Who is and is NOT a "Reverend?"

While praying today, I was reflecting on a movie currently in the theaters entitled A Great Awakening. This is a MUST-SEE movie. If you think you know about American History, I promise you, you probably don't know what this film reveals. Whether you see it in a theater or at home, just SEE IT! - Click here for more info: LINK

The film explores the relationship between the British Anglican minister, George Whitefield, and one of America's Founding Fathers, Benjamin Franklin. They were, in fact, actual friends in the 18th Century. And the reviews I've seen of the film attest to its historical accuracy.

The movie also narrates a time of spiritual renewal in the American colonies known as "The First Great Awakening" (1730s-1770s), which  began under the ministry of the Reverend Jonathan Edwards, a Congregationalist minister in Massachusetts. 

While Edwards' ministry may have been the initial catalyst of The First Great Awakening, the biggest part of it was the open-air preaching of the Reverend George Whitefield, who came to the American colonies in 1738 for his first of 7 trips and died in America in 1770 at only 55 years of age. It could be rightly said that he essentially preached himself to death!

In this post, I want to reflect on the title, "Reverend," and what the term actually means, and who we should consider or NOT consider to be genuine "Reverends."

It is a term given to Christian ministers and comes from the idea of "one who must be respected" (from the Latin word, reverendus).

Someone who bears that title, as a minister of the Gospel of Christ, therefore should be living a Christlike life of obedience to the Scriptures. That is what we should be "respecting" when we use this term to refer to any Christian leader.

When I was ordained to the ministry, I also took on the title "Reverend." I bear this title with fear and trembling. 

I want us in this blog post to consider 6 well-known "Reverends" - at least, well-known in the United States. All of them were ordained as Christian ministers in different denominations. Some of them left church ministry and went into politics. 

My contention is that only 2 of them rightly bore/bear the title "Reverend." In other words, when their lives and beliefs are put to the test Biblically, the rest of them MUST NOT BE RESPECTED. In other words, the title "Reverend" should be removed from their titles. Their lives were weighed and found wanting (Daniel 5:27).

TWO REAL CHRISTIAN REVERENDS

Let's begin with the 2 who were faithful till the end. Men who honorably and deservedly bear the title "Reverend." 

The Reverend Jonathan Edwards - most certainly a Reverend

The Reverend George Whitefield - definitely a Reverend

We could say many things about the lives and ministries of these men, but what I want to/need to say here is that they never wavered from the historic Christian faith and living Christ-like lives. They never "progressed" into abandoning historic Christian doctrines like some of the following men. They remained faithful to their wives. They sacrificed themselves entirely for the cause of Christ and His Kingdom.

And the fruit of their lives and ministries in the First Great Awakening may very well have been the most important factor leading to the birth of the United States of America. This is not acknowledged in the teaching of American History, but it is true nonetheless. God used these men to prepare the population of the colonies for the foundation of the greatest nation the world has ever known.

Interesting to note that these men STAYED IN THEIR LANES. They didn't leave Christian ministry and venture into another field/vocation.

FOUR MEN WHO WERE NOT REAL CHRISTIAN REVERENDS

Let us now turn to the lives of 4 modern "Reverends" who, instead of leading America into a much-needed Third Great Awakening, ultimately led our nation away from Biblical foundations and orthodox Christian doctrines. 

What we believe affects the way we live, and that was/has been the case in all of the following men's lives.

And that has borne horrible fruit in our nation - widespread abortion, the erosion of marriage and family, heterodox Christian doctrine, and the infection of widespread Marxist ideology.

The Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. - ultimately, NOT a reverend

It is not easy to criticize Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. but if we are going to be faithful we must.

His work during the Civil Rights Movement is universally admired by all. But as a disciple of Christ, the One he claimed to serve, we must assess the character of his life and his Christian doctrine far differently. 

He was a perpetually unfaithful husband who betrayed his wife, Coretta. He was committing adultery the very night before he was assassinated. As one source summarizing this aspect of King's life wrote, 

"As he traveled the country, he sought out women to use for nothing more than sexual pleasure; he took advantage of his stature and fame to seduce them; he participated in orgies; and, as we’ve noted, there is evidence that he allowed a colleague to force himself on an unwilling woman—indeed, a woman who objected to being asked to perform an immoral act." (Source: Rivers and George, "Immoral Conduct and Moral Witness"). It must be noted that King literally condoned a rape in his physical presence. 

King's life was characterized by sexual immorality and debauchery.

