I love Americans. Most of the time, they say what they mean and generally mean what they say. When you run any outfit in America – bank, college, church, ministry and nation – you are known as President. If we had chosen to ape America as we are wont to do, then every Managing Director, Vice-Chancellor, General Overseer would have been President.
I love Americans. Most of the time, they say what they mean and generally mean what they say. When you run any outfit in America – bank, college, church, ministry and nation – you are known as President. If we had chosen to ape America as we are wont to do, then every Managing Director, Vice-Chancellor, General Overseer would have been President.
There is something about being addressed as President that evokes prestige and responsibility all at once. Here is something exemplary to be said about Americans: they certainly know how to accord the one and extract the other from public office holders. I have a hunch Nigerians haven’t rushed, in our characteristic fashion, to transmute to President because of our legendary aversion to taking responsibility.
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Primate, General Superintendent, Presiding Pastor, General Overseer: these are some of the titles that heads of Christian denominations go by. I am particularly enamoured by General Overseer not only because the head of the church I presently serve in sports it, the title seems to suggest vigilance and conscientiousness – two qualities every true servant of God must embody.
I said earlier that leaders in Nigeria are afraid to take responsibility. That assertion does not include General Overseers – GOs. In terms of work rate and commitment, they are some of the most productive you will find anywhere. Because church work and ministry are essentially taken on by conviction and calling, and having therefore no defined work schedule or pattern, many GOs are presently putting their personal well-being and family cohesion at grave risk in the process of responding to the enormous challenges of ministry.
No set of people are more keenly aware of Nigeria’s failure and the unraveling of the social fabric than these privileged servants of God. While the oppressed consult them, the oppressors also consort with them. Because they are bound by the code of confidentiality, they are not at liberty to blab; and that’s no pretty position to be in.
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It’s not all doom and gloom for GOs, though. Power and privileges also come in the territory: the very reasons that temptation to perpetuation in office is a real danger for them.
Because of their unique role as God’s oracles, people hang on their every word; with powerful potentates freely prostrating before them. That, to me, is the very stuff of power. When you can exert influence over those who are already influential, it shouldn’t be strange when people begin to attribute divinity to you. Many people believe their GO to be inerrant and incorruptible so much so that anything that bears their imprimatur carries the sanction of Holy Scripture. Among Pentecostals and Charismatics, this tendency is becoming so entrenched that some people’s attachment to their GO approximates idolatry.
Most GOs did not go out of their way to install themselves as gods, but it must be said that many are not doing enough to halt this modern form of idolatry taking root in the church. By speech, appearance and appetite, they make it easier for those merchants of adulation whose ranks are swelling in the Church to hasten their descent on the slippery path to ignominy. The very crowd that shouted “Hosanna” to Jesus was the selfsame that cried “Crucify him!” less than 24 hours later.
In days gone by, being called to Christian ministry was a sure way to embrace asceticism of some sort. Back then, few were eager to become yoked to pastors. Nowadays, all that is changing because many GOs are now comfortable. No, I take back; not because it’s a lie but because it presents the truth in a way that will belittle, and maybe offend some. The truth is, many GOs are not just comfortable, they live in unmatched opulence. As I write, many are tooling around in state-of-the-art jets with no care in the world. Many now reside in swanky neighbourhoods far removed from the precincts of the nation’s oppressed and dispossessed. Apart from giving the impression that they are aligned with the enemies of our commonwealth, there is also this growing assumption that prosperity has come to upstage piety as a mark of true Christianity.
The fallout of this emerging scenario is that there is presently a scramble not just to enter Christian ministry, but more specifically to own and head one’s outfit as GO. It seems like once you become GO and you do the right things, your financial woes are at an end. If it has become such a desirable thing to live as a GO, it must be the ambition of many to die as one.
Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye is one of Nigeria’s most respected clergymen. He is currently the GO of the Redeemed Christian Church of God: a church with a membership of millions thriving in over 100 countries.
He turned 70 last year and it was predictably lavishly celebrated. My thinking was that he was going to step down as GO; having served meritoriously for over three decades. There were insinuations back then that some RCCG pastors in Europe had urged him to quit. He has since turned 71 and has given no indication he wants to retire. The din of protests within the ranks of his subordinates is growing and the matter is already in the public space.
Anyone involved in any people-oriented job knows how supremely satisfying it is to see people’s needs truly met. In that regard, Adeboye must be one of the happiest men on earth. To add to that, he has the ears of Presidents, and before him, they freely and humbly genuflect. In very many years of public ministry, he has acquitted himself as one inured against the lure of filthy lucre. In his case, I do not think pecuniary motivation is of significance. Even if he was only motivated by a desire to continue to be a blessing to people and also remain relevant in national affairs, it is easy to appreciate why it must be hard for him to retire. It is not also unlikely that some of his aides are urging him to hang on for their own selfish ends.
This is the time for Adeboye to rise above such temptations and put the question of his integrity beyond doubt. He must immediately set in motion the process for the emergence of his successor. If he is truly a man of God as I believe he is, his influence will not wane because he ceases to be GO. Abiodun Adetiloye was at a time the Head of the Anglican Church in Nigeria. He was very vocal in national affairs; a trend that continued long after he retired from active ministry. Adeboye will be setting a very worthy example especially among Pentecostals, if he toes the path of honour.
To die as GO must be something to truly look forward to, but to be remembered as a true man of God and a missionary statesman is infinitely better. I trust Daddy GO to make the correct decision.
Let someone shout Hallelujah!
OLUGU OLUGU ORJI mnia
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The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of SaharaReporters
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