Journalism from hell (3), By Ayo Akerele

Friends, you belong to a body. Forget about this silo and empire mentality that probably your mentor has taught you. The kingdom of God matters more to God than an individual ministry. One ministry isn’t more important than the entire body of Christ. Don’t accept Satan’s appointment letter as a Journalist from Hell. No matter what your fellow brother has done or probably a genuine minister of God has done, how to pray for this person to change must be your dominant priority.

“Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.” (1 Corinthians 12:27).

It takes a great deal of maturity to be kingdom driven. Not even many pastors and church leaders have the kingdom mindset. It therefore follows that if a pastor is not kingdom minded, he can never produce church members with a kingdom orientation.

An example that is often put out there to bolster the drive towards shelling fellow brethren when they fail or fall was the case between Jesus and the money changers. Yes, it is true that Jesus used a whip to chase out money changers from the temple. But you don’t really know the spiritual significance of what Jesus did on that fateful day. That story also has an historical background that dates to the money changing practices of the aristocratic sects, the Sadducees and Pharisees. But to not get diverted from my main point, let me make it clear that anytime Jesus was dealing with leaders, and particularly, corrupt leaders, He was very brutal. He lashed out at Herod, calling him a fox (Luke 13:32). He spoke out very loudly about Pharisees, calling them hypocrites and a brood of vipers (Matthew 12:34).

But you are not Jesus, so you can’t whip people into submission. There is an Apostolic dimension to the use of “Whips,” which is always at God’s instance. God chooses when to do this and chooses whom to engage to do it. The act of using a whip is a type of God’s divine judgement on leaders and on the leadership of churches, cities, and nations. You can’t arrogate to yourself that office of using a whip. God is the only authorised user of whips, and if He chooses to commission anyone at certain times to act on His behalf, then that is His prerogative. No man can take up that position as a full time employment opportunity, and start whipping others into submission. You can’t whip people into change. Truth has to be spoken and taught in love (Ephesians 4:15).

The spirit that is so quick to jump on YouTube or on social media to expose the weaknesses or sins of fellow brethren is from Hell. You better believe this and change. The Bible talks about not being part of evil, but about exposing it. Let’s look at the scripture again.

Friends, you belong to a body. Forget about this silo and empire mentality that probably your mentor has taught you. The kingdom of God matters more to God than an individual ministry. One ministry isn’t more important than the entire body of Christ. Don’t accept Satan’s appointment letter as a Journalist from Hell. No matter what your fellow brother has done or probably a genuine minister of God has done, how to pray for this person to change must be your dominant priority. Second, how to manage the situation in a way that will not cause a greater damage to the body of Christ should also be your focus. What will happen to millions of young Christians who are now on the brink of complete departure from the faith, if they hear about this, should be your dominant focus. And if you are placed in a position to facilitate personal engagements with the fallen brethren, then reach out to the person in love. If not, pray!

The spirit that is so quick to jump on YouTube or on social media to expose the weaknesses or sins of fellow brethren is from Hell. You better believe this and change. The Bible talks about not being part of evil, but about exposing it. Let’s look at the scripture again.

“And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.” (Ephesians 5:11).

God does not want the death of a sinner. So, our attitude, regardless of how bad the evil doers are, is first and foremost to show them love, even while condemning their activities in a responsible manner, if we are in the position to do so; and secondly, to pray for them to change. At the end of the day, God is the final judge who will eventually judge all things and everyone very fairly and very truthfully.

Did you notice that the context from which this scripture is speaking isn’t about people, but about practices or actions? We are supposed to stand for truth and expose evil practices and evil works when necessary. The emphasis here is on the “practice” and not on the practitioner. The emphasis here is about living a life that does not condone evil. Our lives must be transparent. We must speak against evil, but not by attacking or destroying the evil doer. The emphasis is not about making a ministry out of the reporting or dissemination of scandals. Ultimately, God wants every evil person to repent. I have personally been heartbroken time and again over the scandals of many of the brethren around us. I have reached out to elders in my space. We have groaned together, but have always looked beyond this person for the greater good of the body of Christ, rather than allowing Satan to use us to worsen the situation for the body of Christ through careless distribution and publication of the failures of fellow brethren.

God does not want the death of a sinner. So, our attitude, regardless of how bad the evil doers are, is first and foremost to show them love, even while condemning their activities in a responsible manner, if we are in the position to do so; and secondly, to pray for them to change. At the end of the day, God is the final judge who will eventually judge all things and everyone very fairly and very truthfully.

Ayo Akerele is the senior pastor of Rhema Assembly and the founder of the Voice of the Watchmen in Ontario, Canada. He can be reached through ayoakerele@gmail.com.