“Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits”- excerpts from The Holy Bible (Daniel 11v32) New King James Version
The Nigerian social media erupted over the weekend with all sorts of chattering, insults, abusive words, encouragements, prayers, curses, swear words and all sorts of not-so-nice utterances over the allegation of some infidelity, abuse of power and office, threatening, deception and to cap it all sexual indiscipline and indiscretion on the part of Mr Biodun Fatoyinbo; Senior Pastor of the Commonwealth of Zion Assembly, Abuja.
All sorts of comments and articles have been written both for and against Mr Biodun Fatoyinbo and Ms Ese Walter condemning both individuals and praising them at the same time depending on which side of the fence you choose to sit on.
As a Christian, I choose to look beyond this act of sin and address the nature of sin that is inherent in all of us and evident by the silly things that happen in the church of God. The Apostle Paul admonished that things like this should not be named or heard amongst the church (Ephesians 5v3), not to talk of those who occupy ecclesiastical offices. This article isn’t to pontificate on the rights and wrongs in the church but to point the our attention to a cancer that is eating deep the moral fabric of the church thus eroding our justification and right to be an impartial umpire both to the society and the nation.
Ti eniyan ko ba rin ni regbe regbe iro, won o ni paa mo (literally; If you don’t tread around lies and falsehood then no one would tell a lie against you). The bone of contention shouldn’t be and for me isn’t the fact or otherwise that Biodun Fatoyinbo slept with Ese Walter or not. For all I care, if Biodun Fatoyinbo didn’t have a connection with the lady, there’s no way she would pin such an allegation on him. If the only relationship they had was the pastor-member one then there wouldn’t be a need for the accusation and counter-accusations. Is Ese Walter the only girl in the church? Is Ese Walter the only lady that has served or is serving in various capacities in the church? Is Biodun Fatoyinbo the only Pastor in Abuja? Is he the only preacher that has a crowd of followers? Your answer is as good as mine. So why should he be the man in the eye of the storm?
The spiritual immaturity and childishness in the church must stop and needs to stop now! Sometimes I cringe at the extent of our materialism and vainness as a church, what in the name of God is “Pastoral Care Unit”? It’s your wife’s duty to care for you and not contract the job to some girl from no-where in the name of serving the Lord. The family is way more important than the church so the first congregation Biodun Fatoyinbo has are his wife and children, no commitment in the church should be more important than Biodun Fatoyinbo’s needs to be met by his wife. Abeg is Biodun Fatoyinbo not a man with blood flowing through his veins? Even the noble King David; a man after God’s heart couldn’t resist the temptation of one of the daughters of Eve. No wonder we’re instructed to flee all appearances of evil! The impunity with which some sickening terminologies are coined in the church leaves me speechless. Olive seed, covenant seed, Prophet’s offering, ground breaking seed, prosperity seed (abeg add your own)!!
Let me not tow the line of the hypocrites who came to the Lord Jesus accusing a woman of committing adultery and even brought her to the Lord Jesus so that he could sanction her being
stoned to death. I wonder where the man she committed the sin with was; abi have you seen one person committing adultery? Ese Walter and all the other faceless girls who might come up with all sorts of allegations in the nearest future are as guilty as Mr Biodun Fatoyinbo. A firm but simple response; “No, Thank you” would have put paid to that illicit transaction and nipped it at the bud, didn’t she learn or read about Joseph and Potiphar’s madam ni? Immaturity I dare to say and you put someone like this to care for the Pastor?
Whilst we all await Mr Biodun Fatoyinbo’s robust response (though it wouldn’t change the perception of some folks towards the church), I would like to hear what Mr Biodun Fatoyinbo would have to say because he could only relate these grave misdeeds and allegations to the haters of the new auditorium he was building. What vanity, what an insult!
Whilst not attempting to pass a verdict on Mr Biodun Fatoyinbo, I’m irked by his response. I’d refer him to the bold and decisive response of Prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 12v3-5). I don’t think Mr Biodun Fatoyinbo needs any phone call from his friends in and out government circles neither does he need any clandestine meeting with his trusted circle to authoritatively debunk the “annoying” claims of Ese Walter whether on earth or in the heavens. Bi iwo ba se rere, ara kio ha ya o (literally; If you do well, will you not be accepted?) Genesis 4v7a
I charge these pastors to quit raising an army of spiritual babies. I urge them to feed and teach their flock the nitty gritty and core of God’s word and live by the examples. I implore them not to only take our money and time but ensure that we all know our God individually. I beg them to explain the principles of greatness and prosperity to us and not just feed our ego and pride with some clichés, rhetoric’s and concordance inspired revelation. In as much as it is good for us to be financially and materially comfortable on this side of heaven, these pastors need to remind us that our lives aren’t complete in the abundance of what we possess. These pastors need to let us know that this world will pass away someday and that there’s life after this earth. These pastors have to quit feeding our spiritual slothfulness with titles and all sorts of vain units or activity groups in the church.
Let the church wake up, be the standard to the society, community and the nations of the world. Let the church stop preaching, teaching and pampering this “Man-centred, Need-oriented and Entertainment-based gospel”.
O’bamise O.
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