This blog post is lrought to you by another guy from a group of mine on Facebook. His name is John Onyekachi. I think this is a must-read. Are you called to be a Prophet or just work in the gigting of the prophetic?
THE DIFFEENCE BETWEEN THE GIFT OF PROPHECY AND THE OFFICE OF THE PROPHET
Yes! Every believer is called and anointed by the Holy Spirit to discharge the responsibilities of the prophetic ministry in a measure. But, no! Every believer is NOT a prophet. The gift of prophecy and the office of the prophet are not the same. Every prophet prophesies but not everyone who prophesies is a prophet. We get it wrong when we don’t understand the dynamics and operations of God’s kingdom, and through ignorance, we fall into lots of problems and suffer damages as a result. You will always fall into error when you stress any truth of the kingdom beyond the boundaries or provisions of scriptures.
In this discourse, I’m going to discuss few differences between the gift of prophecy and the prophetic office.
1. The prophetic office is domiciled in a person, but the gift is domiciled in the church.
One major difference to take note of as we consider this issue is that the prophetic office is domiciled in a person. It is not a matter of what one does, but a matter of what he/she has been called by God to do. It is not the gift, but the calling that matters.
And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was.
Hebrews 5:4
The prophetic office is a life one is born, called and separated to. It is the calling that makes the difference. The anointing of the prophet is on the person or the office. A prophet is one who has been called and anointed by God to stand in this ministry office. Just because one calls himself a prophet doesn’t make him one. He has to be called to be one.
Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”
Jeremiah 1:4-5
The gift of prophecy on the other hand is not domiciled in a person. It is for the whole church. Anybody can be used by the Holy Spirit in the administration or manifestation of this gift. While just any believer can prophesy (all believers can and should prophesy), all believers are not prophets. God calls and anoints certain individuals in the body of Christ to minister supernaturally to the whole body, but every believer can covet and operate the gift of prophecy, both for personal and cooperate profiting.
But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
1 Corinthians 12:7
Just like Israel of old, God designed the church to be a kingdom of priests, but then, He selects certain individuals to minister to the whole body as His representatives. While the whole church ministers to the entire world, God selects individuals from the church to minister to the body of believers. The existence or manifestation of a gift does not indicate a calling to a particular area of ministry. For example, in almost a decade of my pastoral ministry, I have ministered prophetically at least twice in my services. Does this now make me a prophet? Of course not. I am simply a pastor who was used by the Lord to minister prophetically to a person in need.
I have seen believers (especially young ministers) who are making a great mistake along this line. To function in the prophet’s office, a person must be called into it, the gift notwithstanding.
2. The prophetic office cannot be desired in prayer but the gift can.
While it scriptural for believers to desire and covet the gift of prophecy, it is unscriptural for believers to desire or covet the office of a prophet. The whole church may pray that a prophet be raised among them or sent to them, but individuals are not instructed to desire this office for themselves. If you are not called into the office of the prophet, you can’t have the spiritual equipment or anointing that comes with this office. God’s ordination will always follow His calling.
Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.
1 Corinthians 14:1
It doesn’t matter how much you pray, if you are not separated or called to the prophet’s office you can’t function in it. You can desire the gifts of the Spirit of which prophecy is one of them, but only God can call people to stand and minister in any ministry office He wants. People can be specially gifted and used by the Holy Spirit in an area of ministry as the need arises, but the calling of God predates a person’s birth. That means a person is called even before his birth, but is invited to fulfill that calling as he becomes aware of it by the revelation of the Holy Spirit.
3. The gift of prophecy can be imparted but the office can’t
Another major difference is that while God allows those who operate these gifts of the Spirit to pass them on to others through impartation, the office of the prophet (or any other ministry office) cannot be imparted.
For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established
Romans 1:11
Hands can be laid on people to transfer the gift of prophecy or any other gift of the Spirit, just like hands were laid on Timothy to impart on him some spiritual gifts for ministry. It is thoroughly scriptural.
Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands
2 Timothy 1:6
But it is highly unscriptural to lay hands on people to impart on them the gift of the prophet, apostle, pastor, evangelist or teacher, if they have not been called into it by God. People cannot be called or prayed into any ministry office by men. It is God’s reserved responsibility.
I have seen practices along this line where people are ‘prophesied’ into the ministry they were not called into by God. No matter how you lay hands on a dog, the anointing on your life and ministry notwithstanding, it can never become a Lion. It is enough to train a dog to roar like a Lion, but you can not changed its identity to that of a lion.
I believe it is an abuse of spiritual office to try to prophesy or even inspire people to take up a ministry they are not called into. The equipment or anointing for ministry comes with the call of God. Even when you sense that someone is called into an area of ministry, the most appropriate and intelligent thing to do is to pray for and guide the person along that line, but give him or her the privilege to hear from God personally.
Even though my mum knew from when I was a child that I was called into the ministry, she didn’t tell me about it. She brought me up in the ways of the Lord and gave me special attention because she wanted to secure my life and ministry. She allowed me to live my life while she earnestly prayed secretly for me to answer the call of God. When I finally came back to tell her I had answered God’s call, she wasn’t surprised. Instead she told me she had been expecting that all along.
Kingdom Advance 