In 21 years of ministry and leadership, I see pastors often fall into these categories. A prophet is someone who says what God is saying and does what God is doing. In contrast, there is the puppet.
Puppets have someone or something else pulling the strings of their life.
Sometimes it’s the squeaky wheel, that person or parishioner that is constantly complaining about preferences. “The music is rock sounding.” “We don’t sing long enough.” “We sing too long.”
As prophets, we don’t and never should make decisions based on people’s preferences.
We need to lead out of principle, not preference.
We need to program our services by principle, not preference.
We need to spend our budgets on principles, not preference.
For others, their strings are pulled by the purse strings.
If you allow those with the gold to make the rules, then not only are you a puppet, but according to the Bible, you have become a judge…thus asking God to move off of His throne and let you sit there with your heart that has evil intentions.
Yet, for others, they allow controlling personalities or the spirit of Jezebel to lead their life and ministry.
We have all struggled between the role of prophet and puppet at times.
One of the clearest cases in the Bible is that of Elijah.
On the mountaintop, he was God’s man calling down fire from heaven, proving to his generation that God was indeed God.
Then he hears word that Jezebel is after him.
He went from prophet to puppet just like that, literally running for his life, and falling under a tree, praying he would die.
How does that happen?
He allowed fear to attach itself to him.
Her controlling spirit still had strings attached to him 40 days after she threatened him.
We must cut ourselves free from those people, as well as, thoughts that control and manipulate us.
We must be willing to lead and be the prophet.
