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Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil. (1 Thessalonians 5:19-22)

Like the \u201cpray continually\u201d command of yesterday, the \u201cdo not quench the Spirit\u201d command of today has had a habit of rattling around in church conversations in a way that usually sounds accusatory and produces a great deal of guilt. \xa0In particular, we tend to whip out this command as an accusation against other churches or believers when we feel like they\u2019re not quite keeping step with the times, or when we feel like our church or program is dying. \xa0Someone must be \u201cquenching the Spirit.\u201d

Of course, this generally takes the verse out of context. \xa0What Paul specifically has in mind here is not individual behaviour, but rather: the church at worship. \xa0Within the context of the church at worship, Paul is thinking specifically of prophecy. \xa0

Now we might think that doesn\u2019t really apply to us anymore today. \xa0We don\u2019t have prophets or entertain prophecy or prophetic words in our churches anymore. \xa0Pentecostals might, but by and large, we don\u2019t. \xa0Right?

Wrong. \xa0Actually, the preaching of the Word in Sunday worship is one way the prophetic gift still manifests itself in our midst. \xa0In fact, each follower of Christ lives out this prophetic office in some way. \xa0Anytime we speak a Word of Scripture or a word that agrees with it to encourage or remind someone of the gifts and promises of God, we are speaking prophetically. \xa0In these ways, we speak as prophets that declare the good news of God on earth through the power of the Spirit who gives us these words to speak. \xa0Prophecy then, is not primarily about predicting the future accurately. \xa0Much more often, the prophets of the Old Testament simply remind the people of God\u2019s word and promises already spoken\u2014but doing so in the new context of the present reality the people find themselves in.

With such an expansive view of prophecy\u2014as a spiritual gift that all believers in some way use\u2014the question is how do we live well as part of the community of the prophets, which, knowingly or not, is what we are?

Firstly, we may not minimize or quench this prophetic reality. \xa0You cannot pooh-pooh it off by saying: \u201coh, that\u2019s not really something I do,\u201d or \u201coh, the words we speak to one another are not really that serious.\u201d \xa0Because yes they are, and yes you do. \xa0You are a temple of the Holy Spirit\u2014an ambassador of Christ\u2014and God uses you to speak words of encouragement, hospitality, grace, and challenge to one another all the time. \xa0He uses others in the Christian community in just that same way. \xa0We may not dismiss one another\u2019s words.

But if everything is to be taken seriously, how can you tell if something is a true word of prophecy from the Spirit or not? \xa0For this, Paul calls us to test everything, holding on to what is good and rejecting every kind of evil. \xa0How? \xa0He doesn\u2019t give any rules, but perhaps he had something in mind like what happens in Jeremiah 26 (go read it!). \xa0For us today though, maybe a few simple ways to do this \u201ctesting\u201d are worth noting.

Firstly, does what was said agree with the revelation God has already given us in the Bible and through Jesus? \xa0Establishing that it is a word that rings with the truth of Scripture, you can ask a second question: is this truth spoken in love? \xa0In other words\u2014is it said in the way of Jesus? \xa0Are the motives and methods of the speaker appropriate to the love and grace of Christ that has declared us to be forgiven children of God and that builds up his church? \xa0Then a third thing\u2014does this word come from one whose life is increasingly congruent with the word spoken? \xa0Now we could be quite harsh with this one, but we ought not be. \xa0It\u2019s not that the speaker has to be perfect\u2014none of us are\u2014but if this word has not also touched and begun to transform the speaker\u2019s life in the area they\u2019re speaking about in ways that begin to reveal the Spirit at work, then perhaps a grain of salt can be taken.

Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. \xa0Discerning\u2014together with other Christians\u2014whether these marks of Jesus are present in the words we Christians speak to one another as encouragement and support is one way to sift the Spirit-breathed good from the evil we are to flee. \xa0

As you journey on, go with the blessing of God:

May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together\u2014spirit, soul, and body\u2014and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ. The One who called you is completely dependable. If he said it, he\u2019ll do it! The amazing grace of Jesus Christ be with you! (1 Thessalonians 5:23,24,28 The Message).

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