(OPINION) Charisma – Since the mid-20th century, we have seen the medium of communication go from dependency upon the printed book (1517-1950), to broadcasting via radio and TV (1950-2010), to the present digital age. The results have been nothing short of a seismic shift related to the amount of access the average person has to unlimited voices and information! This has served to be both a blessing and a curse. It’s been a blessing because more pertinent information related to every subject is now available to the masses (for example, the American Medical Association no longer has a stranglehold related to what is promoted regarding nutrition and preventative health research).
Related to the church, as recently as two decades ago the evangelical church was influenced by only a small collective of prominent voices (such as James Dobson, Pat Robertson, Billy Graham and more) who could sway the evangelical church politically and doctrinally with their teachings on radio and TV, but now there are multitudes of Christian “influencers” who have garnered a huge following because of media-savvy content (hence, it no longer takes a budget of millions of dollars to attract a wide audience).
Out of this “flat earth” Christian milieu, there are now numerous self-proclaimed prophets proclaiming what they say is “the word of the Lord” to both the body of Christ and to the nations. While many of these prophetic people may be sincere Christ-followers, (some are also charlatans doing it for filthy lucre) the biblical way to disseminate prophetic words is in the context of the local church gathering, especially so that mature prophetic/leader types can judge said a word. This method of vetting words is vital for the health and safety of the church as well, to ensure proper pastoral application of the word to the recipient. READ MORE
