Pitfalls for Prophetic Ministers

The Scriptures clearly teach that saints do not choose their membership ministry within the Body of Christ: “Now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him” (1 Cor. 12:18).

Nor do ministers call themselves to a five-fold ministry of their own choosing. Remember that Jesus said to His twelve ministers: “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you” (John 15:16). Paul went on to say: “When [Christ] ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men. …He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers” (Eph. 4:8,11 NKJV). And Paul insisted that it is “God [who] hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets” (1 Cor. 12:28).

The gifts and callings of God are based on His sovereignty, not on human worthiness or persistence in requesting a position. The principle Paul revealed when he said, “Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God” (Rom. 11:22) applies to God’s choice for ministry. The goodness of God is manifested in His gifts and callings. His severity is revealed in the process of His training to make a person ready to be commissioned to that calling.

To Whom Much Is Given, Much Is Required

Jesus has a special love for and dedication to those whom He has called to represent Him. The Lord has a precious investment in them—He has given them of His own nature, grace, gifts, and ministry, and to whom much is given, much is required (see Luke 12:48). Those who are called to this realm of ministry will be judged more strictly than others (see James 3:1).

This principle seems to apply especially to those called to be prophets. Those whom He calls to speak directly for Him with a “Thus saith the Lord” are given much. But in the same way much more is required of them in obedience, integrity, righteousness, and Christlikeness in all areas of life.

The devil hates God’s prophets. So he has developed a whole arsenal of weapons of destruction to use against them. He has dug a pit for every prophetic minister and is determined to cause each one to fall in that pit and be buried. I call these snares of satan “prophetic pitfalls.”

My personal burden is more than just activating into ministry those called to be prophets. I also want to teach and train them in such a way that they will maintain their prophetic ministry in power and purity until they reach their predestined purpose—to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, the Prophet (see Rom. 8:29). Christ was the fullness of all the five-fold ministries in one human body (see Col. 2:9). He is the perfect pattern for all New Testament ministers, including the prophet.

Weed Seed Attitudes and Root Problems

I was raised on a farm in Oklahoma and learned there much about the farmer’s problems with weed seeds and grass roots. In my high school agriculture classes we had to study all kinds of seeds. We learned that some weed seeds and some good crop seeds look so much alike that the difference is difficult to determine while they are still in seed form. Only extensive education and experience allows a farmer to recognize a seed immediately for what it truly is.

The same is true with the attitudes of our hearts. To recognize and identify a “weed seed” attitude within a person—that is, an attitude that will eventually sprout into a dangerous weed of wrong behavior—requires someone with understanding and experience in spiritual discernment.

An Illustration from the Natural Realm

One plant that most clearly typifies in the natural realm the development of root problems in the spiritual realm is the weed called Johnson grass. This variety of grass has joints every one to six inches along each branch of its root system. These roots are myriad, running in every direction and intertwining themselves with the root system of a good crop, such as corn.

When Johnson grass sprouts and begins to grow alongside a sprout of corn, the two plants look almost identical. If the Johnson grass is allowed to grow alongside that stalk of corn until both are about knee high, their root systems become so intertwined that the Johnson grass cannot be pulled up by the roots without also uprooting and destroying the corn. The best the farmer can do to preserve the corn is to cut the grass off at ground level.

The problem, however, is that the Johnson grass will immediately send up new shoots, both from the stub of the old shoots and from the underground joints in the roots. You cannot destroy the roots simply by cutting off the plants. You can only keep it from growing to full maturity and producing a head of seeds.

Meanwhile, the root system of the grass continues to steal nutrients from the soil that should go to the cornstalk. So at most the cornstalk may be able to produce a scrawny, inferior ear of corn unqualified to be used as seed corn for the next planting.

God’s Severe Remedy

We should note that because of the severity of the problem, the farmer cannot remedy it permanently during the growing season. Since Johnson grass has blades like corn, the farmer cannot spray the grass without killing the corn. All that can be done is to wait until that season is over and then plow up the soil to expose the roots. Then the roots can be raked and burned or poisoned, or else left to be killed by a hard freeze in the winter. Only after the harvest season, during the winter, can farmers deal with grass root problems (just as they must wait till winter to prune fruit trees).

In the spiritual realm as well, God will not deal with advanced root problems during a productive ministry season. He will bring the minister and his or her ministry into a winter season of inactivity and non-productivity. He will plow the prophet upside-down, exposing the root problems, and then He will either spray them with a strong anointing to destroy them or else rake the minister’s soul until all the roots are removed and thrown into the fire of God’s purging purpose.

For that reason, we must allow God and those He has appointed as our spiritual overseers to show us our weed seed attitudes and remove the newly sprouted character flaws before they grow intertwined with our personality and performance. The longer we wait, the more drastic the process becomes.

These Truths for All People Everywhere

These truths are vital to every five-fold minister, Christian leader, or ministering member of the Body of Christ. The principles to practice and pitfalls to avoid apply to every Christian. So I encourage you to allow the Holy Spirit to illuminate your mind and soul to any character flaws, weed seed attitudes, root problems, or “prophet syndromes” you may have.

If you have had a particular problem for a while and it has been manifested more than three times, I believe it has gone beyond the seed stage and has now sprouted. So it must be dealt with immediately before its root system becomes intertwined with your personality and performance.

Today God is purging individuals, as well as His Church as a whole, of all the things that are contrary to His own nature and character. If we allow God to purge us, we will be made a vessel of honor. If not, God will remove us from ministry in His Body, just as sheep are separated from goats, good fish from bad fish, and tares from wheat (see Matt. 25:32-33; 13:29-30,47-48).