Banish Sexual Immorality from the Church, By Ayo Akerele

The leaders, the fathers, have the first responsibility before God to raise the banner of justice – no sexual pervert must be covered up and laundered. Money must not be exchanged for value and virtue. Sexual perverts must be identified, disciplined, restored in love and, if possible, exposed to save the souls of their innocent victims. Our young ones must be protected from sexual predators. Single women must be protected. Our teenage girls must not be afraid to see their pastors for counseling.

The last few days have been very hard for me as I have had to deal with the ominous news and reports of scandalous sexual escapades by some brothers in the Church. In fact, on one of these days I had to take a prescribed painkiller to relieve the headache I got from one of these horrific incidents. Given the sensitive nature of this subject, I will be as discreet as possible in presenting the truth that the Lord has commissioned me to speak on this matter. At the same time, I will not shirk the burden of leaning on my staff – the writing commission – that the Lord has given me to warn the Church of the dangers that lie ahead if we refuse to cleanse our ways before Him.

“Flee sexual immorality! Every sin that a man commits occurs outside the body, and he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.” (1 Corinthians 6:18)

The days of Noah have indeed come upon our generation. Years ago the Lord led me to write a book on this same subject. A central feature of the days of Noah was the widespread apathy of the people in the face of impending divine judgment. Our generation is not only apathetic but completely numb and blinded by the temporary euphoria of the material, financial and numerical growth our churches and congregations have experienced, while Satan secretly uses the weapon of sexual immorality to destroy the fabric of our integrity. We are not only losing integrity but also the work of God, which I believe has been virtually crippled and brought to a standstill. Sexual immorality kills the work of God and closes the heavens, whether to individuals, churches or nations.

How could a church infiltrated and led by a sexual pervert be spiritually and morally capable of addressing the moral failings of society as a whole? To give you a little picture of why my head has been hurting this past week: One of our own, a sexual pervert, took the podium to preach at a conference immediately after molesting several women at once. Of course, he “behaved” very well on the altar of God, to the ignorance of the many people he ministered to. What kind of spirit must he have imparted to the innocent people under his care?

Brethren, there is a fire on the mountain. The members of some sections of the church in Nigeria have been infiltrated by sexual perverts, believers, branch pastors and even some church leaders who are now being dogged by a thick cloud of scandals. This is not referring to genuine believers who fell into sin out of fleshly weakness and have since repented.

“For this is the will of God, your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality.” (1 Thessalonians 4:3)

Brethren, there is a fire on the mountain. The members of some sections of the church in Nigeria have been infiltrated by sexual perverts, believers, branch pastors and even some church leaders who are now being dogged by a thick cloud of scandals. This does not mean the genuine believers who fell into sin out of fleshly weakness and have since repented. I am talking about some branch pastors and some church leaders who are sexual perverts and continue to destroy the lives of so many young people but are still protected by the sycophants and praisers who surround them. Of course, some of these perverts commit these sinful acts as a prerequisite to their ritual vows to grow their church, generate spiritual power and attract demonic financial power.

On the other hand, some commit these horrific acts to satisfy their sinful desires, which are largely fed by the lack of discipleship in our churches. I am very sensitive when it comes to the desecration of vulnerable people. Unfortunately, we are currently dealing with numerous cases where pastors and leaders of some of our denominations are actively and regularly desecrating the altars of the Lord without being sexually punished for it. What is happening is beyond what I can make public. I understand the extreme sensitivity of this issue, and given that, I bear a heavy burden and responsibility to handle this issue with wisdom and in the spirit of love. Therefore, for the sake of the younger believers and the dignity of the Body of Christ to which I am eternally committed, I will not dwell too much on specific cases of what is happening.

“But sexual immorality and all uncleanness or covetousness must not even be mentioned among you, as is fitting for saints.” (Ephesians 5:3)

Yes, our generation is made up of many praying sinners, so-called believers and preachers whose prayers rarely reach the presence of God, let alone have any value in heaven. To save our nation, we must be saved ourselves. Our prayers seem to go unanswered, not because God is weak and merciless. But our sins have restrained His hand.

However, I appeal to our fathers in the faith, fathers who are still connected with Heaven, not to put branch expansion and financial considerations above the honor and dignity of Christ’s name. When we open churches in every corner of our cities, we tend to appoint some people with unscrupulous characters as shepherds over God’s sheep. Such persons eventually become wolves whose main interest is their belly. Unfortunately, when such scandals are committed, they go largely unpunished by some of the leaders, leading to the normalization of sexual pervasion in the Church. Also, the usual leaning on the words “let us be quiet and pray for the Church” no longer holds water. Prayers without genuine repentance are foolishness, and that is precisely what has brought us to where we are today. We pray so much and repent so little, creating a generation of very prayerful sinners.

“And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, but she did not repent.” (Revelation 2:21)

Yes, our generation is made up of many praying sinners, so-called believers and preachers whose prayers rarely reach the presence of God, let alone have any value in heaven. To save our nation, we must be saved ourselves. Our prayers seem to go unanswered, not because God is weak and merciless. But our sins have held back His hand. The leaders, the fathers, have the first responsibility before God to raise the banner of righteousness – no sexual pervert must be covered up and laundered. Money must not be exchanged for value and virtue. Sexual perverts must be identified, disciplined, restored in love and, if possible, exposed to save the souls of their innocent victims. Our younger ones must be protected from sexual predators. Single women must be protected. Our teenage girls must not be afraid to see their pastors for counseling. The dignity of Christ’s name must be restored and preserved. The future of the Church must be preserved. The moral compass of society as a whole must be positively influenced by the Church. Let the Church in Nigeria flee from sexual immorality!

Ayo Akerele is the senior pastor of Rhema Assembly and the founder of Voice of the Watchmen in Ontario, Canada. He can be reached at [email protected].