2 Kings 22:8-13; 23:1-3 / Matthew 7 : 15-20 (2014 / 2018)
Spiritual leaders, whether they are Christian or otherwise, have great authority and power, in the spiritual sense.
They can be called the modern-day prophets.
Some are very eloquent preachers, some have special powers of healing, some even have the prophetic gift of foretelling the future.
But how do we know that they are real prophets?
The oldest known Christian document titled "Didache" which was written about 100AD gives this rule of thumb.
If they ask money for themselves, then they are false prophets.
It was quite clear for the Church that right from the beginning, prophets and profits do not go together.
In fact, the task of the prophets in the Bible was to bring about justice and righteousness.
Justice is the way in which the people of God should live their lives.
Righteousness to God is in the covenantal faithfulness of the people of God.
By virtue of our baptism, we share in the prophetic mission of Jesus.
We have to listen to the cries of the poor, the neglected, the addicted, the abandoned, the hungry and the thirsty.
As true prophets, we cannot be just looking out for our personal benefit or profit.
We must work for justice and righteousness because that is the fruit that we must bear for God.