I almost never go to cities or churches without picking up on things they’re dealing with. Sometimes I come with very clear and high-level revelation, but I rarely tell them about it unless I know that the Lord has set up the situation or conversation to do this. What I do is ask the Lord for teachings or other ministry that can help confront problems or be light that casts out the darkness.
Before I would ever disclose a problem to the congregation, I would take it to the leadership. Often they want me to tell the congregation, as well as how I received the revelation, but since they are the shepherds responsible, I let them make this call. I have learned that good fruit almost never comes from violating basic spiritual protocol.
In Matthew 18, we have clear biblical warnings about how to approach others who are in sin, beginning by going to them privately. Only if they will not hear should we ever talk about this to anyone else and then only for the purpose of helping those who have the problem. Only as a last resort should this ever be shared openly before the church. Therefore, when a prophetic person comes and declares the sin before the congregation without having been through this process, they are obviously out of order, and by this, can cause greater problems than the sin they are trying to expose.
The Lord is the great King, and He has more dignity and class than the immature often comprehend. The Scriptures testify repeatedly how much He hates division and discord, and how His main purpose is healing, reconciliation, redemption, and restoration. Throughout the Scriptures, we see Him display an amazing patience with sinners, even in the Old Testament, but if there is one thing that kindles His rage it is the self-righteous. Self-righteousness is the most deadly trap we can fall into, and it can be an especially dangerous trap for prophetic people.
As ambassadors of the Lord, or those called to deliver messages from Him, we must devote ourselves to doing this in a way that reflects His character and grace—which is the “fruit of the Spirit.” Some prophetic people have wrongly had the impression that they can be exempt from displaying the fruit of the Spirit, and thereby, their ministries often do more harm to the body of Christ than good.
We will cover many examples of the good and the bad in the weeks to come. As we have covered, if we want to be trusted with important revelation, we must be trustworthy. One reason why so many are not trusted with more is they do not pursue the wisdom and maturity of how to handle the revelation. We are emissaries of the King of kings when we are carrying messages from Him, and His word must be handled with the utmost care and dignity.
Think about it. If you were a king, and you wanted to send an important message to an important person, would you not send your most trustworthy and mature messenger? What would make them trustworthy in this? It would be by knowing that they would not add their own opinion or any other details to the message, and that they would deliver it with the demeanor that would well represent a king.
Once, when our ministry was based on a large property in Pineville, North Carolina., my family was living in a cabin at the back of the property, and our warehouse and office building were almost one-half mile away at the front of the property. The top floor of our office building was a large apartment that Paul Cain, a prophetic friend, was living in at the time. One morning I had an argument with my wife before I came to work. When I got to my office, Paul called me on the intercom and asked how I was doing. I said “fine,” because I was actually feeling pretty good, thinking that I had won this argument. Then Paul said, “I don’t think so.” When I asked what he meant, he replied by being very apologetic about “seeing into our personal lives,” but that he had seen my “intense discussion” with my wife that morning. Then he said something that I will never forget. He said, “Demeanor is everything, and the more you talked, de-meaner you got!” Paul was very gentle, gracious, and even funny, but I got the message.
The Lord was offended by how I had talked to my wife. Think about how offended He gets when we talk to His wife, the church, in such a way! We must never forget that she is the queen of the King of kings. She may need correction, or a lot of it, but never forget who she is. Just think about how you would want others to talk to your wife or your children.
