Robertson and Son

Friday morning as I lay in bed watching TV, contemplating the dreaded and monumental task of swinging my feet out onto the floor, I came upon a TBN interview with Gordon Robertson, son of the Christian Broadcasting Network's founder, Pat Robertson.

Gordon was talking about his childhood and how he grew up on powdered milk and dishes his mother made with soybeans. His grandfather was a U.S. Senator, but evidently his father Pat was determined to rely on God to provide their needs. Gordon said that visiting his grandparents was like visiting another world.

It must have been a world Gordon liked because, instead of considering the ministry, he became a lawyer and practiced for ten years.

Then he went on a missionary trip to India and his life changed. According to Gordon... during a festival late at night, while he observed an old woman fervently praying to a statue, he heard a voice say to him, "No one has told her." He left the crowded festival and Jesus appeared to him and talked to him.

Whoa Duke! About here in the interview I began thinking of all the strange and embarrassing things Pat Robertson has said in the past few years. Being a believer I know that God can do anything, which includes appearing and speaking to a man... but come on!

I don't know that God is embarrassed by the Robertsons, but I know that those of us who wear the name of Christ... right under our cloak of worldly sophistication... are very embarrassed by these people.

And why is that? Why do I immediately tend to reject such claims? It may in part be because when I'm honest with myself I have to admit that I don't want Jesus to appear to me. I don't want a "Road to Damascus" kind of experience that Gordon Robertson claimed to have had, because Jesus might ask me to do something specific that I don't want to do... like go to Ninevah, or something. You see, I've got God under control. He gets 20 minutes every morning for Bible reading and prayer... I squeeze him in for the occasional (and very timid) witness... and ofcourse I have Him pencilled in on Sundays. The fact is, my faith more often resembles a life-style than a passion, and I wonder if that is an embarrassment to God.

Well Gordon went on to say that CBN is working at starting a "700 Club-like program" in India... in the Hindi language... that I figure could one day reach a billion people.

Now I haven't the resources to determine if God actually appears and speaks to the Robertsons. But I've decided that it would be wrong for me to criticize or even look down my nose at individuals who seek to bring the Gospel to a billion people. I don't think I was called to India... but I know I wasn't called to berate or belittle Pat Robertson and Son.