Speaking Prophetically to our Culture

/ colbyhetcel

“Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.” – Isaiah 1:17

It is very tempting as a Christian, in a climate so overtaken by political talk, to feel it nessecary to “speak truth to power.”

In fact, if polled, many might assume that the phrase finds its origin in the Bible itself. Yet while there certainly are characters within scripture that speak God’s truth to kings and others in lofty positions, this phrase as it’s written is relatively new.

Bayard Rustin, a Quaker and a leader within the early Civil Rights Movement penned that: “the primary social function of a religious society is to ‘speak truth to power.’ The truth is that war is wrong.”[1] In its context, Rustin was writing to a group of fellow Quakers in New York who were considering joining the war efforts after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Instead of assisting the government in its violent endeavor, even against the insistence by some that the cause was virtuous, Rustin advocated for religious pacifism. Speaking truth to power, for him, was telling the United States military that Quakers needed the status of conscientious objector as their talents were better suited for peaceful efforts.

But today, this phrase has now been applied to much more than pacifism. In some circles, speaking truth to power might mean advocating for the abolishment of abortion in the public square. In others, it might mean speaking out against systemic racism. It might mean yard signs, letters-to-the-editor of local newspapers, blog posts, standing up against perceived threats at school board meetings, or even preaching provocative politically-charged sermons from the pulpit.

The question, however, is this: Is “speaking truth to power” an appropriate action for a Christian to take?

For many, the answer is a resounding “yes!” Doesn’t the Bible tell us to speak God’s truth like a prophet to our fallen culture?

I’ll admit that I’m not so convinced.

Scripture absolutely calls us to bear witness to Christ within our world, but the way the Bible tells us to do so is a bit different than you might expect. 

Prophetic Witness in the Old Testament

A pastor or layperson may understand his or her role as one who has been called to speak like a prophet to culture-at-large. They might offer up a critique out of a felt obligation to speak God’s truth to the world or to the nation that they are located within.

This is what Israel’s prophets did in the Old Testament. Biblical prophets were God’s covenant enforcers. The were tasked by God to bring words of judgement to the nation of Israel. If Israel strayed away from their observation of the Torah, prophets would remind them of that which they’d been called to do as well as the consequences that would follow if they continued their negligence.

As an example, here is a non-exhaustive list of critiques directed toward the nation of Israel made by God’s prophets: 

By and large, Israel’s prophets directed their critique toward their own nation. As covenant enforcers, their own nation’s status before God was top priority. It is the case, however, that at times, biblical prophets did direct their critiques outward.

For example:

Nevertheless, while it is true that Old Testament prophets did bring oracles against foreign nations, they rarely did so just for sake of that nation itself.[2] Often, these critiques play a rhetorical role in the text they are found within.

Amos’ initial critique of the nations around Israel set the stage for the prophet’s eventual message: you are no better than they. Moab, Ammon, and Syria were wicked and violent, but so too was Israel.

Nahum’s judgement on Assyria reminded Israel that unrepentant, violent nations would one day be harshly judged. This would have been a hope filled message to God’s people in a time when they felt violated and exposed. But even in his critique, Nahum reminded Israel of their special role. God’s task was to bring judgement and vindication. Israel’s task was to celebrate their festivals and fulfill their solemn vows (Nahum 1:15); that is, remain faithful to Torah.

And Obadiah’s indictment against Edom, while potentially delivered to the Edomites themselves, was entirely Jerusalem-centric. Obadiah’s words would have encouraged God’s people by explaining to them that the unchecked pride of their brother would be his eventual downfall. Edom would be swallowed by Babylon and Israel would be raised up. God pays attention to and cares for victims.  

So, when the Old Testament prophets spoke truth to power, the power they were critiquing was within Israel. And even when they spoke out against neighboring nations, they were really speaking words of encouragement or judgement toward Israel.  

In fact, what is missing from all prophetic texts in the Old Testament is a critique of Israel for failing to call out foreign nations on their failure to follow God’s law. Biblical prophets never judge God’s people for failing to make their neighbors conform to the Lord’s understanding of life and love.

Prophetic Witness in the New Testament

The Apostle Paul speaks a lot about prophetic words within his letters to the Corinthian church.

