The Anointing Remains a Little While

After a great leader passes away, at best the people of God retain their fervour into the 2nd generation unless another equally great leader appears. So is the anointing of God. It is not a nebulous concept as sometimes you hear preachers say, "anoint Your word, O Lord" which is wrong as God's Word does not need anointing or to be anointed as it is God-breathed but it is the speaker who needs the anointing as Paul says, "it is God who anointed us.." (2 Cor). Human beings are but clay and treasures of clay in God's hands. Our human nature is so prone to sin that even the most gifted of preachers and leaders have to watch how they stand, lest they fall. Temptation can come at anytime as the adversary seeks an opportunity to tempt God's servants. Hence, "lead us not into temptation", so goes part of the Lord's prayers. In recent weeks and days, a number of people have mentioned to me that since my absence in church (Nov 7th was my last Sunday), they felt different.

I suppose it is the anointing of God that is missing as God's anointing is different from one person to another. A couple of months ago, I preached that even pastors differ from their gifting and anointing in their ministries and each one should minister according to the measure of faith. Many years ago, one Korean friend told me that when I left my home church after pastoring the church for just over 5 years (Feb 2008), he felt that the anointing remained in the church for about 2 years. After that, he felt it was different and the atmosphere in the church was somewhat muted without anointed leadership. When another friend told me today about my current church, I felt that the anointing would remain for just a few months since I pastored the church only for 22 months and most of which time was done during an ongoing pandemic. In my last meeting with my elders, I was most disturbed that they thought my teaching or preaching was just another commodity (that's what all pastors do) that they could demand since I was a church worker under the church payroll. How ignorant and wrong that was! I told them that I preached and taught the way I did and that they felt blessed because they accepted me as God's servant and their pastor, but since they no longer trust me or have confidence in me, how can they expect that I could teach the same things in the same way? The verse that came to mind as soon as I left the meeting about 45 days ago was in Jesus' words to the Pharisees/Nicodemus: "If you (pl) do not believe when I say earthly things, how then can you believe when I tell you heavenly things?" John's Gospel gives us the insight into the psychological make-up of people in their response to Jesus. Jesus' words demand a hearing and an acceptance. A person's relationship with God depends on his or her response to Christ's teaching. "I have to come to bring light but you prefer darkness". "If I have not come, then you have not sinned but now you have sinned since you know but yet do not believe!".