Blessed Economist: Restoring Prophets (1) Reasons

Leading up to the US presidential election, many Christians prophesied that Donald Trump would win a second term as president. Some suggested that he would bring in a red wave if support. Now that Joe Biden has been inaugurated, some of these prophets are admitting that they were wrong and offering their apologies (although some are persisting with their claims).

This raises an important and interesting question. How can a prophet who has made a serious mistake that led many people astray be restored to their calling? No one seems to be discussing this issue, so I thought I would have a go. Here are my first thoughts. I will include some comments on the current situation with the US presidential election, but the principles and processes that I describe will be more general, and relevant regardless of the nature of the prophetic failure.

The only example in the scriptures of a prophet being restored after a serious mistake was Jonah. He had to go through serious trauma and wrestling with God before he was ready to take up his role as a prophet again. Most prophets who made serious mistakes were not restored at all, eg Hananiah (Jer 28) and the 400 prophets exposed by Miciah (1 Kings 22). I presume that we can do better than that under the new covenant in the age of the Spirit.
Peter, the apostle, made a serious mistake when he betrayed his messiah. Jesus led him through a compassionate but confronting process of restoration (John 21).

There are several reasons why the restoration of prophets who fail is really important.

There seems to have been two main responses to prophets confessing their error. Some people want to do a proverbial stoning and pull these prophets down. The other response is to say that the mistake does not matter, and that their humility in admitting the mistake confirms that they are true prophets. The first response is unchristian, and the second is inadequate because it does not deal with the underlying problem. The restoration of a failed prophet is not as simple as is often assumed.
Incorrectly predicting the outcome of the US election has shaken the faith of many Christians. They trusted their prophets, and now they are disappointed. Some may have lost their faith altogether, so this was a serious failure that can’t be passed off as a trivial mistake.
When a pastor makes a serious mistake, such as committing adultery or cheating on taxes, they usually cannot just apologise and get back into their work (although that has happened in too many cases). They usually have to go through a probationary period under close supervision, and may never be allowed to so some tasks again, eg counselling widows or managing the finances of the church (respectively).

The prophets in the church are usually those who are most strident about not letting a fallen pastor off too lightly, so now that it is prophets who have fallen, they should be careful about giving their colleagues and easy pass.
The big-name prophets have not advocated violence, but they have spoken about “taking back what was stolen” and “fight for democracy”, so we don’t know how much influence they have had on the fringe groups that engaged in violence at the Capitol. These people might have been fortified in their fervour by the affirmations of the prophets. They might have been encouraged by a belief that God was on their side. We don’t know who was influenced by whom, so the damage that the failed prophets are responsible for might be far greater than they realise. We can’t just assume that these prophetic errors did no harm, then apologise, and move on as if nothing has happened.
The prophets who failed will need their soul and spirit restored. Only a narcissist could go through the public humiliation of an incorrect prediction about an election with being emotionally and spiritually scarred. Delivering a public prophecy about a contentious election is a scary experience for any prophet. Getting it wrong so publicly will shake their confidence in their ability to hear God. The prophet will have received the word that later proved to be incorrect in the same way as they have received all the other words they have shared, and those they will receive in the future.

Prophets always struggle with discerning between the voice of the Holy Spirit and their own thoughts. Being wrong will make them doubt their ability to hear accurately.

In addition to feeling embarrassed by their mistake, a sensitive prophet will be hugely disappointed at letting God down. They might feel guilty for being deceived by the enemy. This disappointment, shame and lack of confidence could hinder their ability to prophesy in the future. They might need a pastor or someone they trust to pray through the issues with them, so God can restore them to their calling.
The modern church does not have so many effective prophets that it can afford to lose a whole lot of competent ones that God has invested considerable time in training and developing. One prophet who make this mistake said that he would not get publicly involved in political issues again, but that is not the solution. It would be better for him to find out what caused him to make a mistake and deal with it, because the same fault could cause him to make mistakes in other spheres of activity.

I am presuming that the people whose prophecies about Donald Trump failed are not evil people. I presume that they love Jesus and want to serve him. I assume that many of them have encouraged people by prophesying accurately in the past. Therefore, I don’t want them to be mocked and pilloried. I want them to be restored, not to what they were, but to a position where they can exercise their calling in a way that honours Jesus.
We should not label prophets who make mistakes as false prophets. The scriptures teach that false prophets are rebels who try to lead God’s people astray to worship other gods. I presume that those who have made serious mistakes still have a heart to serve God, “so I call them “failed prophets. My main concern is to see them restored.
Human prophets will not be infallible. They will occasionally make mistakes, but when they do, they should not just shrug it off. Instead, they should seek to understand the reason why they were deceived, and put it right. If the problem that allowed the prophets to be deceived is not resolved, they could make the same again in the future when the stakes are higher. The church cannot afford to have similar mistakes occurring again and again, so the prophets need to identify the problem and deal with it.
Prophets often quote 1 Corinthians 13:12 (we know in part) as if that were an excuse for being wrong 10 percent of the time, but this is wrong. The reality that we “see in part” means that no prophet receives the full picture from God. To get the big picture, several prophets will need to share what they have received and put it together. Hundreds of prophets repeating the same message does not validate it.

In the New Testament age, the Holy Spirit prefers to speak through different people, giving each one a part of the whole. The truth emerges when these prophets submit to each other and merge what they have received to get the full message from God. 1 Corinthians 13:12 is not an excuse for prophetic mistakes, but an imperative for prophets submitting to each other and finding the truth through sharing in the unity of the Spirit.
The prophetic error about Trump was a serious public mistake by some of the big-name prophets, but many other prophetic people who are not well-known also declared the result of the election on social media and to their church and friends. What follows will apply to them as well.
A problem that will be difficult to deal with is a loss of confidence in the words of the failed prophets. Listeners will take a wait and see approach to their words, which will make it harder for the Holy Spirit to work through them. For example, if Kris Vallotton speaks prophetically about the outcome of a future contentious event, it will be difficult to take his words seriously. The natural response will be to wonder if he is mistaken again.

This is a burden that prophets who were wrong will have to carry for the next few years, and perhaps for the rest of their lives. It is tough being remembered as the prophet that was wrong. People tend to hold onto mistakes and forget the good stuff that people have done. Hopefully, time will lighten the burden and anointed words will begin to outweigh the mistake as the Holy Spirit continues to use the prophet.