| What should a man do after ten years of separation from a wife that has refused to heed the ‘for better for worse’ call of matrimony?
‘Get on with his life, of course.’ This would be the most likely response one would get.
However for a born-again Christian and, by extension, a minister of God, a pastor taking that course of action would be violating biblical injunctions, says Pastor Patrick Enilama, a zonal pastor under Lagos Province 18 of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG).
And that seems to be the message the RCCG sent out recently with the sack of one of its dynamic pastors, Ituah Olajide Ighodalo, who until about two weeks ago was the shepherd of the Christ Church Flock Parish.
For the dashing man of God, who has had to endure ten years of ‘unplanned celibacy’, relieving him of his office for following his heart, soul (and probably body) by remarrying was just plain politics being played by the ‘Governing Council’ of the church, a member in one of the parishes (who has known Ighodalo since his Freedom Hall days) told this reporter.
“I didn’t know what they wanted him to do. The woman (former wife) didn’t want to come back to Nigeria. Asking him to step down as pastor is just politics by the Governing Council. It is this same politics that sent Pastor Tony Rapu out. I sent him a text encouraging him, sha.”
However, Sunday Sun gathered that for the man in question, leaving the Redeemed fold might not be the next line of action for now, says a member of the Christ Church flock.
“He didn’t say categorically that he was leaving the church. What he said was that he was stepping down as pastor and that his assistant, Segun Omotosho, was going to take over his responsibilities.”
According to this source, it has been business as usual in most of Ighodalo’s initiatives in the church like the Heritage Homes (a motherless babies home), Lydia Grace Foundation (a rehab for prostitutes), Eden’s Field (a hospital medical support organisation) for the Needy, Timeless Newspaper, a Christian newspaper he publishes.
While this source affirms that it is not about the person but the church, she however admits that she could follow Ighodalo if he were to start his own church, just like many members at the Christ Church Parish are already contemplating.
“The week after he announced he was stepping aside was convention, so there was no service in the morning but evening and I couldn’t say if he attended because I didn’t go for that service. But people are already saying that if they don’t see him next Sunday, they will start going to City of David (Parish). Though it is not about the person, but I must admit that I can also leave. You just cannot ignore his charisma.”
Whether Ighodalo (whom many see as one fit to step into the late Pastor Eskor Mfon’s shoes) leaves RCCG or not, church will continue so also his many initiatives, says Enilama.
“There will be no vacuum if he decides to leave the church. But I will advise him not to leave (if he must) without the blessings of Daddy G.O (General Overseer, Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye). Daddy G.O has said God will purge the church one way or the other. There have been people of greater status who have had to leave the system.”
While empathising with him and reacting to a story angle that Ighodalo remarrying had encouraged some other pastors in the church to divorce their wives, which prompted the action of the church, Enilama says a man of God no matter what must not be found wanting in this respect.
“Honestly, ten years is a long time for a young man to be without a wife. But what the Bible says is that a minister of God must be blameless, husband of one wife. The Bible does not allow one to remarry. Rather it encourages both parties to reconcile. There is nothing like irreconcilable differences.
“Whether his action has encouraged other pastors to divorce their wives, I don’t have the facts but you don’t bend the rules in the word of God. If it is tolerated, it can be an encouragement.”
Citing Malachi 2:13-16, Matthew 19:1-9, I Corinthians 7:10, scriptures from the Bible, he says remarrying is not an option for any Christian but rather reconciliation. He adds that marriage is solemn, as the couple must know what they are going into, and sacred because God made it so, and serious because it is binding for life.
Adding his voice to the controversy, the shepherd of Cherubim and Seraphim Church, Kirikiri, said that marriage is a very spiritual matter that should not be handled with kid gloves as it portends a relationship sealed by God himself.
“Who is man, no matter his designation, that he should judge the action of the sacked pastor?” the cleric queried. According to him, what the RCCG authorities ought to have done was to call the pastor to order by correcting him through admonition and not outright sack.
He contended that many illicit relationships that may even result in the birth of fatherless children go on in the churches yet nothing is done by the pastors. |
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