Walking in the Footsteps of David Wilkerson

by Charles Simpson

  In a desire to see that I, one of his spiritual sons, would grow to my fullest potential, he warned me about becoming a carbon copy of himself and thus inheriting his tendency to become too frustrated with the Body of Christ. Because of much frustration over their shortcomings, Pastor Dave and his staff (including me) labeled many nationally known ministers as charlatans and even false prophets. But the truth is, most of them were just flawed men and women like us. When people around the world flooded Pastor Dave’s mailbox with videos and CDs of the ministers in question, I assure you, those videos and CDs did not reflect the speakers at their best, but at their worst. Take any minister at his worst, quote him out of context, magnify his shortcomings and blind spots, and you can make a monster (or even a heretic) out of just about anyone.

  Pastor Dave was a holy man, a true saint (in the biblical sense of the word) and yet, he’d be the first to point out he was far from perfect.30 And neither was his mentor, Leonard Ravenhill. Mack Tomlinson recently completed a wonderful book on the life of Brother Ravenhill called In Light of Eternity. As I came to the section about earthen vessels, I could not help but think of the similarities between these two spiritual giants. The rest of this chapter is an excerpt from his book.31

  Passionate Preachers as Earthen Vessels

  Leonard shows us that true preaching comes through imperfect men…He had imperfections and he knew it. He knew all believers were still growing in grace, including him. Sometimes his courage and zeal caused him to speak in a way that was wrong and unnecessarily harsh. Like all preachers, he was an earthen vessel because he was a human being. He was a clay pot into which God poured great things. Apart from the man Christ Jesus, no perfect man has ever lived. Even though Ravenhill was a holy and righteous man, I never fell into the trap of wrongly idolizing him or viewing him unrealistically. He had imperfections, flaws, imbalances, and weaknesses. This is not to lessen who he was. It is only to view him properly, an earthen vessel in whom was a divine treasure.

  It is good to have spiritual heroes we emulate. But idolizing men is a different thing altogether. It is a subtle trap to be avoided. Scripture says, “Stop regarding man, in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?” (Isaiah 2:22). We are to appreciate, honor and respect God’s men, but never idolize or view them as perfect. Leonard himself shared this view. He loved God’s preachers and God’s servants, but he learned to view them all correctly. Ravenhill was conscious of the fact that he was perceived as being too strict, narrow, and even judgmental. Speaking of Martin Luther, Leonard said,

  I have empathy with Luther when he said, “I was born to fight devils and factions; it is my business to remove obstructions, to cut down thorns, to fill up quagmires, and to open and make straight paths. If I must have some failing, let me rather speak the truth with too great severity than once to act the hypocrite and conceal the truth.”

  This reveals why he spoke as he did. Leonard was so protective of souls hearing the truth that he wanted nothing to interfere with the Holy Spirit working in their hearts. His motives were right, even if his methods were questionable at times. Even his unwise zeal put the fear of God in people. The lesson here is clear. Every Christian must remember that the best preachers are still men and must not be exalted.

  13

  “I can’t preach tonight until I do something first.”

  HAVE I LIVED MY CHRISTIAN LIFE (SO FAR) AS ONE OF PASTOR DAVID’S spiritual sons? Some of the Jews in Jesus’s day exclaimed, “Abraham is our father,” and Jesus came back with, “If he were your father, you would walk in his steps” (see John 8:39). Paul taught that we all are sons of Abraham, at least those of us who walk by faith, as he walked.32 Pastor Dave’s faith was quite amazing. Many times in our pastoral staff prayer meetings, I heard expressions from a deep well of genuine faith within his heart. “Lord,” he’d pray quite loudly, “we need our own theater,” or “Lord, we need fifty thousand dollars for building repairs,” or “Lord, show us where the root of this problem stems from,” and everyone in the room knew the answer was already on its way.

