Pastors should lead by example

THERE is no doubt that the church in general is embarrassed when leaders are caught up in fraudulent activities.

It’s even worse for those that call themselves prophets and apostles. Why claim such a highly honourable and prestigious title and then fail to live up to the high standards of that office.

Although nowadays an apostle is just the highest ecclesiastical official in a church organisation, the original apostles were an authoritative group sent out to preach the gospel.

But that term is now used loosely and anyone who starts his own church can call himself an apostle. In fact, it’s now a self-claimed titled.

And it would seem the mission behind starting one’s own church has nothing to do with preaching the gospel, but to make money.

Latter day church leaders have become rich from tithes and offerings, which they use without account because they are the owners of the church.

But to some of them, that is not enough and they go to the extent of borrowing money from congregants and not paying it back.

They do this knowing fully well that their congregants won’t demand their money back because they reverence the office the church leader holds and end up just writing it off.

It seems the love for money does not end with just making their congregants to feel guilty in order to give more, the pastors crook each other as well.

Yesterday, we ran a story of a local apostle who allegedly duped a Zambian pastor in a botched US$400 tent supply deal.

The local apostle told his Zambian colleague, who is well known to him, about a tent deal that sounded too good to be true.

And it was indeed too good to be true because no tents were delivered as there was no such bargain in the first place.

When the Zambian pastor demanded his money back, the apostle blocked him.

It was only after his arrest last Sunday that he tried to negotiate for an out of court settlement because his thieving had finally caught up with him.

Before he got caught, he was somehow arrogant, but the arrest reduced him to a common conman. Sadly, that is how most of these so-called prophets and apostles behave.

They’re all in it for the money and not the word.

They steal every week and every month by coercing people to give leaving their families to suffer while these hypocrites live their best lives using money they would not have worked for, but gifted to them by their gullible congregants.

The church should be a place of salvation and not a breeding ground for con artists.

Pastors should always try to lead by example. It’s despicable when they make headlines for scamming people.

Most gullible congregants have lost fortunes to pastors after falling prey to their instant prosperity tricks.