Contrary to the popular and misguided idea that humanity is slowly improving towards perfection, our time is a time of trouble and conflict, of growing tension and the cult of personal fulfillment as an innate right. And while nobody would argue against the rights of the individual to a certain degree of personal happiness and a lot more in the way of social justice, neither of these things are really iron-clad guarantees, in spite of what men’s laws and constitutions have to say for themselves. There are higher matters to be dealt with, from a Christian perspective. It is not that society is becoming less spiritual, and therefore less sensitive to the needs of the world around us; indeed, society is becoming more concerned with and involved in spiritual matters, but this is not translating into a Christian or Biblical perspective on the problems of the world. Certainly this is true for those of us living on the West Coast of Canada. Folks in this part of the world build for themselves their own religions, taking bits and pieces from all religions and fashioning them into a new religion that fits with their personal views and lifestyles. But in the end it all adds up to what the Bible calls, idolatry (Exodus 20:3).

The Call

When I entered a small, experimental theological college in 1973, the matter of “what does it mean to be a real Christian?” was very much on our student agenda. We were a group of students made up from a broad spectrum of society – social misfits, hippies, conservative leaning, and generally frustrated young people reaching out for something genuine in our lives. What we all had in common was our belief in a personal and loving God, and in our commitment to that God. We were, to give ourselves a definition, Evangelical Christians of one sort or another. We had little interest in denominational tags or in gathering up diplomas and degrees for ourselves. What we wanted were answers to our questions. We had all turned up at that college, because each of us believed, in some fundamental way, that it represented what could be called “a school of the prophets.” It was a place where the professors and staff lived their faith prophetically in everyday life. The college did not have huge resources, so our teachers had to augment their incomes by writing, and by teaching in other institutions. But they believed that what they were doing was vital to the good health of the wider Christian community. And it has proved so to be over the intervening years. What our teachers instilled in us was the importance of thinking and living our lives prophetically, and thereby to make our words and actions count for something in the wider church and in the world. We were taught that actions taken by individual Christians in the everyday world we lived in had an impact. Therefore, we had to be sure that our actions were a credit to God’s kingdom, and not a detriment. To be a Christian is to live for God and not for self. This was an ideal sometimes short-changed by us in real terms, but always in the forefront of our minds and hearts. What we do or say has consequences both temporally and spiritually.

The Risk

By way of clarification, living prophetically does not mean living the life of a Christian fortune teller, seeing into future events. What it does mean is, living in a way that makes your whole pattern of life a statement about what you believe, and why you believe it. It also implies that your life is the voice of judgment on the world around you. By this I do not mean that you behave in a judgmental manner towards others, but that your Christian life, being in stark contrast to the life of the “natural man” in the world around you, stands in judgment on the fallen world around you (Matthew 5:16). Let me clarify what I mean by suggesting that Christ’s light in you will also expose the darkness around you, and those who live in that darkness will not thank you for it – thus the light of Christ in you betrays the darkness in them, and judgment against them has been made manifest (John 15:18).

We are to be the salt and light that Jesus calls forth to spiritually season the world around us. “You are the light of the world. A city set upon a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do men light a lantern and hide it under a bushel, but they place it on a lampstand and its shines its light throughout the house” (Luke 8:16ff). Furthermore, to live prophetically means that we are to be the voice of God. I don’t mean that we speak in an inventive and false way (as some popular TV Evangelists, so called, do, or in the way some revisionist liberals do in denouncing the Bible and the faith), but that when we speak, we speak in accordance with God’s written word only. What we say and what we do must agree with what is written in the Bible. We dare not deviate; we dare not add to or subtract from what is written (Deuteronomy 4:2). Conformity to the whims and wants of this world are not for us an option.

That we will not always be popular goes without saying. As I’ve already mentioned, ours is a narcissistic culture, a culture made up of people who only seek after their personal gain and comfort. Nobody wants to hear phrases like “living sacrificially,” or “living for others,” or “living lives dedicated to God.” Everyone wants to know, “If you’re offering me something different, what’s in it for me?” We could answer, “The prospect of eternal life is in it for you.” But that’s not likely to cut any ice in today’s culture. Clearly, if you have set out in life to win popularity contests in the world’s eyes, then Jesus’ admonition to deny the self and to daily take up your cross is not going to have too much appeal. But what it really means is that in our own way we must negotiate our path through this life, taking the rough with the smooth, but looking to Jesus as the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). Jesus walked the road of tribulation before us and for us, and he bids us to follow in his footsteps. This requires our adopting a prophetic lifestyle, a lifestyle that goes contrary to the culture around us. Selflessness is not in vogue this century. Indeed, there can be, and is sometimes serious risk involved in living prophetically. Just have a quick glance at the lives and ministries of the Old Testament prophets, or of John the Baptist, Jesus, and the early leaders of the Christian faith; all met with untimely and often ugly ends. At this point in time we do not have to face the dangers they faced for the sake of following God. So we really have few excuses to conform to the Gospel pattern of life.

The Need

Our culture is collapsing around our ears. It is hardly necessary for me to list all of the problems that face modern society. When I say problems, I mean dangers. We live in fluid times. What is viewed as abnormal and unacceptable today may become the norm tomorrow. Abortion and the move to legalize mercy killing are but two examples. There has been a steady erosion of moral standards in our society. More frightening is the spectre of modern churches yielding to social changes that are in contrast to Biblical teaching. Years ago I read a very chilling and prophetic book written by Dr. Francis Schaeffer, The Church at the End of the Twentieth Century (Inter-Varsity Press, 1971). I must confess that I thought his prognostications a bit extreme at the time. But standing in the cold light of the 21st century I have to admit that what he wrote about has come to pass. In fact, I reread the book just a year ago, to see if my initial impressions were justified. As I started reading it again, I found myself shuddering at how accurate his assessment of the future was. The future in which we are now living. In the chapter, “Modern Man the Manipulator: manipulation in religion,” he states:

Manipulation is on every side, and nowhere more so than in liberal
theology and religion. Modern theology with its religious connotation
words take the words Christ and God or the other great Christian words
and makes them a banner which has high motivation value but no
content. The man who wishes to do the manipulation can simply
grab the flag, march in the direction he wishes, and you are supposed
to follow (page 94).

Of course, the same can be said about any popular movement that seeks to get our attention and support. Use the right buzz-words, appeal to human emotion, shout down any and all opposition, and you’re well on your way to gaining your point. However, it is all the more frightening and disconcerting when, as Schaeffer points out, the church is in the lead in taking sides in moral issues that are contrary to what God intended for humankind.

To live a prophetic life one has to be genuinely Christian. This means we must live our lives in ways that will sometimes feel uncomfortable and will lead to unpleasantness. We swim against the tide of popular culture more often than not. This does not mean we have to come across as prudes or as goodie-two-shoes type people. We are called to live quite natural lives. But we must always remember who we really are, and we must always be the mediators of love between God and the world. I don’t mean a false love, a forced love. What I mean is, we see ourselves for what we really are, fallen creatures in need of God’s grace and love, and because we know and experience that love we want others to know it too. To live a prophetic life is to live a genuine life, which is only possible when we embrace the true life of God manifest for us in Jesus Christ.

Brian Foxcroft-MacGregor is a lay Anglican living in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada