READ Micah 3:5–8
Here is GOD’s Message to the prophets, the preachers who lie to my people: “For as long as they’re well paid and well fed, the prophets preach, ‘Isn’t life wonderful! Peace to all!’ But if you don’t pay up and jump on their bandwagon, their ‘God bless you’ turns into ‘God damn you.’ Therefore, you’re going blind. You’ll see nothing. You’ll live in deep shadows and know nothing. The sun has set on the prophets. They’ve had their day; from now on it’s night. Visionaries will be confused, experts will be all mixed up. They’ll hide behind their reputations and make lame excuses to cover up their God-ignorance. But me—I’m filled with GOD’s power, filled with GOD’s Spirit of justice and strength, ready to confront Jacob’s crime and Israel’s sin.” (THE MESSAGE)
MEDITATE
Bear with me, now. What I recommend could be vital—if somewhat unusual—for building healthy churches: every church should have a jester. I’m not talking about a medieval joker wearing a checkered costume. I’m talking about someone who keeps the church honest without an ounce of risk for speaking the truth. Think about it. Lots of churches have boards or deacons or vestries whose members sit in the pocket of the pastor. I even know the pastor of one megachurch who appoints members of his own board, so he can be assured they’ll support his initiatives. Dissenting voices simply aren’t welcome.
If you don’t like the idea of a church jester, think instead of a prophet, someone who speaks candidly in the presence of power. Someone free to dissent. Someone authorized to criticize. Someone like Micah, the first prophet ever to attribute his words to the Spirit of God.
Micah criticizes Judah’s (Israel’s southern kingdom) rulers for their inattention to justice, but his real beef lies with other prophets, whom he lambastes.
First, “as long as they’re well paid and well fed, the prophets preach, ‘Isn’t life wonderful! Peace to all!” (Micah 3:5, THE MESSAGE). In short, they prophesy for profit (Micah 3:11). These prophets are suffused with self-interest. They cozy up to power.
Second, these prophets can’t see that criticism is inspired by the Spirit of God. They accuse Micah of claiming that God has lost patience with Judah; they claim that, according to Micah (this only works in Hebrew, so I’m translating it myself here), the “Spirit of the LORD has been cut short” (2:7). Impatience is expressed as “cutting short the Spirit.” By their logic, criticism indicates that God has given up, that God’s own Spirit is depleted.
Third, other prophets look in all the wrong places for inspiration—in spurts of revelation rather than the long haul. So Micah predicts, “You’re going blind. You’ll see nothing. You’ll live in deep shadows and know nothing. The sun has set on the prophets. They’ve had their day; from now on it’s night. Visionaries will be confused, experts will be all mixed up. They’ll hide behind their reputations and make lame excuses to cover up their God-ignorance” (Micah 3:6–7, THE MESSAGE).
Micah’s message is unavoidable.
• If a leader consistently smacks of self-interest, that leader needs a dose of Micah’s message. This is a tough message for those of us in a context where success demands trumpeting even minor accomplishments on social media.
• If a leader consistently rejects criticism, that leader needs a dose of Micah’s message. God hasn’t given up. God hasn’t stopped speaking. God’s Spirit-breath continues to flow—but in words of criticism.
• If a leader consistently looks for the Spirit in intermittent inspiration rather than in a steady flow embedded in discipline, that leader needs a dose of Micah’s message. (Think back to our days on practice.) “But me—I’m filled with GOD’s power, filled with GOD’s Spirit of justice and strength, ready to confront Jacob’s crime and Israel’s sin.” Why? Because he is in it for the long haul.
Church jesters like Micah don’t earn their keep by cozying up to power. They don’t see criticism as a problem. They don’t rely on spurts of enthusiasm. And responsive leaders, as well as the communities they lead, become healthy when they are not seduced by power, when they are self-critical, and when they cultivate inspiration—like the qualities of justice, power, and might, which Micah champions—through a lifelong companionship of the Spirit.
REFLECT
PRAY
Holy Spirit
When I am seized by self-interest
snatched by smooth words,
seduced by spiritual shortcuts
Claim me, criticize me, call me back
to justice—not dishonesty
to power—not reliance on power
to might—not the pretense of peace
Call me back to an enduring experience of you
Amen
