Can a Prophet Be Popular?

I don't mean to suggest by the title that I believe the office of prophet continues in to the present age (disagree with me offline), but pastors continue to have a prophetic role in calling God's people to righteousness and justice. The pastor as 'prophet' uses the pulpit (as far back as the time of Noah, a preacher of righteousness) but in the modern age also uses the printed word, the mp3 file and blogs like the one you are reading. Indeed, there seem to be many popular author and bloggers out there speaking important issues.

But then I started thinking... can a prophet really be popular? I mean, if a prophet is speaking effectively to an issue of idolatry in the culture or in the church, wouldn't a warm reception seem... strange?

I don't really have an answer here but it is something that I think about in my own ministry role. There should be something of the prophet... something of 'thus sayeth the Lord!'... in pastoral ministry. Yes, we need to think in a priestly way as well (binding up wounds) but when I read the depictions of Jeremiah or John the Baptist in scripture, I have the sense they were tough men to be around. Certainly, they ruffled feather. They threw Jeremiah into a muddy cistern and John the Baptist was executed... this by their Jewish brethren!

It is very difficult to know the zero point between speaking prophetically and being pastoral. I would imagine that many pastors offend unnecessarily because they feel safer on the prophet side of the line but it seems many more of us remain on the priestly side because we want to be liked.