Prophetic Ministry

The church is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. A building with a faulty foundation will eventually collapse. The apostle and the prophet complement each other. So every church must be “built on the foundation of apostles and prophets”. The apostle will use their pastoral experience to draw a group of believers together and build then into a unit. The prophet will impart vision and zeal into the new church, by encouraging the apostle and watching over the church to see that it is built according to God’s plan.

Three important benefits come when a prophet and apostle work together.

• The prophet gives vision and direction.
• The prophet challenges the apostle if they take a wrong turn or go in the wrong direction.
• The prophet protects the people from the apostle.

Apostles can be dangerous. Most of the people around them have been blessed by them or discipled by them, so they tend to look up to the apostle. This means that an apostle is often surrounded by “Yes men”, not because they are devious, but because they love and respect the apostle. An apostle needs someone bold enough to challenge them if they are mistaken. That task will usually fall to a prophet. Nathan took this role for David. Barnabas did it for Paul.

When a prophet colludes with the apostle to attack some of their people, life in the church gets dangerous. A prophet that starts firing the apostle’s bullets becomes a pet prophet. This is a risk that all prophets should guard against.

Prophetic Ministry, p. 15.