The question came up recently as to what a prophet is or at least what would constitute a prophetic gift. It can be a pretty loaded question because I believe when the modern reader sees the term prophecy they assume it to mean ‘foretelling the future.’ I believe this heaps unwarranted ammunition to what can be an already contentious battlefield between ceasationists and non-ceasationists.
Let’s look first at the usage of prophet and prophecy in the new testament as it relates to gifts. Prophet is mentioned as a church office alongside the apostle, the evangelist, the teacher, etc. in places like 1 Corinthians 12:28-29 and Ephesians 4:11. The purpose of prophecy is the building up of the church in what appears to be a teaching, edifying, and/or encouraging fashion according to 1 Corinthians 14:3-5 and 1 Corinthians 14:31. Not all Christians have or would have had the gift of prophecy according to 1 Corinthians 12:29.
Pretty much all the words for prophet and prophecy are based upon the Greek word προφητης (prophetes) which is itself based on roots meaning to bring forth something into the open. According to the Greek English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christan Literature, 3rd ed., while words pertaining to prophet or prophecy can include foretelling, the predominant meaning is “interpreting divine will or purpose” or “[the utterances of] one who interprets divine will.”
Now the ceasationist and many dispensationalists may point out that early church offices died out, and while I would agree with them on the office of the apostle, if we forego western presuppositions of the prophetic and instead adopt the definition and practices according to the early church it would seem entirely possible that the gift of prophesy still exists. Consider the person who feels an extraordinary call to plant a church saying that he really feels God’s desire for the people of that area. Perhaps we consider also the Christian who emphatically through an impassioned message encourages his Christian brothers and sisters to live righteously because God desires them to be righteous; there is a very real possibility that in each of those examples, the person has just interpreted the divine will of God and ergo could be considered a prophet.
In a personal example from my own life, I recall a time during my early 20’s in which I was part of a college/young adults ministry that had all but been shut down. It was the beginning of summer and I was the only member left in the ministry, the previous leader had stepped down, and the church was unsure of whether or not they would assign another. I remember driving home in my car and feeling an incredibly strong intuition that God desired the young people of my area. I prayed passionately and regularly, I felt like Jeremiah who simply couldn’t stop himself from speaking the will of God (Jeremiah 20:9) and was soon giving impassioned monologues to friends or anyone who would listen. The people I spoke to were encouraged and would quickly feel the same way about reaching young adults in the area. After a couple months the ministry was assigned a leader, began meeting again, and experienced explosive growth from the very first week. I didn’t portend the future, but I believe I had a very clear understanding of the divine will of God.
I’ll leave it to the reader to determine whether or not they believe the gift of prophecy still exists within the church; however, I would caution against those who introduce new gospels under the guise of prophecy. Furthermore, charismatic theologians regularly caution against prophecy that would contradict scripture or add to doctrinal canon, a point that I as one who wouldn’t really identify as charismatic would certainly echo. To keep things in perspective though, the ultimate question is not what prophecy is or whether prophets still exist, but whether or not we as believers seek the heart of God as has been revealed within the scriptures and act accordingly out of a love and sincere passion for him.