Dissent and Affirmation - The Prophet's Word

Dissent and Affirmation - the Prophet's Word
16 August, 2006

Last night I watched a current affairs programme on street gangs in Australia. It was a forum style discussion with representatives from various street gangs, social workers, community workers, government, academics and police. the discussion revealed many very painful situations that young men (men only) of teenage and in particular of ethnic backgrounds found themselves. there were very vocal and often acrimonious complaints about the government and in particular the police who were seen as racist, heavy handed and having no political will to understand their situation.

This programme brought to my mind the role of the prophets in Scripture - and here I include Jesus. The prophets denounced the injustices they saw in their society. They stood in the market place and according to their personalities, personal histories and the times railed against, cajoled or acted out the fact that God is offended, angered, grieved and weeps for the plight of people who are on the receiving end of greed, indifference and all those aspects of dominating power. They also proclaimed the consequences of such behaviour. The prophets neither sentimentalise those who are poor and broken nor do they polarise. They recognised that all human beings were in need of conversion - perhaps around different issues, but all in need of God's grace.

They also proclaimed the consequences of conversion, of what happens when people change their hearts, when they act with integrity. We may interpret the promise of people's lives flourishing and the desert blooming as symbolic, but for the prophet the promises of God are real and concrete and manifest in peace - shalom.

The prophets never just denounced. Nor did they denounce with hatred in their words to cause division. The word of the prophet is the word of God, always spoken with compassion and laden with forgiveness. The word of the prophet is the word of God who is compassionate, suffering with, longing for conversion of heart. I love the fact that Jesus could annoy his countrymen by praising the faith of a centurion, one of the occupying forces; could praise a gentile woman for her cheeky persistent faith when she wanted a cure for her daughter and could perplex his own disciples by paying taxes to Caesar. The prophet does not discriminate along stereotypical lines.

This brings me to my point of reflection. While it is important to speak out the confronting word, it is important to speak it in a way that shows forth compassion for all, including the perceived oppressor. That we don't scapegoat, blame, foster hatred and division.

In our country we are fortunate to have the freedom to denounce, complain, rage against social structures we perceive to be unjust. We have the power to influence government and society. The danger of only denouncing is to forget that we have such freedoms. If we forget this we are in danger of making scapegoats and laying blame then there is no way out. there is only despair, depression, violence and that tragic biblical sin, 'hardening the heart'. We are in danger of never seeing the 'other' with the eyes of compassion. It is too easy to take sides in a way that polarises. This only reinforces real and imagined wrongs. Dialogue and respect die.

As the world is today, we need the prophetic word in its fullest sense - confrontation, compassion and 'softening the heart'. All members of society no matter what social group they belong to need it. Not just the left wing or the right wing, socialist or conservative, ethnic or white - whatever group we identify with. We need to treasure more than every the freedoms we have gained over the centuries - the freedom of speech, the rights of all people, law that protects, work that does not exploit and many, many more.

Our society may not be perfect - and thank goodness for that because it means there will always be the full and tug of debate, but we do have a society that allows us to speak the prophetic words. We have a responsibility to nurture and celebrate the gifts we have in our society otherwise we are in danger of forgetting them and closing ourselves into our mental and physical ghettos.

The true prophetic work comforts and afflicts; encourages and empathises and ultimately celebrates God the source, foundation and wellspring of the blessings we have - a God who desires with great passion to bestow even greater blessing if only we allow it.