Pat Robertson is one of God's generals. And truly without a doubt he served as one of the leading voices of what I call prophetic and Biblical activism in the name of Jesus.
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Pat Robertson, in my opinion, had contributed many achievements. The two that resonate with me embodying the Lamb's Agenda - watching that program growing up in my little room, watching Pat Robertson talking about taking care of the poor, supplying the needs of those that are in need around the world, all under the canopy of Christ is powerful.
The second thing is he was way ahead of his time. With Ben (Kinchlow) on television, growing up in my generation, he demonstrated that really the Kingdom of God is a multi-ethnic kingdom culture. And he was way ahead of his time.
He was hip and cool on issues of racial reconciliation way before others actually came to the epiphany that the kingdom of God is just this wonderful tapestry, this wonderful mosaic. Pat was way ahead of his time. And I saw that -- to see a black man and a white man with that sort of camaraderie, that sort of love and Christian fellowship. And, I looked at that and said, 'Wow, I want to do that. I want to be able to coalesce other people of other colors as long as we converge around the power of the Cross.' That, to me, was one of his most significant contributions to my life.
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Because of Pat Robertson and his generation, along with Billy Graham and Chuck Colson, I am here today. Period. Without that generation that facilitated the platform that paved the way, that paid the price that enables me today to serve as a spokesperson for my community and to be able to preach with the freedom that I preach, they paid the price and they paved the way.
They came through very troubled times in our nation; times where we thought we were going to split again. We saw the issue of segregation in the 1960s, we saw this counter-cultural movement in the late 1960s into the early 1970s, and we saw God who is dead movement in the mid-1970s. We saw the end of communism in the late 1980s. They survived all of that. And they survived with this unbridled commitment to Biblical truth.
That generation taught me one powerful lesson: never to sacrifice truth on the altar of political expediency regardless of the consequences.
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Pat Robertson's legacy is a historical legacy. Pat did not just live out history, he made history and he did it with great humility. He did it with a great sense of humor, and my conversations with him, there was always a sense of humor, this "joy of the Lord" and that lives on.At the end of the day, Pat Robertson will resonate out of our lips, and we tell our children stories of these generals that dared to look at media, and where Christians were somehow segregated in a little corner saying, '˜There's no way we can impact popular culture. Let's sway. Let's sway away from television. Let's sway away from media.' There was this courageous Biblical Christ-centered Spirit-empowered warrior, whose name was Pat Robertson who said, 'I'm going to climb that mountain and I'm going to conquer it.' And that he did. He was the Caleb of his generation. He conquered his mountain for the glory of Christ.
Well, people that are not fond of Pat Robertson, let me say, because he believed in Biblical truth, because he believed in moral absolutes, because he believed in centrality of Christ, because he believed there are things that transcend culture and time. Then if that's the price we have to pay, if that is the price we have to pay for exhibiting courage, he's a hero. He's a hero and an example for all of us that we shouldn't be swayed because of what others may say about us. We should not be afraid of rhetorical pornography at all. Let us press on towards the mark in Christ Jesus.
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His legacy, his message, his heart lives on. Not only in this wonderful ministry, not only through the wonderful University that he founded, but through his spiritual children, those that stood impacted that say, If Pat Robertson can start a television ministry and have a daily program with news items, why should I, as a Christian, be limited? Why can't I impact popular culture and engage likewise in media at every single level, at every single strata? So his legacy, his message, his heart, his smile, his sense of humor, even his boots, they all live on in a generation that's still committed to advancing the cause of Christ.