Robert Jeffress accepts NRB honor with call to faithfulness, warning: ‘None of us is immune’ to moral failure

By Leah MarieAnn Klett, Entertainment Editor Friday, February 27, 2026

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Ahead of accepting one of the highest honors in Christian broadcasting, Robert Jeffress reflected on the weight of integrity in ministry and the sobering reality that no leader is immune from failure.

“I’m very honored and feel very undeserving to receive the reward,” the 70-year-old pastor, speaker and bestselling author told The Christian Post ahead of receiving the 2026 NRB William Ward Ayer Award for Distinguished Service at the National Religious Broadcasters International Christian Media Convention. “It’s a sober reminder none of us is immune” to moral failure.

The award, presented during the annual gathering of the National Religious Broadcasters at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center, recognizes excellence and integrity in Christian communications. Named for NRB’s first president, the honor has previously gone to broadcasters, including Pat Robertson, Luis Palau and Erwin Lutzer.

Jeffress, senior pastor of the 16,000-member First Baptist Dallas and Bible teacher on the media ministry Pathway to Victory, said he sees the recognition as a call to faithfulness.

“We all know there are many ministers and ministries that have fallen into sin and really given enemies of the Lord a reason to blaspheme the name of Christ,” he said. “We need to be alert, as the Scripture says, on guard. Our adversary, the devil, roars about like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.”

Pathway to Victory, launched in 1996 after a layman in Jeffress’ former Texas church offered to underwrite its first year of television airtime, now airs on more than 1,100 radio stations and 10,000 television outlets in seven languages. But according to Jeffress, the ministry’s beginnings were modest.

“We were all ready for hundreds of phone calls to come in,” he recalled of the ministry’s first broadcast. “We had one call that night.”

Today, he said, tens of thousands contact the ministry monthly. The growth, he stressed, is a testament to the enduring appeal of Scripture and its infallibility despite changing cultural tides.

“People really don’t care anymore about what denominations believe. They want to know, ‘What does the Bible say?’” he said. “It’s not ‘Thus saith Robert.’ It’s ‘Thus saith the Lord.’”

Quoting 1 Corinthians 4:7, he said, “What do you have that you did not receive? And if you received it, why do you act as if you did not receive it?” Any good in his life, he added, is the result of “what God or others with God’s power have done for me.”

Jeffress credited his parents for instilling in him a love of the Bible and his wife, whom he met in seventh grade, for steady support. Reflecting on legacy, he invoked the 18th-century hymn writer John Newton: “Some things I’m forgetting, but two things I’ll always remember are I’m a great sinner, and Christ is a great Savior.”

The pastor’s emphasis on integrity comes amid broader turbulence in American evangelicalism. Scandals involving high-profile church leaders have fueled skepticism, particularly among younger Christians, as studies show a long-term decline in church attendance.

While acknowledging failures of church leadership, Jeffress urged believers not to abandon congregational life.

“The Bible says Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her,” he said. “If you ever find a perfect church, don’t join it. You won't find that till you get to Heaven, but you can find a Bible-based church. There are plenty of biblically based churches with sincere men and women in leadership. Find that church, and if it's not perfect, work to make it better, but don't give up on the church.”

Jeffress’ own congregation endured a trial 18 months ago when a four-alarm fire severely damaged the church’s historic sanctuary, a red-brick structure dating to 1890 that had hosted four U.S. presidents and generations of worshipers. Jeffress was baptized there at age 6 and ordained at 21.

“It holds a lot of memories,” he said at the time. “We thank God nobody was hurt. … The church is not brick and mortar, it’s people.”

Rebuilding efforts are underway, supported by donors nationwide, including a multimillion-dollar gift from Hobby Lobby founder David Green. The blaze, Jeffress said, reinforced the fact that the Church will endure despite trials: “One day everything in this world is going to be burned up. But those who know Christ as Savior will endure forever,” he said.

At NRB, Jeffress also addressed criticism that has trailed his outspoken engagement in public life. He has long contended that America was founded as a Christian nation, though he rejects the notion that the country belongs exclusively to Christians.

“America was founded as a Christian nation. There's no way you can argue that against that from history. But the idea that America should be for Christians only is a concept that I certainly don't believe. And I don't believe our founders believed that, either,” he said.

 “Any nation that references God will be blessed by God,” Jeffress added, citing Psalm 33:12. “Any nation that rejects God will be rejected by God.”

Still, he cautioned pastors against conflating political opinion with biblical mandate. “There’s no biblical position on taxation,” he said, calling such debates “secondary issues.” On matters like the sanctity of life and religious liberty, however, he described them as “biblical principles, not political positions.”

Jeffress’ belief in the necessity of cultural engagement and spiritual mission also shapes his forthcoming book, Divine Invasions: Experience God's Miracles in Your Life Today, which explores whether God still performs miracles today. 

Raised attending both a Baptist church and an Assembly of God congregation, Jeffress said he never accepted the theological view that miracles ceased with the completion of Scripture.

“I don’t buy the line that God has quit doing miracles,” he said. The book examines not only accounts of healing but also how believers should respond when “the miracle I want doesn’t come.”

Jeffress shared a personal story of losing feeling in his arm at age 16 during a mission trip abroad. He said sensation returned suddenly, at the same hour his mother and pastor were praying for him back home.

“It was a powerful reminder that God does answer prayer occasionally to show Himself strong,” he said.

Yet he tempers expectations. “Our ultimate miracle is yet to come,” he said, referencing the resurrection described in 1 Corinthians 15. In a “sin-infected world,” he added, healing is not always immediate or permanent.

As American church affiliation declines, Jeffress said he doesn't foresee a sweeping national revival. 

“If there were a great revival going on, you would see people flocking to church, not exiting from the church,” he said. “ I think there are pockets of it here and there ... but that shouldn't discourage us, because the truth is, the light of the Gospel shines brightest in the darkness.

"If there were a great revival going on, you would see people flocking to church, not exiting from the church. If there were a great revival going on, you would see basic positions of Christianity being held on to, rather than let go of. If you saw a great revival, you would see a great increase in sexual morality and so forth.”

Legislative victories, he added, cannot substitute for spiritual transformation: “I'm not reneging on what I've said in the past,” Jeffress said. “I think as Christians, we should vote our biblical convictions, but we need to understand that the short-term trajectory of this nation is downward away from God, but that gives us even greater opportunity to share the Gospel well.

We will never change America until we change the hearts of Americans. And that’s something no legislation can do.”

For now, Jeffress says his mission remains unchanged: to “pierce the darkness with the light of God’s Word.”

“I don’t think I’ve arrived yet,” he said. “I’m grateful to God for choosing me in spite of me.”