Time and again in the Christian world, we are shocked by good men who fall. Leaders with a nationwide ministry who suddenly vanish as if they were never there. They dedicated their entire soul to God and His cause, but unchristian behavior led to their downfall. They’re now silenced, their legacy swept under the rug, their names unspoken.
Imagine if an angel had visited these men when they were eighteen, still full of passion and fire for Jesus. What if this angel took them into their future? How would they have reacted?
“Look, you’re twenty-four here. You just got married. You’ve completed Bible school and you’re starting your first job as a pastor in a small community.”
“Now, you’re thirty-five. You’re a father of three. You now lead a large church of hundreds of people and have a nationwide ministry.”
“You’re fifty. You’ve gained forty pounds since you were eighteen, but you’re a gifted speaker. People from all over come to hear you. You’re influential and sit on the boards of many Christian organizations.”
“You’re fifty-three. You no longer have a ministry. Due to an affair with an employee, you’ve been removed from all your positions and are now on sick leave.”
How would these men react to this last revelation? Acceptance or denial? Maybe even: “Satan, get behind me!” They could never have imagined this happening to them when they were young. But what seemed impossible then, now appeared to be the next logical step. Realizing this gave me pause. What does it mean?
It means it could happen to me. But not just me; it can happen to anyone – my friends in church planting, in the emerging scene, in missionary projects. It could happen to the young leaders I associate with. Who will be the leaders that will fall in the next thirty years? Will my name be among them? Can you do something to prevent your fall? Your family deeply hurt, people disappointed in you, your legacy lost, a church in ruins, and a reputation tarnished? Ostracized and unspoken, stared at in the tight-knit Christian community.
To find an answer to this personal question, I wrote “The Anointed.” To avoid experiencing this downfall in my own life, I had to create a character where I could let all of this happen. Enter John.
Why did I set this in the charismatic world? I personally have no (negative) experiences within the charismatic realm. But John had to be someone who could quickly rise from a nobody to a leader of thousands, who had ample room to operate from his pain and brokenness without any restraint, riding the waves with the goal of establishing the largest congregation possible. Without casting the charismatic world in a negative light, this was the obvious choice. But it’s not about the charismatic aspect. In subsequent parts, you’ll see it’s more about the author’s reaction to John than about John’s antics…
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