  We have a tendency to worship our heroes, partly because doing so gets us off the hook. If God especially and uniquely endowed them, we could never reach their level of faith, so why even try? Pastor Dave would object to that type of faulty thinking, and he would object even more strongly to our tendency to worship him as though his giftings were not available to all who would walk in his steps. It’s true that there surely was a deep impartation of faith given to him, probably handed down from his godly grandparents and parents. If you recall from The Cross and the Switchblade, when David was twelve years old he prayed the prayer of faith that immediately healed his very sick father.

  Paul said to Timothy, “…I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also. Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands” (2 Tim. 1:5-6). Although Timothy received an impartation from his godly line, he still had the responsibility to stir up the gift of God. A heritage of faith was handed down to this spiritual giant, for sure. But that’s not the only or even the main reason for David Wilkerson’s strong faith as seen through his fervent prayers, his powerful sermons, and especially his many accomplishments for the Kingdom of God: birthing Teen Challenge, World Challenge, and Times Square Church. (All three of these ministries have touched and are still touching countless lives for Christ.) After being told in many ways and at various times that I am called to “walk in the footsteps of David Wilkerson,” I believe what the Lord primarily wants from me is to simply obey the admonition from Hebrews chapter 13:

  Remember your leaders who taught you the word of God. Think of all the good that has come from their lives, and follow the example of their faith (Hebrews 13:7 NLT).

  After endeavoring to follow in his footsteps for over three decades now, I’d like to share the ways I saw David Wilkerson stir up the gift of faith.

  One: Pastor Dave was always listening to God.

  It’s common knowledge that he would consistently spend from midnight until 2:00 A.M. every day with the Lord, praying and prayerfully reading God’s Word. We read about this in The Cross and the Switchblade. I had forgotten about that, and when I joined Times Square Church’s weekly pastoral prayer meetings that began every Tuesday morning at 10:00 A.M., I was surprised to see that Pastor Dave looked like he had just rolled out of bed! The next few weeks it seemed even more like this was the case, and I just couldn’t understand how a man who insisted all staff members have a prayer life could come to the office without spending time with the Lord first. I guess I wear my feelings on my sleeve because the fourth Tuesday Pastor Dave said to me, “Do I look like I just rolled out of bed? Well, I did. I’m not a morning person. That’s why I pray from midnight till 2:00 A.M. every day.”

  As Pastor Dave faithfully spent that time in prayer, his opened Bible was always there. He would talk to God, and God would talk back through His Word. Simple, basic stuff, but how many of us remain in that place spiritually where God can speak to us daily? As Pastor Dave constantly reminded us through his sermons (such as “A Conspiracy of Interruptions”), if we waste hours watching television, our much-needed time with Christ will be compromised.33

  Two: Pastor Dave was pliable in God’s hands.

  He changed a lot in the six years I worked closely with him. He probably grew more than anyone else I knew at Times Square Church. That’s a remarkable statement! Some spiritual leaders see no need to grow because they are so near perfection in their own eyes. Whenever God dealt with Pastor Dave about something that he needed to change or repent of or start doing, he would humbly submit and allow the Spirit of God to change him. Only a handful of famous musicians remain famous for long because they often stop developing and growing as musicians. Perhaps they get too caught up in their successes. But a handful of musicians seem to reinvent themselves every few years and thus
continue to reach closer to their fullest potential as artists. That takes pliability, a trait that is rare among both musicians and Christian leaders. We either get too caught up in our successes or too down about not being successful enough. Not Pastor Dave.

  Not long after starting Times Square Church, he read verses in the Bible about not neglecting to feed the hungry ones among us.34 He immediately started a feeding program through a mobile van, aptly called The Raven Truck, which is still going strong today.

  Three: He was a faithful steward of his giftings.

