Stop Polishing Your Badge

Many of you make things.

Many of you feel misunderstood.

Perhaps you wear that fact as a badge of honor.

You prefer to be on the fringe.

You prefer to be the crazy prophet being thrown out of the court for the radical idea.

You prefer to be that lonely voice in the wilderness speaking out against the establishment.

Might I suggest to you (and to myself, if I’m honest) that you’re being a little short-sighted.

Perhaps your arrogance has overtaken your ability to see your role clearly and honestly.

Sure, the prophet speaks truth that no one else can see quite yet.

But, the prophet is also meant to name those things that are quite clear indeed.

If you don’t stop polishing your badge and fighting for your right to create, you may miss hearing the voices of those you should be speaking for.

You are not just a voice in the wilderness.

You are also a mouthpiece for those who cannot speak.

“Prophets are not lonely voices against the establishment but are in fact representative voices that give social expression to what may be important and engaged social constituencies.” - Walter Brueggemann, The Prophetic Imagination