It’s tempting to think that what the Church needs most, right now, are prophets: 

Those rugged, uncompromising figures who courageously speak truth to power. 

Who remain unimpressed by and disentangled from the machinations of institutional power. Who are doggedly committed to disrupting the weaponization of tradition into deadly traditionalism. 

Those rare people whose freedom from “the system” gives them a clarity of conviction unmuddied by peer pressure or financial dependency or fear of retribution. 

In our current cultural climate, which is so highly skeptical of institutions in general – and organized religion in particular – prophets aren’t exactly popular (real prophets never are), but they are increasingly compelling. 

We are starving for moral clarity and courage. And many of us are convinced that our institutions have utterly failed to provide either of those virtues.  

It’s the failure of our institutions to capture our trust that makes the prophetic stance resonate so strongly today. The reason is that prophets, at least, stand by themselves against the collective power of institutions. They are solitary, courageous figures pitted against great social pressure and fierce odds. 

If we are going to be people of conscience, it seems that that kind of individual moral courage is exactly what is required of us today. We need an ability and willingness to swim upstream. 

We need Elijah calling down fire on Mount Carmel. We need Jeremiah preaching a word of warning outside the temple courts. We need Daniel refusing to bow to Darius. We need Moses telling Pharaoh to let his people go. 

We sense that we need that same kind of backbone. The same spiritual grit. 

It seems like the Church needs to become more prophetic. 

But there is another biblical office that we may actually be more deeply in need of. 

I wonder if what we actually need are not prophets, but priests. 

Now, priests are not nearly as popular as prophets – and for obvious and related reasons. The role of the priest is deeply connected to the preservation of the institution. Their central task is to keep the tradition alive by means of the institution. They are keepers of the status quo. 

Scripture itself seems ambivalent, at best, towards the role of priests. Amidst all the positive that we do see, there is the idolatry of Aaron at Sinai (Exodus 32). There is the lasciviousness and abuse of privilege by the sons of Eli (1 Samuel 2). And that’s not even to mention the chief priests who are among Jesus’ primary antagonists in the gospels. 

But I wonder if the familiar trope which sets prophets (who speak truth to power) against priests (who represent the institution) actually undercuts our ability to live prophetically. What if what we need today are not more individuals with moral courage but communities of moral courage? 

What if the work in front of us is not to inspire more individuals to be prophets? What if the task ahead of us is actually priestly work – to attend to the rituals, texts, and structures that gather and define the people of God?

And suppose this work is not opposed to the work of the prophet. Rather, what if the priestly vocation is to preserve and protect the integrity of a truly prophetic community? 

Remember: the word of Moses, the prophet, came through the voice of Aaron, the priest. 

The prophet breathes fire, and the priest’s job is to construct a torch that keeps the flame alive. 

Priests allow us to be reconciled to the truth that the prophets speak. And at their best, priests give us access to the beauty of the prophet’s vision. If faithful to their task, they are keepers of the very tradition that our prophets are desperate for us to honor.  

So, we cannot ignore the prophetic voices in our midst – our faithfulness to the Gospel depends on it.  But neither should we neglect or diminish those whose ministry has a more priestly function. Those who are dedicating their lives to the building of resilient communities where faithfulness has a chance to flourish. 

Because we need places where the lonely prophetic spark can take flame and spread like wildfire. 

In a hyper-individualistic age where both institutions and traditions are held suspect, I wonder if the most pressing counter-cultural work does not belong to the prophets, but to the priests. 

What if we need men and women who dare to dream that institutions and traditions are not innately dead or static, or legalistic, or dangerous, but rather might actually be the very instruments needed in order to nourish the Church into the radical faithfulness of the prophets. 

Intuitively, we feel like this age calls for the prophetic voice – and certainly it does! – but counter-intuitively, I wonder if the thing that will alleviate that felt need is not more good prophets but more good priests.