Variety: Isaiah 42v2-4

[They[ Do not cry out or shout aloud,  or make their voice heard in the streets; 
But faithfully they bring true justice  refusing to be wavered or crushed, 
until true justice is established on earth.  —Isaiah 42:2–4 

Richard Rohr identifies the elusive nature of prophetic leadership:  

The normal power systems of our world worship themselves and not God. For that reason, prophets almost never hold official positions, like that of king, priest, or elder. However, neither do they dismiss the proper roles that rulers and priests play in maintaining the basic order of society. A good example is when Jesus on several occasions, after healing people completely outside the temple system, still tells them to follow its rules (see Luke 17:14; Matthew 8:4). Elsewhere he critiques religious leaders loudly and publicly, but in the end, he does not set up an antagonism. He does not cash in on another group’s failure, as I would be tempted to do. Everything finally belongs.  

Throughout history, we have waited for the charismatic prophet and the institutional leader to come together in the same person, but it happens only rarely, as with King David after he submitted to the prophet Nathan. Later in history, we saw more leaders who managed to perform both roles at once: individuals like Thomas Becket, the archbishop of Canterbury; Queen Elizabeth of Hungary; Mother Katharine Drexel of Philadelphia; and Óscar Romero, the archbishop of San Salvador, all of whom were institutional people who nevertheless operated in a critical distance from their church role to be faithful to their own call. In our time, Pope Francis is an amazing and most rare example of one who can operate as both high priest and high prophet (not without his critics, however). 

Often, prophets emerge from the rank and file, paying the dues of their group so they can later critique it and not be seen as outsiders. They have shown themselves not to be iconoclasts, but legitimate reformers from within. They are in fact “exciters” of the critical mass, always wise beyond their years and living by higher values that are foreign to their contemporaries. They seem to lead just by living their lives and do not need any honorific titles or initials after their names.  

There are plenty of prophets among us now in every church and society, and it is vitally important that we listen to them, support them, and protect them. Often, they are not formally aligned with religion, yet they are deeply influenced by its deepest values, like the “heroes” CNN celebrates each year, or those who work tirelessly for women’s rights, children’s rights, and human rights without much notice or reward. I deliberately do not begin to name them specifically, because there are so many of them. Like the Suffering Servant of Isaiah, they 

Do not cry out or shout aloud, 
or make their voice heard in the streets; 
But faithfully they bring true justice 
refusing to be wavered or crushed, 
until true justice is established on earth. 
—Isaiah 42:2–4