  From my limited perspective, these are the giftings that I feel Pastor Dave had: the gift of an evangelist, the gift of faith and miracles, the gift of a prophet, and the gift of pastor with a shepherd’s heart for God’s people. He also had apostolic giftings for sure, as seen in the many ministries God used him to birth. When he arrived in New York City the first time, the only gift that was in full operation was the gift of faith and miracles. He was given a measure of faith that he nurtured and exercised through decades of seeing the hand of God meet his needs and those for whom he prayed. He didn’t start out by praying for the sixteen million dollars needed to buy the Mark Hellinger Theatre. He started by believing God for the gas money to get from Pennsylvania to New York City and back!

  Four: Pastor Dave was persistent.

  Day in and day out, week in and week out, year in and year out, he would be about the Father’s business. When God would give him a mission, hell could not stop him. He might have to tweak things, try new things, and experiment a bit before the victory would come, but he would not quit. He would serve God on the mountaintop peaks of spiritual breakthroughs, as well as in the valleys and the plains of day-to-day spiritual consistency. Sometimes when we share our mountaintop experiences in the Lord, we neglect to mention the days, months, and even years of mundane persistence that may occur between them.

  Five: Pastor Dave was truly a godly man.

  If those who knew Pastor Dave personally were asked to describe him in one adjective, most of us would use the word godly. Perfect? No. Godly? Absolutely! Before coming on staff at Times Square Church, many of the leaders with whom I worked had hidden ungodly behaviors that eventually surfaced, causing enormous pain to everyone around them. I was actually reluctant to become a behind-the-scenes associate pastor, apprehensive of becoming disillusioned and disappointed once again. But I wasn’t. Pastor Dave was just as godly on his days off and during seasons of intense pressure as he was when he stood in the pulpit as God’s mouthpiece. Pure faith doesn’t flow through impure vessels.

  Six: Pastor Dave was willing to admit his mistakes publicly.

  When Pastor Dave hosted a leadership conference in Manhattan in 2002, this surely was a time to boast in the Lord to all his peers as to how faithful God had been to him. The packed meetings were held at the fancy Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan. People from all over the world (and some former staff members including myself) came to be spiritually fed and stirred, once again, by his words and his godly example. So what did this great man of God do? When it was his time to speak, he talked about his failures as the leader of his church staff and about how harsh he had been in the past to some of those staff members, and he publicly asked for our forgiveness! Pastor Dave was as tough as nails, but what general isn’t? Isn’t that par for the course for all true generals? And yet there were times, for whatever reasons, when Pastor Dave was too harsh. Whether it was out of frustration or intolerance, most of us who worked closely with Pastor Dave knew that when he got angry, he could become profoundly severe. There were times he missed it in his prophetic words (or perhaps it’s just a matter of the timing being off). Unlike most of the leaders who silently hide away when they miss it prophetically, Pastor Dave would openly, humbly, and publicly apologize.

  Seven: Pastor Dave could laugh at himself.

  Some people take themselves way too seriously, but Pastor Dave had a sense of humor that was often pointed toward himself. He was a serious man. His seriousness wasn’t so much inward as it was outward. He lived, spoke, and preached as though there’s a Heaven to gain and a hell to shun for all he preached to, spoke with, and encountered. Pastor Dave always listened to God, was pliable in His hands, was faithful to his duties, vulnerable, humble, and he had a healthy sense of humor regarding his frailties. He was always real.

  Eight: Pastor Dave deliberately took himself off our pedestals.

  This eighth characteristic of a man of God who enjoys ever-increasing faith (knocking himself off the pedestals on which we put him) can best be shared by describing a scene that I’ll never forget. It wasn’t the first or last time I saw him deliberately do this, but it was the most memorable:

  The Mark Hellinger Theatre is literally packed. It’s a few minutes before 6:00 P.M., and about a hundred of us are at the altar, fervently asking God to bless this Sunday evening service and everyone here tonight. The large maroon theater curtain slowly, but very noticeably, begins to open as someone backstage pulls it up by a rope. I look up and see Pastor Gwen Warren (the choir director) and the choir singing a soul-stirring song about the Mighty One of Israel. Those of us at the altar quickly find our seats, and I walk up the side steps and find my place on the stage, along with the other pastors.

