The inseparable Twins: Character and Anointing

There is a lot to ministry than what we see or read. Ministry is more than a sermon. More than the glamour of being on Daily Television or the popularity that comes along with fame. It is very easy to attain success in ministry but maintaining success and breaking and exploring new ground together with the leading of the Holy Spirit is a whole other level. Ministry in the kingdom of God is not based and can be easily misunderstood with a democratic mindset. Ministry in the kingdom follows the rules and regulations of the kingdom and for us living in 2008 ministry might seem very strange and even hard to comprehend. When I use the word, "ministry", Iam talking about the five-fold ministry gifts given by Jesus Christ to His church to equip the saints as found in Ephesians 4. The primary aim, focus and purpose of these ministry gifts is not themselves or the attaining of their personal goals and the expansion of their ministry but to train and equip the people they are sent to.
The purpose of me writing this is to comment on one aspect of ministry. I will not cover every aspect of the ministry, but only on one particular area. The area that I want to comment on is the common understanding that “anointing” alone is enough to succeed in God-given assignment for our lives as ministers of the Gospel. A few years ago I was a part of a fellowship and it was brought to my knowledge that one of the members of the fellowship would stay, if they “feel “ the anointing. To me it was like saying “I will remain married to my wife, as long as I feel attracted to her”. Now outward attraction is not lifelong, but will only remain as a result of a strong commitment from me to stay and remain with my wife the rest of my life. Anointing alone does not guarantee success or God directed-ordained ministry. No amount of anointing is a substitute for a lack of personal character. No amount of anointing is a substitute for not developing the fruit if the spirit in one’s life. No amount of anointing will be able to rescue a life that is going down the drain due to lack of personal character. No amounts of public recognition will cease that inner desperate cry to be set free from the bondages that no one else knows about other than us. We can walk down the red-carpets, fly in business jets, pull in crowds by the thousands and still cry on the inside for someone or something to set us free from that which is holding us captive. How can captives set free the captives?
It is character in the vessel God has chosen to act through that will produce fruit that remains. Anointing without character is unlike God. No matter how much we are anointed and how much people call us anointed, if we lack in character, one day we will fall and the whole world will know about it.
I call for a young breed of preachers that are full of the character of the Almighty God, so that everywhere they go, they will create awareness that something beyond that which is common in ministry has arrived to stay.
Christ-like character in the life of the minister is the ocean on which the boat of anointing can sail and reach its God-given destination.

Alexander Solzjenitzen

A man whose faith in God motivated him and gave him courage to stand against the tyranny of communism has passed away. Yes Iam writing of none other than the great Alexander Solzjenitsyn. He passed away at the age of 89. A great and a powerful write and author, whose faith in God helped him to stand up and fight for the human rights of his fellow citizens in the former soviet union. The first I heard of him was when I was listening to a preacher from the country of my birth(India) name him and quote him a couple of times in his sermon.
In a time and age where being “politically incorrect” could cost one’s life, Solzhenitsyn, stood up for the cause of his fellow countrymen. His bold and uncompromising works revealed to the west the treacheries that were taking place behind the Iron curtain in the lives of individuals that differed in thought and faith from the communistic world view. Capturing the attention of the world with his 1962 novel “A day in the life of Ivan Denisovitjs”, that sold in the millions, he shot to fame and later in 1970 received the Nobel Prize for literature. Shortly after this he was sent in exile from his country and spent his exile in Germany, Switzerland and later on in the United States. Living in the United States he made note and publicly spoke of the moral decline that was taking place there. When he addressed a gathering at Harvard it is said that they literally booed him down because he sounded so old fashioned and conservative. He called America back to its founding truths, to never build and depart from God.
After the fall of the iron curtain and the communism he returned back to Russia where he was received as a hero and later went on to receive a medal of honor from the former KGB man and president Vladimir Putin.
A great man in our time has made his exit into eternity; let his life serve as an example for us all that live in the free world. Let us hold on to the truth that can set us free.