ANOINTED OR APPOINTED?

There is a difference in case you didn’t know. In my church back home in England, we only ever anointed people. No one was ever appointed. It went something like this.

Joe says, “I think God is calling me to go into an itinerant preaching and teaching ministry”

The leadership says “Good. You go ahead and do what you think God is telling you to do. If it is of God it will work, if it isn’t it won’t?”

So Joe chucks in his job and prays and asks God where he should go. After a while, he thinks he has the mind of the Lord and off he goes.

He spends the next two or three weeks on the road and when he arrives back he tells us all about the things that happened whilst he was on the road.

He spends a bit of time at home recharging his batteries and then goes off again. He gets back again and once more he tells us that God did this and God did that.

This happens a few more times and the leadership says one day at the meeting Joe has been engaged in a travelling ministry and it is obvious that God has anointed him for this so we recognise what he is doing as being approved by God.

Note not approved by us. Because he is approved by God being approved by man will not make any difference to what he does. Joe is anointed not appointed. His ministry makes way for him.

Now let’s look at Tom. He says that he would like to pastor a church. The leadership tells him to go to Bible College and if he graduates he will be qualified to pastor a church.

Tom goes off to Bible College and does his three years and gets his degree. He presents himself to the denominational leadership and they tell him that there is small country church needing a pastor so he can go there, so off he trots and becomes the CEO of the church.

Nothing ever happens except turning over the machinery. He serves three years there and then he lets the denominational leaders know he wants promotion to a bigger church, so he is drafted to an outer suburban church a bit bigger. He spends five years there and keeps turning over the status quo with a few converts thrown in.

He applies for his next move and end up in a classy inner suburban church with a reputation. He is really making it up the ladder of success. A few more years and a bit more maintaining the status quo and he qualifies to be the area superintendant.

Tom is a fictitious character I know but he is classic example of being appointed not anointed. He has made a success of maintaining the status quo and satisfied the demands of the denomination not to rock the boat. He has done and said all the right things so he is well thought of by his denomination.

I know of an actual situation where a church needed a new minister and a certain minister from one of their smaller churches was discussed. Apparently he was deemed not suitable because he didn’t toe the line as he was the sort of person who did what God said, not what the denomination said (the two are not necessarily synonomous).

The key to the gospel is when Jesus is lifted up he will draw men to him. You can only do this with an anointing. Without it all you do is draw men to yourself. Everyone, not just those who are so called “credentialed” need an anointing from God for whatever they do. With that anything can happen. Without it nothing will happen except frenetic activity.