I found the following reference that speaks to a common theme of this blog…prophetic functioning in leadership and community:
“In response to the lack of faithful living, the prophets in their teaching bring a message of hope, anger, and courage that the great North African teacher Augustine described: “Hope has two lovely daughters, anger and courage. Anger at the way things are, and courage to see that they need not remain as they are.*”
Pazmino, Foundational Issues in Christian Education, pg. 33 & 34
The first thing I thought of in this reference was my reading of Bill Hybel’s Holy Discontent. Hybels focuses on developing passion and nurturing conviction in a way that coincides with how God has made you and what experiences have formed us. The concept of prophetic hope is much broader than that in my opinion.
Prophetic hope is that which is inspired as a result of a righteous anger at the injustice and demonstrated courage to show the world that things need not remain that way. Those two things bring hope. If you think about it, how much hope has ever been inspired in dire times without righteous anger and courage?
Now Pazmino highlights a small piece that often is not talked about – that is that the prophets were educators. Not only did they take courageous stands and proclaim truth, but they were often teachers passing on God’s Word to future generations in ways that would keep hope of God’s redemptive and restorative work alive. As an aside, some lone ranger cynics may self-identify as prophets or the lone voice of reason, but one way of assessing legitimacy of insight is whether someone is pushing their own agenda and that alone or whether there is an investment in passing on authentic hope for both the present and for the future.
*may be part of an oral tradition assigned to Augustine, quoted in Wilbert J. McKeachie’s Teaching Tips: Strategies, Research and Theory for College and University Teachers, 9th ed. 1994. pg. 384.
