attack and witchcraft would come from charismatic/prophetic people. I have been flabbergasted at the barrage of continued conspiracy theories being sent every minute our way and the pure hatred being unleashed.
To my great heartache, I’m convinced parts of the prophetic/charismatic movement are far SICKER than I could have ever dreamed of. I truthfully never realized how absolutely triggered and ballistic thousands and thousands of saints get about Donald Trump. It’s terrifying! It’s full of idolatry!"
Jeremiah Johnson's FB feed, the post quoted is from 1/10/21
Jeremiah Johnson's public apology
When you mix false prophecy with fervent political partisanship, the resulting concoction is highly volatile, like nitro glycerin, shaking it is not recommended. Rather than focus on the question of how so many 'Christians' can justify such hate in the name of Christ, let us ponder the question of prophetic error.
What does scripture say about the prophets who predict rightly versus prophets whose word fails?
1. Prophets who try to lead the people away from God will not be tolerated.
Deuteronomy 13:1-5 If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a sign or wonder, 2 and if the sign or wonder spoken of takes place, and the prophet says, “Let us follow other gods” (gods you have not known) “and let us worship them,” 3 you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 It is the Lord your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him. 5 That prophet or dreamer must be put to death for inciting rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. That prophet or dreamer tried to turn you from the way the Lord your God commanded you to follow. You must purge the evil from among you.
2. God's people are to reject false prophets whose predictions fail to come true.
Deuteronomy 18:14-2214 The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination. But as for you, the Lord your God has not permitted you to do so. 15 The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. 16 For this is what you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the Lord our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.”
17 The Lord said to me: “What they say is good. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. 19 I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name. 20 But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, is to be put to death.”
21 You may say to yourselves, “How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?” 22 If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously, so do not be alarmed.
3. True or false prophets can also be recognized by their morality.
Matthew 7:15-20 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
4. The claim of being a prophet is no guarantee of a right standing with God.
Matthew 7:22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’
5. False prophets are expected and will deceive many.
Matthew 24:24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
6. The true prophet speaks for God alone, not himself.
2 Peter 1:20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things.
I certainly don't know Jeremiah Johnson well enough to know where he went wrong, his public confession feels like at least a step in the right direction of correcting that error, but in general anyone who claims to be a prophet, that is someone SPEAKING FOR GOD, whose word turns out to be a lie, should clearly be rejected as a prophet. As I pastor I sometimes misspeak, and I sometimes say things in error, but I've never claimed extra authority as a prophet to tell my congregation a word directly from God. Those who claim greater authority must accept greater responsibility {Peter Parker's Uncle Ben said something like that}. The scriptures repeatedly warn the people of God against trusting false prophets. Israel had to contend with them on a massive scale, both those claiming to speak for the LORD when they did not, and those representing false gods like the prophets of Ba'al that the true prophet Elijah humiliated and then had put to death. The Church too is warned of the prevalence of false prophets and the need to weigh what someone claiming to speak for God is saying to determine if it is true.
There is a vast difference between attempting to interpret the revealed Word of God enshrined in scripture, what I and many like me attempt to do each week, and presenting yourself as someone with a direct connection to God's words here and now. When I fail, that's on me, because a correct interpretation of the scriptural passage in question has no doubt been made by many during the history of the Church, but when the supposed prophet fails, that failure calls into question the veracity of God, threatens the faith of those who have followed that prophetic voice, and brings the name of God into disrepute. To falsely prophecy is no small thing and is in fact extremely troubling, but it should serve as a severe warning to the Charismatic Movement within the Christian Church that Jeremiah Johnson received death threats and profanity laced tirades when he admitted he was wrong, not from those who felt betrayed because they had wrongly trusted him when he was wrong, but for admitting his mistake, from those who would rather believe a false prophecy than objective reality.
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