In one of my recent posts I talked about how we should “Overthrow the Monarchy of Heaven!“, that is to say, we should do away with spiritual bureaucracy.
However, in my recent post, “6 Sources of Revelation“, I mention how titles can be used as a tool for achieving greater spirituality.
I have taken a large portion of my time and dedicated it to spiritually developing myself and those around me. The title I like to describe myself with is “Elder”.
This has brought up a question in my own mind: what is a prophet?
The best definition I could find is this one. They are someone who has studied morality and spirituality for a large portion of their life. They feel naturally drawn to expound the truth and call the wicked to repentance.
However, I still felt some reservations regarding that word “prophet”. Within the spiritual bureaucracy, it has largely come to mean a sort of spiritual dictator. To describe yourself as a prophet means that you have authority over someone spiritually. They respond to percieved threats to their authority harshly.
So where do I land in regards to the word “prophet”? It depends on who is using it.
If you describe someone you admire who spoke truth and preached repentance to the wicked for the betterment of humanity and were willing to risk safety to do so, that would be admirable. I view people like Sam Young (/u/Invisibles_Cubit) to meet the definition of a prophet.
However, if you use it to describe someone who seeks power over others, it becomes deplorable. When people like Russell M. Nelson, Denver Snuffer, or Julie Rowe use the term “prophet” to describe themselves, it makes my skin crawl.
Redefining things for myself like the word “prophet” is just another step I’m taking to reclaiming Mormon spirituality and making it a healthier 🙂