The Prophetic Voice In Scripture and Today
It All Begins Here
By Pastor Phil Rushton
As we tell the story of scripture this year, we are entering the sections that feature the prophets. Contrary to popular belief, the prophets in the Bible are not so much future-tellers as they are truth-tellers. The prophets in the Old Testament are gifted with discernment. They are able to see through the propaganda and the lies of the kings and rulers and point people back to God. Below, I share a few thoughts about what I’ve been learning from the prophets and how it informs how we engage our culture today.
The Role of the Prophet
In my sermon on the life and reign of Solomon, I pointed out that his promising rise was followed by a tragic fall. Solomon initially seems to be fulfilling the covenant promise given to the patriarchs. Under Solomon’s leadership, Israel reached the height of prosperity and influence. Rulers from surrounding nations are drawn to Solomon’s wisdom and are impressed with his success. However, behind the veneer of wisdom and affluence are signs that Solomon has lost his way. The narrative in 1 Kings implies that Solomon is becoming like Pharaoh in Egypt. He enslaves people and builds his mansions with slave labor (1 Kings 5:12-13), he creates “store cities” to hold his plunder (1Kings 9:19) just like Pharoah does (Exodus 1:11). Solomon ends up becoming the antithesis of what Israel was to look for in a King (Deuteronomy 17:15-20).
In his book The Prophetic Imagination, Walter Brueggeman argues that God’s people developed a “royal consciousness” that lost sight of the ethical vision of Moses. He writes, “It is difficult to keep a revolution of freedom and justice underway when there is satiation.” The people are satiated with excessive wealth, food, silver, and gold, and this blinds them from their deeper calling. The people who were once oppressed under Moses became the oppressors under Solomon.
The role of the prophets is to point people back to God. They boldly criticize the royal consciousness and lament the injustice and evil that are present behind the veneer of affluence and wealth. Read Amos 5 and 6 for a great example of this dynamic. The prophets also help the people imagine an alternative way of living that was aligned with God’s dream for the world.
As a result, the prophets were often not very popular. They disrupted the status quo and sometimes paid a heavy social price for their honesty. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the anti-Nazi activist, pastor, and martyr, had this to say about the prophet Jeremiah:
He was upbraided as a disturber of the peace, an enemy of the people, just like all those, throughout the ages until the present day, who have been possessed and seized by God, for whom God had become too strong. How gladly would he have shouted peace and Heil with the rest . . .
Bonhoeffer, a modern-day prophet who spoke out against the German Evangelical Church’s emerging alliance with the Nazi Party, saw in Jeremiah a model for how to speak truthfully to a church that was losing its way. He found consolation in knowing that the prophets in the Bible were often labeled the heretics or disturbers of the peace.
The Heart of the Prophet
One of my professors at Regent College, Dr. Ross Hastings, once said to me, “There is an important difference between a prophet and a critic. The prophet loves the people, and the critics like to cut people down to feel better about themselves.” The prophet’s ultimate motivation is love. Yes, they say hard things, but their desire is that people would turn back to God and rediscover God’s dreams for the world.
The prophet Ezekiel relays this message to the people of Israel:
Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?’ (Ezekiel 33:11)
The prophet’s message, at the end of the day, is not a message of condemnation but a message of life. The heart of the prophet is to declare God’s message of love and life. Hard things are said with the purpose of helping people turn and live.
Our social media algorithms reward and amplify critics more than prophets. If people are enraged, they stay engaged, and this is good for the advertising business. As we discern when to say hard things, we ought to test our message against the deeper command to love. Is this message in service of helping people turn and live, or is this message about my need for a cathartic rant that will make me feel better than other people?
The Target Audience of the Prophet
It is important to remember that the primary target audience of the prophets was the religious people of the day. There are times when the prophets will speak out woes against other nations, but the primary audience was God’s chosen people.
I think that the contemporary church in America sometimes gets this backwards. I often hear the evangelical church lament and condemn secular society. We aim our critique away from ourselves and towards those outside the church. Sometimes people want their pastor to cheerlead this effort. Sermons that lament the state of secular society reinforce our sense of righteousness. Those are easier sermons for a prophet to preach.
There are times when we need to lament and critique the evil and immorality present in the world. The role of the prophet, however, is primarily focused on the ways evil is infiltrating the faith community. Paul makes this distinction in 1 Corinthians 5:12, where he writes, “What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?”
One of the discernment tools I have sought to use when deciding whether to speak into some of the socio-political issues of our day is to ask whether I have the right target audience. I do not think it is right for pastors to become political commentators and let the headlines dictate the sermon schedule. I do think it is important to speak up when the name of Jesus, scripture, the church, or Christian theology is invoked to support unbiblical actions.