What about his beliefs, his doctrine? Was he a historic Christian? No, he was not. King, not only did NOT believe in the Deity of Jesus Christ, which means he did NOT believe in the Trinity, but he also did NOT believe in the Resurrection of Christ from the dead. These are the beliefs of a heretic and not the beliefs of a Christian.

I don't know how his faith journey started, but the Scriptures are clear that what matters is how our faith journeys end that matters. Jesus said, "...the one who endures until the end [of their life], he will be saved."(Matthew 24:13)

While no one disputes his incredible work for racial justice and equality during the 1960s, for these other aforementioned reasons, I do not consider him a Christian man to be respected. 

The next three men can be said to have followed in the wake of Dr. King's legacy to one degree or another. Sadly, the trajectory of all of their lives led/has led them far away from the good values Martin Luther King stood for. For example, as you will see from Jesse Jackson, one of his disciples, King would have been strongly opposed to abortion, but all of these men came to support the greatest evil mankind has ever committed, the slaughter of the lives of the unborn!

The Reverend Jesse Jackson - like his mentor, NOT a reverend - mentored by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jesse Jackson, and like his mentor, lost his way. (if he ever was on track!)

On the following issue alone, no one should consider him "one who must be respected." No one who advocates for the killing of the unborn deserves respect. Abortion is murder. That has ALWAYS been the Christian position.

In 1973, he proclaimed "Abortion is genocide" (Jet Magazine) and yet later, changed his Christian position to the demonic one that he held at the time of his death this year. On the position of Life, he lost his way entirely. This constitutes ongoing unrepentant sin.

Jesse Jackson, too, was an ongoing adulterer, known as a "womanizer", throughout much, if not all, of his marriage to Jacqueline, whom he remained married to until his death, admirably. During a 4-year adulterous relationship, he had a daughter in 1999 out of wedlock, which finally became public.

No surprise that Jackson abandoned the historic, Biblical understanding of marriage and family and became an advocate of same-sex "marriage". 

To add to his "anti-Christ" resume, he was also a Freemason.

Jackson's politics drifted as well. Many of the policies he would have advocated early in his career were either changed and/or abandoned as his political activist career progressed. 

A life and legacy that cannot be respected with regard to the Apostolic faith and practice.

The Reverend Al Sharpton - another one who is NOT a reverend - for many reasons, we can dismiss this man as a "Reverend". But on the issue of abortion alone, we can make our assessment.

When Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, Sharpton was outraged, claiming that "This must be resisted aggressively." This is his current position. 

His positions on other issues have eroded from arguably Biblical positions to ones today that are neo-Marxist ones.

When one looks into his divorces and remarriages, one learns that Al Sharpton, too, was/is an adulterer. 

Yet another man who DOES NOT MEET the Biblical qualifications to be a minister, to be considered a reverend.

The Reverend Raphael Warnock - a "wolf" who is NOT a reverend - another "Fake Reverend" who, as far as Historic Christianity is concerned, is an apostate. Tragically, raised by parents who were Pentecostal ministers, he has departed from those Christian roots.

Today, he refers to himself as a "pro-choice pastor." That is like calling oneself an atheist theist. You CANNOT be a Christian pastor and support abortion.

He does not uphold the Biblical stance on marriage, supporting same-sex "marriage."

His theology is aberrant. He does not affirm historic Christian doctrines but rather heretical ones. Heretics are NEVER to be respected!

Many of his positions are also Marxist, which is a counterfeit ideology that is irreconcilable with Biblical Christianity.

Who is and is NOT a "Reverend?"

Two of these men truly were and remained "Reverends", the other four became (and 2 of them remain) anything but...

I realize 2 of these men still have a chance to repent of their evil beliefs/policies and/or their sin. But their current states are ones of apostasy and advocating evil. 

Remember our initial definition of a "Reverend" is one whose life "must be respected." When the lives of these men are considered in their entirety, especially the way they finished their races, only Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield can rightly be referred to with this title.

By God's grace, this Reverend (meaning me) will remain faithful to the Apostolic faith and practice. With His help, may I never waver concerning Biblical morality. May I never abandon God's design for marriage, which is only between one biological male and one biological female. Abortion is murder - may I never move even an inch away from this position! Marxist ideology and all of its godless modern offspring are Biblical counterfeits originating in the kingdom of darkness and articulated by atheists.  

May I faithfully preach the Gospel as did Edwards and Whitefield, and STAY IN MY LANE as these men did. Worldly power and influence seduced the other Reverends; it never did to these men!

And may the fruit of my life contribute towards yet another Great Awakening in American history. God knows we desperately need one!