A missionary with Calvary Ministries, Pade Tokun has cautioned pastors against a mind-set of superiority over their members while also adding that they should not be annoyed if their messages are being scrutinized.
He made the point at a ministers conference organised by New Wine Church in Lagos on Wednesday April 22.
Tokun who is a well known missionary with work in many parts of Africa and beyond stressed throughout his ministration that pastors should see themselves as being on the same level with their members.
‘You should be ready to answer questions from your members whenever your messages are scrutinized.’ He said
How to behave
Making references to the Bible , he said pastor should learn how to behave in the house of God.
‘There are many things pastors need to learn. We need to learn how to talk in the house of God. Many pastors talk anyhow in the church. That should not be.
They have to learn how not to be arrogant in church. As pastors we have a lot of rights but we must not claim them. We must learn how to relate to people who look up to us.
‘Once you are in church you’re equal to everybody. Every prophecy must be judged. If you don’t want your word to be judged don’t say it. God does not want you to be the final oracle in the church.
We are supposed to build a community of fellowship. There are certain things God will say to members and not say to you as a pastor. That is why we need to be humble and learn from one another. We are are not God’s assistants’ he stated
Unity of the church
Earlier in his message he lamented the disunity in the church noting that ‘When the Church is not Church, God is disappointed. Jesus was not thinking of churches. He was thinking of the Church.
‘When Jesus prayed in John 17, he knew it will take a miracle for the church to be one.’
Tokun wondered why Jesus was giving the church a difficult task of being one just the way he and God are one.
He noted also that God compared the relationship between Jesus and the church with that of the husband and the wife.
As far as God is concerned, Tokun noted, ‘all churches are part of the Church.’
He said further, ‘if the church is not one, the world will not be convinced that Jesus is from God. We should be pained that a section of the church is not doing it right rather than bringing people in that section to ourselves.’
He reasoned that the problem is not structure but mind-set.
‘There is nothing wrong with association. The moment we form association it shows we are different . So it’s not about association which is good but it’s about having the mind of God. Association has been allowed to bring order. But what we have done is to put order in disobedience.’
Still on the question of unity, he said, ‘Jesus knows it is not easy for the church to be one. And that is why he had to pray. It takes something more than ordinary to make us one. It takes something glorious to make it happen. We have not experienced the glory that is why we still have issues with being one.’ He stated.
Tokun, an Anglican by denomination told the church leaders that they need to understand that their members listen to many voices and also that their expectations are different.
The calls out one
‘People have expectations because they have their own idea of church. But the church is called ecclesia meaning people that have been called out of the world system.
‘The first thing is to see yourself as called out. We need to understand that we have been called out of something. In those days it was an embarrassment to be a Christian because the life of the believer is sharply different from the world system. But now it is fashionable. Today the church and the world are saying the same thing. We think the same way. This is unfortunate.’ He lamented.
Tokun counseled the church leaders not to overreach themselves in their bid to do God’s work but rather should follow after Jesus who is the one that will make them fulfil ministry .
‘There are some people you can’t gather. You should do your best and follow in the leading of God. Don’t build people around yourself. Lead them to Christ.’
He cautioned against a CEO mentality in ministry work. ‘The mentality of a CEO is that of an achiever. The CEO is particular about result but that will not help the cause of Christ. We must have a shepherd mind.
‘We discover that people are building people around themselves. This should not be. Don’t be bold to say anything especially to your advantage. Jesus is the one who builds the church. Our own is to follow. He says follow me and I will make you. He is the one who makes.’
About the conference
The conference attracted church leaders across the country. Also in line to minister at the event which continues on Thursday April 24 and Friday April 25 are Bishop Abraham Olaleye of Pentecostal Congregation and Pastor Tunde Bakare of the Community Citadel Bible Church.
Venue of the event is 1 Ladipo Oluwole Street, off Adeniyi Jones. Ikeja Lagos.
