Leader of the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Stonecrest, Georgia, Jamal Bryant, is getting some new flak for an old message in which he claims Jesus was “wrong” for 85% of His life despite being called, anointed, and chosen.
“Jesus accepted His call to ministry at 30. He had been in carpentry since he was 13. He ran the family business since he was 17. At the risk of being heretical tonight, might I suggest to you, that 85% of Jesus’s life, He was out of order,” Bryant told congregants at The Chosen Vessel Cathedral in Fort Worth, Texas, at the installation service of Bishop Marvin Sapp as the church’s senior pastor on Nov. 17, 2019, according to a recording of the sermon posted on YouTube.
“Eighty-five percent of His life He was doing what He was not called to do,” Bryant declared.
“God, y’all done got quiet. For 85 percent of his life, he was not flowing in his God-given function. Eighty-five percent of His life, He is doing what His natural father wanted. But it did not line up with His defined DNA. Eighty-five percent of His life He’s anointed. He’s called. He’s chosen. And He’s wrong,” Bryant added.
He went on to prophesy to a few people in the congregation who would receive it that God was getting ready to give them, “what eyes have not seen, what ears have not heard” over the next three years.
“I’m just supposed to give the homily tonight. But I just came to prophesy to 50 of y’all in here. I hope you ready for what’s gonna happen in the next three years. God, I can’t hear nobody. He’s gonna give you what eyes have not seen, what ears have not heard,” he said. “I don’t want you to shout for what happened in the past. But would you shout tonight for what God would do in 2020, 2021 in 2022? You’ve got to shout for the next three years.”
By December 2019, however, COVID-19 was discovered in China. By March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization would declare the disease a global pandemic. The pandemic ended on May 5 after causing the deaths of nearly 7 million people to date.
Bryant’s 2019 message got some renewed attention from a Christian Tik Toker in June which generated hundreds of comments, most of which disagreed with the megachurch pastor’s position.
“As a pastor for over 20 years, if He was wrong for 85% of his life, [t]hen salvation is void…because one who knew no sin became sin for the world,” wrote Eric White5523.
Christian podcaster Nick Jones criticized Jamal Bryant’s message on YouTube as “full-on heretical” due to its implication that Jesus was disobedient to God the Father for 85% of his life and solely obedient to his earthly father.
Jones argued that believing in Jesus’ blood as the perfect atonement for sins would lead to Hell. Others, like Tajanel Chinyere, claimed that if Bryant tried preaching the message at her church, her pastor would have removed his microphone.
“So much so that all of us who believe in the blood of Jesus to be the perfect atonement for our sins, all of us are going to Hell,” he argued. “If Jesus wrong for 85% of His life, if He was not following the instruction from God the Father for the majority of His life, wouldn’t that be some act of sin? Wouldn’t that disqualify him from being the perfect sacrifice to atone for our sins?”