Faath - learning..."prophecy"

  - Cormac, Glossary (Irish, 10th century)

We do not see our signs; there is no longer any prophet, and there is none among us who knows how long.

  - Psalm 74.9

Asaph was troubled by what he saw around him. He ministered in the heyday of Solomon's glory, when the temple was new and stunning, wealth and peace pervaded the land, and most folks would have said things seemed to be going pretty well overall.

But not Asaph. He saw Solomon's compromises (1 Kgs. 11.1ff). He knew his own heart and the powerful forces of self at work there (Ps. 73). And he could see that, outward appearances notwithstanding, the people of God were sliding into decline.

Cormac must have seen something similar in his day, since the word for "learning" and "prophecy" - which had featured so prominently in the early days of the Celtic Revival - now seemed to be falling into disuse. By Cormac's day, apparently, it was not necessary that pastors be learned or that they speak prophetically - "Thus saith the Lord!" - to the people they were called to serve.

The difference between Asaph and Cormac was that in Cormac's day, the devastation was observable: Norsemen regularly ravaged monasteries and pillaged villages. Monasteries went to war against one another over petty claims concerning followers and territory. Ignorance was on the rise, spirituality was at its nadir, and pastors seemed more concerned with holding on to their posts than with furthering the Kingdom of God.

Could Cormac preserve "learning" and "prophecy" simply by adding faath to his glossary of terms to be preserved? No, of course not.

But did he, like Asaph, feel the loss of something vital to the wellbeing of the Christian community? Obviously, he did.

Today, when the waters of relativism and mere subjectivity have flooded every compartment in the ship of the Church, we need learned pastors who will proclaim the will of the Lord without flinching or seeking the approval of anyone but our heavenly King.

"We do not see our signs..." Many are saying that the Church today has lost its identity with the Christian movement of the past. "...there is no longer any prophet..." Instead, folksy homilies heavy on feel-good stories but light on doctrinal clout and prophetic admonition. "...and there is none among us who knows how long."

How long, that is, God will continue to allow His Church to walk this path of decline.

Before we lose them, brethren, let us pray for a renewal of true learning and prophetic proclamation among the pastors of our day. The Church may look like it's doing quite well, but we're more on the margin of things in this country than ever before, and there are hardly any places where the oneness of the Body of Christ is eagerly and publicly pursued unto visible Kingdom progress.

Whatever you can do to encourage your pastor to learn more and preach with more conviction, do so. Do so today.

T. M. Moore, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.