Ways of Resistance

For a post-charismatic critique of prophetic ministry (and as a follow up to my last post), read Those Prophetic Words (by Cynthia once again) and A Prophetic Word for 2008 (by Kingdom Grace, which Cynthia wrote about and linked to in her post). I’m hoping we can talk openly about our doubts, visions, prophecies, set-backs, and perhaps even new thinking. Maybe one of these days I’ll write some of my own thoughts about how I see the prophecies I’ve been given and how the “prophetic” might interact within/through emerging missional communities.

One quick observation, though, about the prophetic. For those of us who know something about postmodern counseling theories (or for those of us who may have considered the question I am asking below), isn’t Narrative Therapy in general and Reflecting Teams in particular another version of what we Charismatic Christians might call “prophecy”? It’s always struck me that my Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) colleagues, who would not identify as Christian, have often “ministered prophetically” (apparently without asking for the Holy Spirit or calling it “prophetic ministry”) by effectively using the postmodern theories linked to above. The reverse has also been true: prophetic people seem to be helping individuals/communities to re-story their lives, resisting “oppressive” narratives in light of the “the Lord’s word for them.”

Those are the similarities, I’m sure someone could find more differences. Yet, I’m tempted to ask: Why is it that my non-religious MFT colleagues seem to be just as inspired as myself (or some “prophetic minister”) when we’ve always been taught that they do not have the Spirit? It’s not as if these therapeutic “prophetic words” were moments of exception either. People all over the states have learned to successfully use the narrative approaches. What’s the difference between what “we do” versus what “they do”–practically speaking? Could it be that Narrative Therapy and Reflecting Teams have pioneered information for us that we didn’t yet have about how to integrate our new understandings in post-charismatic ministry? I would love to hear your thoughts.