I must start by saying this is not a response to Ms. Walter’s exposé of her short-lived affair with Pastor Biodun Fatoyinbo of COZA. What follows is a collection of random thoughts and beliefs, some of which I have held for years – and have now decided to share. You will find that not all of them are directly correlated to the situation Ms. Walter describes.
Let’s go:
1. At their very best, Pastors are only MEN of God. There is no simpler way to convey this truth. Your Pastor, no matter how holy he behaves and how many times a day he says “God bless you”, is only a man. His ‘Pastoral calling’ does not grant him immunity to the temptations and fallings that befall other men. Guys, even Jesus was a man! (I Tim. 2: 5). He grew hungry, thirsty, and was equally tempted by the devil!
2. We are ALL the anointed of God. The verse which says in part “…touch not my anointed, and do my Prophets no harm” is often quoted out of context. A while back I was reading about a Pastor who sexually molested a 2-year old, and someone in the comments section was taking everyone else to the cleaners – arguing that they were “touching God’s anointed”. Chimo! If you would make time to read I Chron. 16: 16-22, you would see that the phrase “my anointed” referred to the people of Israel! All of them, and now ALL OF US!
3. It is okay to correct church leaders when they slip up. Yes! I said that, and I’ll say it again. Church leaders sometimes make mistakes, and it is totally okay to correct them – so long as it is done in love. Do you guys remember Peter? Remember how he became de-facto head of the church after Jesus’s ascension to heaven? Okay. Now do you remember Paul? Remember how he was travelling around persecuting Christians while Peter’s shadow was healing the sick (Acts 5: 12-16)? It might interest you to know that Paul corrected Peter “to his face” in Antioch “because he (Peter) was clearly in the wrong”. (Gal. 2: 11-21, NIV). It might also interest you to know Jesus regularly corrected the Pharisees and Sadducees (leaders of the religious institution of the time) in public.
4. A man who does not answer to any higher authority is a disaster waiting to happen. When female friends call to tell me they are entering into ‘maritally-intended’ relationships, I often ask them if their partners have mentors or people they hold in high esteem. (Males rarely call to ‘announce’). Times come when men make mistakes (some of them honest and sincere), and their families need to cry for outside help as a last resort. Woe betide her who marries a man without mentors/role models/father figures in his life. No man is reasonable 100% of the time. Accountability is important! Very important!
5. If you ever need to ‘report’ your Pastor, ‘report’ him to his mentor – not to his protégés. In I. Peter 5: 5, young men are exhorted to submit to those who are older. Spiritual authority is taken very seriously amongst Pastors and their protégés, and it is foolhardy to expect a protégé to correct his ‘Senior Pastor’. If you ever run into an issue with your Pastor that needs to be discussed with a third party – find his mentor; not a subordinate!
6. We need to help our Pastors, not worship them! I have been to churches where members fawned over their pastors, seeming to worship the ground they walked on. Kai! That is idolatry o! We should respect our Pastors and leaders, but NOT WORSHIP THEM! I have heard testimonies where people gave thanks to “Papa”, blessed “Papa” for interpreting their dreams and praying for them, and asked the congregation to rise and clap their hands for “Papa”. Ewe! Guys!! What is the place of God in all that when you ascribe all the glory to “Papa”?
Pastors and leaders need help o! My one year as General Secretary (I was not even a Pastor o) of OAU’s University Joint Christian Mission (UJCM) was one of my toughest! Believe me when I say I experienced temptation in a new dimension entirely – and ask Busola or P Soj for details if you don’t. I could only wonder what people like Pastors Olumide and Kolapo, and fine-boy Pastors like Ayotunde Ilesanmi of CASOR were facing on a daily basis.
If Pastor asks you to come to the hotel, do him a favor and DON’T GO! If he asks you to sit on his laps, kick off your shoes and run!! If he asks you to wait behind after two or three consecutive services for extra counselling, tell him you prefer to speak to his wife!!! Help Pastor!!!
7. You MUST know God for yourself! This is the most important of all these thoughts, and I have saved it for last. One of the greatest things that happened to Christianity was the ‘democratization’ of the Bible. Read your Bible, and get to know YOUR God for YOURself! When we stand before God, we will all stand by ourselves for ourselves! There will be no singing and dancing “awa egbe SCM, aa de!” No! Pastor will not be able to say something in your defense on that day!
A number of ‘commenters’ on Ms. Walter’s post have asked her to take it down because it might hurt other people’s belief in God. Frankly, this is balderdash. I understand that we hold some men in higher esteem than others, but if your belief in God can be hurt by your Pastors shortcomings, then maybe you need to lose this ‘belief’ and rediscover God for yourself.
Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you!
Follow the author on Twitter @koyegbeke
Culled from http://www.koyegbeke.com/
Most of what you have written is good but I must disagree with number 4. What is the model/father suppose to do, compel them into doing what they are not willing to do? We live in a society where we think being constrained to act right is the same as acting right. Liberty is the most important thing for me and women should freely choose who they want to marry and men should love their wives without the need of compulsion of a model.
Nice one