Jesus warns us that we have a tendency to see the speck in the eye of another while ignoring the log in our own eye. We do this personally and on behalf of the groups to which we belong. We can easily ignore the log in the eye of our church, our political party, the leaders we follow, and our nation. This is especially true if the group we are a part of has given us glimpses of Eden. This is why God sends prophets! May we have the courage to both speak the truth and receive the truth.
A Summer of Adventure for BCC Youth!
It All Begins Here
By Jeff Grosskopf, Youth Pastor
Every summer, I’m reminded that some of the most meaningful faith moments don’t happen in a church building. They happen when students are tired, laughing too hard, a little uncomfortable, while doing something they’ve never done before.
That’s why summer trips matter so much to BCC Youth.
This summer, our middle school and high school students will head out on separate trips to Plain, Washington, for an Adventure Trip filled with white water rafting, kayaking, rock climbing, camping, and a few days of life together outdoors.
It’s not about chasing adrenaline. It’s about stepping out of routine and into something shared. When students are paddling the river or encouraging each other up a rock face, walls come down. Conversations get real. God feels closer, not because we forced a moment, but because everyone is paying attention.
I think that these trips will have a way of slowing things down. Phones will go away. Schedules will loosen. Students start noticing what God might be doing in, through, and around them. Faith might become less about answers and more about trust, courage, and community.
Our summer trips aren’t meant to entertain students for a few days and send them home unchanged. They’re meant to shape us. We hope students come back more connected, more confident, and more aware of how God is present in everyday life.
Some of the clearest moments with God happen outside…in the middle of adventure, surrounded by people who are walking the journey together.
I can’t wait to see what this summer brings!
Jeff G
HS Adventure Trip (June 17-20)
MS Adventure Trip (July 24-27)
More info can be found here.
Creation Care with Your Phone
By Mike Merchant, Creation Care Team
Can your cell phone bring you closer to God? Absolutely.
While it’s true our phones have potential for both good and mischief, they certainly can bring us closer to God. One way they can do this is by providing eyes to see his creation, using an increasingly popular phone app called iNaturalist, or iNat by its users. This tool is one of the best ways I know to connect with nature and potentially help life on the planet at the same time.
When you use iNat you join a community of nature lovers around the world who are committed to recording all forms of life in their region.
Here’s the basic idea. See a plant or animal, take a picture and upload it to iNat with the click of a button. An artificial intelligence algorithm then analyzes your picture, and in most cases, can put a name to what you’re seeing. You don’t even have to be a birder or plant expert to use the app…
Read the entire article here...
Did you know that the Creation Care team maintains a blog featuring this complete article, along with many others? To visit the “Not Our World” blog, click here.
By Mike Merchant, Creation Care Team
The latest post to the Not Our World blog is about an app that can get you excited to learn more about the plants, birds, and insects that you encounter when you step outdoors. And if you agree there's a connection between the world around us and the One who made it all, it's not too crazy to conclude this phone app might even bring you closer to God. Click the link to learn more.
FROM YOUR BCC LIBRARY
It All Begins Here
By Nancy Henderson, BCC Library Team
CHRISTIAN LIVING – the largest non-fiction section in our church library. Sounds rather generic, right? So what subjects or topics might we find there? Pretty much anything that pertains to our everyday lives as Christians: joy, pain, grief, loss, building authentic relationships, prayer, worship, friendship, spiritual disciplines, spiritual practices, aging, intergenerational interactions, devotional life, finding personal purpose, living out personal purpose, living beyond regrets, finances, why our sufferings matter, caregiving, rhythms of work and rest, becoming love in a world of setbacks and difficult people, discipleship, living on bonus time, grace, faith in community, overcoming overload, and more.
You name it, we likely have a resource to challenge or encourage you. So next time you’re near our lovely library, or when life is overwhelming, boring, or confusing, come in, take a while to browse the shelves or the catalog, and check out a book for a fresh perspective.
Also, beginning this month, the library will feature a cart of materials curated especially to enrich the Lent/Easter season for adults, families, and children.
Up Next…
It All Begins Here
Vespers Evening Service
Sunday, February 1
7:00 pm in the Sanctuary
*Vespers is a contemplative evening worship service of scripture, singing, and prayer, in the style of Taizé.
Prime Timers
Thursday, February 12
12:30 pm in the dining room
*Join this great group of retired age folks for a potluck lunch in the BCC dining room. Contact Jim Bruns for more information at (360) 393-1403.
Ash Wednesday Service
Wednesday, February 18
6:30 in the Sanctuary
*Join us at this contemplative service to begin the season of Lent
Annual Congregational Meeting
Sunday, February 22
10:45 in the Sanctuary (Following the morning worship service)
A little further down the road…
* March 1: Retirement celebration for Letha and John Kerl
* March 13-14: Marriage Retreat, Lake Samish Day Lodge
* April 24-25: Shop for a Cause Garage Sale
* June 26-28: All Church Campout, Bryce Creek Campground (Learn More)