  I used to sit directly behind Pastor Dave, but he asked me to sit on the front row since I’m an associate pastor. I would rather sit behind him though. His chair is closest to the edge of the stage, and sometimes I envision a madman attacking him with a knife or a gun. I’ve already decided how I will respond if it ever happens, God forbid. That bullet or blade will have to go through me first, and then I’m sure one of the other staff members will be able to wrestle him to the ground before he gets another chance at Pastor Dave. I’m standing next to Pastor Harry, and to his left are Pastors Bob, Don, and Dave. I look up in the balcony and see my dear wife sitting in her regular place. The anointed music fills our ears as we sing with all our hearts to our risen Lord. I look out across the theater and see hungry people: people hungry for Jesus, hungry for His Word, hungry for His presence. The awesome presence of God begins to fill the place and our hearts. During the fourth song, Pastor Dave walks over to me and hands me a large stack of prayer request cards that were filled out by parishioners before the service. He says to me, “You can go and pray after this song.”

  The song ends, and we are at the most holy moment in the service. The Lord’s presence is so thick it seems like you can slice it. “Oh Lord,” I pray silently even before I reach the pulpit microphone, “please don’t let me ruin this holy moment. Lord, what would You have me pray about, and how should I pray?” And every time, the Lord would answer that cry for help. I didn’t realize that like Samuel in the temple, I was learning how to hear God’s voice on a regular basis through this. As I reach the mic, I say, “Let’s pray,” and then I pray from the depths of my soul for the needs on the cards and whatever else the Lord puts on my heart.

  We sing another song, and then one of the other pastors makes announcements regarding upcoming events. After one last song, Pastor Dave will begin his sermon. During this last song, when all of us are standing and singing, Pastor Dave begins to walk to the pulpit. He looks over at us with a glance that says, “Listen carefully to what I’m about to say.” He grabs the microphone and says, “I can’t preach tonight until I do something first. Honey, where are you?” he says as he scans the crowded balcony for his wife. Gwen raises and then waves her arms to help expedite his search. “Honey, I am so sorry. Please forgive me for yelling at you.”

  He looks down at all the shocked onlookers and says, “When I left the apartment and got into the elevator, the Lord spoke to me. He said, ‘David, why is it that whenever Gwen gets angry it’s demonic, but whenever you get angry it’s always righteous indignation?’” He then lets out hearty laughter at himself! His brother Don is the first one to join him in his laughing spell. Pastor Dave looks over at him and says, “There’s my older brother laughing with me, or is it
at me? I can’t tell which one it is!” (Pastor Don is eight years younger than his brother.) By now, the entire place is laughing. None of us, to be sure, are laughing at Pastor Dave. We are all laughing with him as he yanks himself off the pedestal of perfection on which many of us put him.

  Pastor Dave then preaches an evangelistic message, which causes the unsaved to come to the altar under deep conviction. They hear the Heavenly Father telling them to forsake their pigpen of sin and come home to a new life in Christ. The sermon also contains pastoral comfort regarding how deeply the Lord cherishes us and how we can trust His unchanging love, no matter how bad things look. I forget what text he used for the sermon that evening, but I’ll never forget he pre-sermon illustration of humbling himself before his wife and his congregation.

  To walk in his footsteps of faith, we must always be listening to God, remain pliable in the Lord’s hands, be a faithful steward of our giftings, be persistent, live a genuinely godly life, be willing to openly admit our mistakes, learn how to laugh at ourselves, and take ourselves off any man-made pedestals. And yet, this list doesn’t adequately tell the whole story. Pastor Dave didn’t just live a godly life. He also lived a supernatural one. I personally know hundreds of men and women of God who consistently walk in these eight godly steps who have never killed one single spiritual giant, much less a whole list of them like Pastor Dave did. If we desire to walk in his footsteps, it’s going to take the supernatural touch of God upon our lives, similar to what he experienced.