Keep in mind that we are here on a forum, with limited scope for interaction. Some people do have different gifts and emphasis, some for pastoring, some for counselling, some for evangelizing, others for dropping the plumbline and calling the church to line up with it.....declaring to "Israel" her sins. Though it doesn't necessarily mean anyone is perfect at what they do and never makes mistakes since we all need to grow and learn. I agree we need to have a balance overall, but that should be supplied by all members of the body contributing in ways that are according to whatever part of the body they are.
Here's a little part of an article about prophets that I think has some good thoughts in it - it isn't an easy calling and they won't win popularity contests, but rather the opposite - since their ministry can seem abrasive at times:
THE FORERUNNER - Preparing the Way
by Arthur Wallis
"Behold, I send My messenger, and he shall preparethe way before Me: and the Lord whom you seek, shall suddenly come to His temple" (Mal. 3:1).
In preparation for a great visitation, God may raise up many messengers, each preparing the way of the Lord
in his own appointed sphere. This is surely a day whenG od is looking for forerunners to blaze the trail of revival;
not smooth preachers, but rugged prophets: men of the stamp of Elijah, who, with the hand of the Lord upon
him, girded up his loins and ran before the king to the entrance of the royal city (1 Kings 18:46). Thus he
demonstrated the spiritual work he was doing as a forerunner. On Carmel Elijah had prepared the way of
the Lord, and now the Lord was coming "as the latter rain that waters the earth" (Hos 6:3).
Those whom God calls to such a ministry - and a call is essential - must be prepared for a pathway of
unpopularity and misunderstanding. "You troubler of Israel" was the way Ahab addressed Elijah (1 Ki 8:17),
and so this prophet whom God had sent to deal with the "Achans in the camp" (see Joshua 7:25) was
himself accused of being one. John the Baptist demonstrates also this element in the ministry of the
forerunner. Standing alone as the champion of righteousness, he unmasked the hypocrisy of the
religionists and even denounced the sin of the king upon the throne. This man, who was "much more
than a prophet", was called to seal his ministry with his blood, yet he succeeded in preparing the way of
the Lord. "Among them that are born of women there has not arisen a greater than John the Baptist"
(Matt. 11:11). A forerunner must be one who can say, "I truly am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord,
and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin" (Mic. 3:8).
Jeremiah was another forerunner. In a day dark with declension and judgment his fearless ministry
helped to check the evils of the time, and prepare the way for a reviving that he did not live to witness,
under Ezra and Nehemiah. The commission given him by the Lord is deeply significant:
"I have set you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, and to destroy and to
overthrow; to build, and to plant" (Jer. 1:10). It will be noted that there is twice the emphasis on the
negative element as on the positive; two thirds of his ministry was to be destructive, and only one
third constructive. This is characteristic of the work of a forerunner. Stumbling blocks of iniquity have to
be taken up (Isa. 57:14) and stones of unbelief have to be gathered out (Isa. 62:10) if the way of the Lord
is to be prepared. The very word "prepare" contains this idea of casting out, emptying, and clearing as
a field before planting. Destruction, ruthless and thorough, must precede the greater work of
construction that is to follow. It takes a man who "fears no one but God and hates nothing but sin" to
proclaim the message of the forerunner.
[-From "In the Day of Thy Power"
"-The Scriptural Principles of Revival"
by Arthur Wallis].
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