Men of God and sex scandal: How to overcome temptation – Part 2

• ‘Men Are Susceptible To Trials And Temptations’
• ‘To Overcome Temptation They Should Avoid Being Alone With The Opposite Sex’
• ‘When A Man Of God Creates A Lacuna In His Life The Devil Sneaks In’

Recently, a number of ministers of the gospel have been involved in sex scandals, one or two of which have gone viral, courtesy of the social media. This, naturally, has raised the issue of credibility among men of God, who are supposed to be role models to their congregations and the society. Expectedly, there is growing concern in some quarters as to what is happening in Christendom, especially as there seems to be an increase in the number of gospel ministers, who have been enmeshed in unwholesome and immoral acts with the opposite sex. Some even claim these things are happening on a daily basis, just that many of them are covered up before the public gets wind of them. Why are men of God finding it hard restraining their libido? How can men of God avoid temptation and concentrate solely on the job God has called them to do? CHRIS IREKAMBA reports.

‘PFN Will Continue To Admonish That All Our Leaders Should Live Credible Lives Before God’ (Rev. Dr. Felix Omobude, President, Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN)
The sex scandal is pitiable. A man of God could be accused, but when passed through the tunnel of impartial judges, he must come out clean. I believe the man of God is rising to the challenge of defending himself. The allegations are weighty. PFN does not necessarily shield her own, especially on issues of morality. The person in question is of age, so I cannot tell him not to defend himself. The lady who accused him also has the responsibility to prove her case. PFN prays that the truth will emerge. I do know that in our nation, a man is presumed innocent, until a court of law says otherwise. I appeal that we must not be judgmental and also recognise that no man is God and we should not play God. Men are susceptible to trials and temptations. The PFN will continue to admonish that all our leaders live credible lives both before God and man.

‘It Takes Discipline To Resist Temptation From Women (Bishop (Dr.) Chris Kwakpovwe, Publisher, Our Daily Manna (ODM)/ General Overseer, Manna Prayer Mountain Ministries, Worldwide)
We are humans. There are some temptations you can overcome and there are some you cannot overcome. For instance, Jesus said: ‘Let this cup pass over me and He said no…’ I think some of them God will allow for a purpose. The one that God does not allow, you can pass over it by His grace. It takes discipline and certain principles to overcome temptation. It is not easy, especially if it is coming from women. It is the most difficult temptation, especially if they are determined to get you. If it is a plan, prayer can expose it. Like the man of God you just mentioned his case, it seems like a setup. Everyman of God is human, but they should do their best to avoid being alone with the opposite sex. You can’t avoid everything, and the ones you can, try to avoid them.

It is not right to say that women should not work with men of God as secretaries or personal assistants. Women are fantastic; they are the best to work with. Why should I not employ someone just because she is a woman? If she tempts me, we will resolve that. But I don’t think it is right to say we shouldn’t employ women. I think if as a man of God you know you have a weakness in that area, then don’t employ a woman. You should work with men, and most of the things you do, please involve your wife. Women tempt me every day, every week and I report myself to pastors.

To avoid such temptation, always report yourself to pastors. In fact, there was a lady, who has been after me for the past three months and she didn’t give up. Night and day, she would call me for one programme or the other. She would praise me, saying ‘you are wonderful, you are handsome, you are anointed and things like that.’ They try to seduce you. For instance, one lady came here and offered me N2m and after a while, she wanted me to come and dedicate her house. If you see this woman, it’s like God took time to create her, as she is very beautiful, no blemish, fair and amazing. But I called the pastors immediately and told them she gave me N2m and requested that I should come to her house. As soon as she said mummy (meaning my wife) should not come, I sensed danger and that was what saved me. Assuming I went to her house innocently and lo and behold, camera captured my photograph! What will I tell the world? So, this is the story of women, they are very dangerous. And what some of these women would do is to give you N5m and within a week, she will come back to you, crying and saying, ‘please Bishop I have a business in Abuja. The minister of finance just called me… I need N10m. Is that not a fast business from where you can make N5m? She will give you N5m on Monday and next time, she will run back to you. If a woman can give you N5m and she returns to say I have a business of N100m, will you doubt her? If you know what I have seen in this office. And they are all women, dangerous people and some pastors fell for such people.

When that lady invited me to her house, I didn’t go, but what I did was to invite her to come to my office, which at that time was just across the road. She came and the pastors saw her when she entered. In fact, it was a very funny matter. She said, ‘this one that pastors are everywhere, are you having a meeting? I said no. I said since mummy cannot come what do we do? She insisted that the pastors must go away and I obliged her, but, at least, they had seen her. She sat in the office for almost one hour and after a while, she said, ‘since you did not come to dedicate the house, can I have the cheque? I opened my drawer and gave her back her cheque.

‘When A Man Of God Feels He Has Arrived, Too Big To Read Bible And Pray…’ (His Grace, Most Rev. Dr. Emmanuel Udofia, Primate, The African Church, Worldwide)
The Bible says with God, all things are possible. The same is also stated in another portion of the Bible, that ‘as many that are led by the Spirit of God they are the sons of God.’ The moment the Spirit of God takes over anybody’s life, it is very possible for that person to overcome any kind of temptation, which will surely come, as a man of God is exposed to all kinds of people. That is why the Bible encourages us to be filled with the Holy Spirit, so that we will not fulfil the desires of the flesh. Without God dwelling in a person, you can never overcome temptation. It is the Spirit of God that assists a believer to really live above sin, because God’s power is enough to guarantee him/her total victory.

Having known Christ, you have to be filled with the Holy Ghost and that means reading the Bible daily, praying every day. It is possible for somebody to be in Christ today, falls tomorrow or do one thing or the other that may bring shame to the church.

Dealing with the Holy Ghost or God is a continuous process and when somebody feels he or she has arrived and is now too big to read the Bible every day and pray, what else do you expect? That is the beginning of his/her downfall. You see, when people first start this Christian journey, they appear to be serious, but after a while, that zeal begins to diminish because they’ve failed to maintain constant touch with God. What I’m telling you is that the person has relaxed from his commitment to God and when your prayer life has become cold, no more Bible study as before, you’ve created a lacuna for the devil to sneak in and before you know it, the person has fallen. But when you are constantly in touch with your Maker, as the strength of your life, you can hardly fall.

Falling from the grace is a gradual thing, which does not start in one day. Look at what happened to Sampson in the Bible, for instance. Was he not a man of God? But his own desires took over his flesh and what happened? When he separated himself from God, the enemy captured him. His case should be a lesson for us to learn from. And when he came back to his senses and called on God, the power that came back to him was so tremendous. What I’m telling you is that this Sampson that could stand alone and if he were to be here in Nigeria, could defeat all the Boko Haram insurgents, but the same person, the enemies came and captured, as if he was a nobody. With regards to the other aspect, I don’t think it is sinful to employ a female personal assistant or secretary. It is never the solution. Even those who fell did not employ female secretaries or personal assistants. There are other beautiful ladies out there. The thing is that once you allow influence of the devil in your life, something must surely happen. Fornication or adultery is a spirit, which has nothing to do with your working with a lady secretary or lady personal assistant. You can only overcome that, when you’re filled with the Spirit of God. If you are filled with the Holy Ghost, no matter how many ladies are knocking at the door of your office, nothing will happen.