By Hezekiah Akinrinde
I did not have the time to make my thoughts on the recent gaffes of baba as they touch certain denominations public.
But I expressed my concerns and disapproval to some senior friends and peers whom I could engage at the time.
There is no gain saying that those were hurtful mistakes and if anything, they show that the best of men is still a man. Even in our bid to correct errors, we may become carelessly passionate that we get carried away and roll in unwanted mud.
Before you could say “Jack Robinson”, the hyenas were out with their fangs and teeth baying for blood. The notoriously dollar-for-image-laundering platform called Church Gist went into overdrive to dig up videos with only one aim- DISCREDIT OMOLEHIN. Give them credit, they diligently fulfilled the brief of their handlers and paymasters. The uproar was deafening.
Yet, against the tide, Baba Omolehin pulled a surprise on us all. It is a surprise because what he did is not what we do around here. The best we’ve had is prevarication.
Earlier today, (August 21) a video of his comprehensive and humbling apology surfaced. There were no excuses, no defence, no dodging. He did not promise a robust response either.
He held the microphone, stood on the same pulpit where he uttered many of the wrongs, had the cameras set up for a global broadcast, and made his apology.
He even went on to mention names one after the other, acknowledging how much he had hurt his brothers, and went on to request prayers for himself, the hurt, and the Church as a whole.
What a man! What a heart!
I had tears in my eyes as I watched.
Three things stand out for me in the pre-apology events and the apology itself:
- Baba exemplifies the standard of Christianity preached by the scripture in approaching the hurt privately and apologising publicly since it was a public offence.
He knew while a brother was hurting because of his actions, his service would be unacceptable. He even quoted the relevant scripture and acted its requirements to the letter.
This is the kind of humility we should learn. This is the minimum standard for every believer.
- Christians need to stop human worship. It is idolatry. Many people who truly love baba refused to admit the videos were true. Most insisted it was AI generated just to cancel him.
Admittedly, this speaks of the massive trust deposit that baba holds with these people. Yet, it speaks more volumes about how much human worship has gained root in the church. We must always bear in mind that there is “man” in “Man of God”.
- Despite his apology, baba did not change his mind on his convictions. He made sure to emphasise that the issues are still the issues. The apology was not an erasure of the issues he highlighted and has always canvassed for a change on.
That is consistency. That is courage. That is an admission that the truth can be told and we can still avoid offences.
In conclusion, we all must continue to pray for voices like Baba Isaac Omolehin. He is one of the very few, and sadly, diminishing, lone voices crying in the wilderness and calling the Church back to the consciousness of whom the Bride of Christ should be.
It is a tough calling and not an enviable burden to bear. You will be misunderstood. You will make mistakes. Arrows of errors will be shot at your in the spirit realms and even loads of snares will be laid for your feet everyday by those you call brethren. But you must still carry on.
Let’s keep prayers going for Baba and his tribe. That the LORD will be merciful to them and keep them safe.
As for outlets like Church Gist, their day will come. It will soon be known to many that those guys are not for the church as they pretend to be. They are servants of some paymasters and their bidding they must do. There was Demas in the Bible and there was Alexander the Blacksmith too. Neither of them ended well.
God bless the Church and keep her pure till the coming of her Groom.