And Paul very clearly states that prophecy is for the edification of the church (1 Corinthians 14:4) and that “prophecy is not for unbelievers but for believers” (1 Corinthians 14:22). He continues to explain that unbelievers may gain something from listening to the prophetic witness of believers within the church, namely, that the LORD is active within that community of faith (1 Corinthians 14:22-24); yet, Paul never charges anyone in any of his letters to speak a prophetic word to the culture around them.

But what about John the Baptist? Didn’t he speak truth to power?

John (and Jesus, for that matter) did occasionally speak to foreign rulers and those in power. Yet, when doing so, he never took the opportunity to call them out for their social injustices.

A group of solders approach John the Baptist while he was preaching and they ask him “what shall we do?” in response to his cry for repentance. He tells them to not extort money or falsely accuse anyone (John 3:14). However, it’s best to understand this engagement not as John speaking truth to power but answering a question about what was necessary for repentance as they prepared for the One coming who was to bring about God’s kingdom. It is also highly likely that these soldiers were Jewish themselves.[3] John the Baptist also criticizes King Herod’s marital infractions in Mark 6:18. Yet it is important to remember that Herod was half-Jewish himself and ruled over Israel’s territory. John the Baptist’s remarks against Herod were similar to that of Nathan’s against King David.

So, Do We Speak or Not?

How might we think to apply all of this onto our context now?

It would be unwise to assume that the nation we live within contains the same framework as that of ancient Israel. The Lord did not establish our nation like He did Israel, nor did He grant a law-text and a covenant to the United States. The Old Testament prophets were covenant enforcers, tasked to make sure that God’s nation followed God’s law, but we have no such divinely appointed office tasked to keep our government or our nation godly.

We do, however, have a duty to speak truth to power when it comes to matters inside the Church.

Is the Church shirking its responsibility toward the poor, the widow, the orphan, or the foreigner? Is the Church hoarding wealth or consumed with pride? It is falling into syncretism or religiosity? It is covering up sexual scandals or hiding its eyes to racial disparities? Like Old Testament prophets, we do have the task of reminding ourselves to what we’ve been called. Or, as the apostle Paul puts it when directing the Corinthian church through a matter of immorality: “What do I care about judging outsiders? Isn’t it your job to judge insiders? God will judge outsiders. Expel the evil one from among you” (1 Corinthians 5:12-13). Our critiques should be inward, not outward.

And frankly, we assume much when we expect unbelievers to listen to God’s word without actually adopting Jesus as Lord and Savior. When we attempt to call the culture around us to follow the mandate we’ve been given, we turn God’s word into a curse and not a gift. It becomes a weapon we harm them with and not abundant life we invite them into. We are to tell others about God’s kingdom and invite them to join us within it. Yet, any attempt to hold those outside of the faith to the standards we are to hold ourselves to is wrong.

As faith without works is dead, requiring works without faith is death dealing.[4]

So, when we are tempted to remind our Facebook friends that the rainbow was first a sign of God’s promise to Noah and not the symbol of LGBTQ pride, or when we’d like to preach the evils of modern-day America from the pulpit, we should remember that this is not the move that an actual biblical prophet would have made. Knowing this should make us think twice about speaking or taking such an action.

Nevertheless, this does not mean we should embrace quietism.

The Church is not called to be a prophetic voice to the culture around us. However, through our prophetic critique of our own misplacements of power, the Church should become a statement in and of itself. And our insistence on loving fellow believers so wildly that Heaven and Earth seem to meet in our midst is to be a sign of God’s kingdom come. We should be enticing and inviting, not critical or condemning.

The world doesn’t need another voice yelling at it to fix its mistakes or injustices. What it does need is a group of people committed to humbly taking just action while also graciously inviting others in to the world to come, one without injustice, pain, or sin.

[1] Bayard Rustin, I Must Resist, edited by Michael G. Long, (San Francisco, CA: City Light Books, 2012), 31.

[2] It is also the case that God’s prophetic word to foreign nations signifies that they too are under God’s sovereign rule despite not worshipping Him as their national deity. God’s word through the prophets not only gave hope to Israel but also were, in part, a reminder that the entire Torah-project was originally initiated to bring all the nations of the world back to God. 

[3] John C Nugent, Priestly Presence: A Church for the World’s Sake, (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2024), 18.

[4] This is an excellent line that John Nugent uses within: John C Nugent, Priestly Presence: A Church for the World’s Sake, (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2024), 17.

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