Main Text:
“For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith”, (Romans 12:3)
Writer’s Quote:
Without the poor, the needy and the less-privileged, the office of a pastor is useless.
Introduction:
When in the year 2002, the writer raised an alarm on the activities of a secessionist leader, who pulled out of the Imo State Chapter of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) with about eighty percent (80%) of its membership to form what is known as the Imo State Council of the Pentecostal Bishops and City Elders, little did many see the dangerous seed of un-holy style of ecclesiastical leadership which was sown within the leadership circle of the Pentecostal brand of the Christian faith. For, the allegation then was that this divisive leader was gradually becoming a despot, who also was in the habit of un-necessary self-importance, a leadership style which contradicts the principles of church leadership which Jesus taught and practiced, (Mark 10:42-45).
In fact, in an effort to save the Imo State Chapter of the PFN from the apparent devastation of that time, and to halt the inordinate ambition of the duo, since it was obvious that God was not the author of that divisive movement, the writer conducted a little investigation which proved that the cited leader of the secessionist association was not approachable, and his home not accessible to the people he wanted to lead. It was also discovered that both his home and office were always besieged by personal police, and so, it became impossible for the people to take advantage of the welfare packages the leader and his friends were promoting. Thus, the writer was left with no other option than to draw the attention of the people to the unfortunate situation with the following lines, “reflecting on the hierarchical order of this organization (Imo State Council of the Pentecostal Bishops and City Elders) which stipulates a tripartite ministerial blocs or categories, viz;
1. Ministers of 20 years and above in the ministry, registering with N5,000.00k (Holy of Holies),
2. Ministers of 10 years and above in the ministry, registering with N2,500.00k (Inner court), and
3. Ministers of less than ten years in the ministry, registering with N1,000.00k (outer court), I noticed that the facilitators of this body have carefully put in place an order that would put them in their Holy of Holies”. This, to me is an official establishment of the un-necessary self- importance already exhibited by most of the leaders of this body”.
Rhetorically, the writer went on to say, “how can that bishop or superintendent who lives in the “holy of holies”, whose office is un-approachable, whose home is un-visitable, and whose office is besieged by personal police truly run a welfare progamme for ministers who do not have access to him? This element of un-necessary self-importance is another factor that marks the porosity of the programme”. Sincerely speaking, with the aforestated remarks and other weapons of words in the cited article, the association under review is today feared dead or permanently made inactive, as the gospel ministers who were deceived into it had since rejoined the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PEN), but the evil seed of arrogance which results in unholy self-importance that was sown by the said defeated leader of the Imo State Council of Pentecostal Bishops and City Elders still persists in the Pentecostal leadership circle of the Christian Church, since the office and home of the present leader of the Imo State Chapter of the PFN, who allegedly had copied from him is nowadays besieged by personal police, and allegedly too hard to access. From the grapevine also, is the hint that an apex independent pastor-evangelist in the category of bishops, and a curse-breaking specialist in Imo State is at moment in the same leadership mess, as rumour from the church arena pictures as well, one of the foremost Charismatic Pastors, who hails from the Orlu Senatorial Zone of Imo State as one of those who are presently in the leagues of the self-styled Pentecostal, cum Charismatic Church leaders who now move about with security personnel, probably as a status symbol, yet with obvious implication of backsliding and lack of faith in the word of God, who promises to protect His people and all those who serve Him, (Luke 10:19); Having stressed the above, please observe that;
THE OFFICE OF A BISHOP IS A PLACE OF COMFORT AND PRAYER
If the church must remain the church of Jesus Christ, then, the rediscovery of the biblical principles of church leadership remains indispensable. For, throughout the Ministry of Jesus, the Bible shows His ever-flowing comfort and care for His disciples and the generality of the flock of God. Indeed, He was a man of God and a man of the people, who laid down His life for His brothers, sisters and friends, (John 15:13). With the foregoing in mind, one wonders why the present day church has became the opposite of what was put in place by Jesus Christ, which accordingly was followed up by His apostles. And, why is today’s leadership of the church not able to keep the balance? Here, the writer strongly affirms that something is really wrong with the present day leadership of the church, and not just the bishops, Pentecostal or orthodox.
However, this work seeks to x-ray the unbecoming, as well as unbiblical attitude of some Pentecostal church leaders, especially those in the Episcopal type of church government, namely, the bishops, as this section of the piece takes a look at the unscriptural way(s) most of them run their offices. In fact, it is disheartening to state here that while Jesus and His apostles were easily accessed by the people, the offices of most Pentecostal bishops are today fortified with heart-breaking inhibitions that make it impossible to get through. For instance, the many attempts by the writers to have seen the present leader of the Imo State Chapter of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) for certain ministerial talks have always been fruitless, as many have also alleged that the inhibitions around the office of the cited bishop have often robbed them of his spiritual comfort and prayer. The story is allegedly the same with some Assemblies of God district superintendents, who serve in the Imo State division of the church, and are believed to be statutorily in the category of bishops. But, the writer’s personal experience with the late Archbishop Benjamin Nwankiti of the Anglican (orthodox) Church showed that his office was free and easily accessed, and if one may ark, are his successors serving the same way?
The office of a bishop, as indicated in this sub-unit of the write-up is supposed to be a place of comfort and prayer for the people of God, with no traces of inhibition, or discrimination. However, one may say, “these bishops have already mapped out days for counseling and prayer for the people”, why then is the writer accusing them of non-challant behaviour? The simple biblical principle is that the consecration of one as a bishop should bring one closer to the people, no matter the class they
