I just read the current Fire in My Bones article by J. Lee Grady: “No More Monkey Business in the Ministry“(Link NLA). It is truly amazing how this article continues along the same line of the post I wrote yesterday. Grady documents a few more that boldly continue in the ministry in spite of major moral failures.

He quoted one pastor, Jamal Harrison-Bryant, who was accused of adultery, fathering a child out of wedlock, and divorced by his wife yet continued pastoring:

Yet Bryant preached a now-famous sermon in the church in which he used King David’s story of adultery with Bathsheba to defend himself.

“I am still the man!” he shouted from the pulpit as worshippers stood and cheered. “The anointing on my life is greater than any mistake.” He made it clear that he had no intention of being defrocked or disciplined. To Bryant, anointing surpasses character.

Grady follows with the teaching of the Apostle Paul in 1 Timothy 3:2-7 and makes the following 3 points:

1. There are definite qualifications for Christian leadership.

2. Those who do not meet these qualifications must step down.

3. The church will not thrive if discipline of leaders is neglected.

Response: This is a timely post and well worth the effort to read and digest. The question that keeps coming back to me the last few days is this– Is anointing more important than character in ministry? Some seem to think so in Charismatic and Pentecostal circles. But answer is obviously no if we take the Bible seriously.