Pastor Chris Okafor and his ‘apology’

Pastor Chris Okafor and his ‘apology’

By Emmanuel Eche Ofun

It’s trending that Pastor Chris Okafor, the founder and Senior Pastor of Mountain of Liberation and Miracle Ministries, also known as Grace Nation Liberation City, was reportedly on his knees on Sunday apologizing for his misdemeanour.

Chris has been in the news for (wrong) reason that has to do with sexual indiscipline. Two ladies that claim to be his daughters, and a Nollywood actress, Doris Ogala, have been revealing his horrible and embarrassing side that was not known to people.

While his apology is being celebrated by some people, especially his congregation, I’m a bit sceptical about it and find it intriguing. I liken the apology to that of an armed robber who’s facing the firing squad. It’s not genuine. It’s not from the heart. It’s a face-saving act to attract sympathy and distract people’s attention from him.

Chris committed terrible sins, going by the confessional and indicting statements that have been extracted from his victims. As a pastor, he’s expected to live above board so he can properly guide his flock. But he has been living and flourishing in sins, and would have joyfully continued if those sins were not found out. He would have jumped to another victim by now and still come to the altar to ‘preach’. He would have been dazzling his congregation with miracles and powerful messages, not knowing that shameful sins are being committed behind closed doors.

Chris’s apology is not enough. What happened on the altar on Sunday cannot erase his ‘mistakes’, as he called those his acts. He needs to step aside and embark on a soul-searching mission with a view to genuinely repent, embrace Christ and be consecrated for the pastoral job. He needs TOTAL cleansing.

He asked his members to pray for him. Yes, pastors need prayers but the major prayer a pastor needs from his congregation is the prayer for grace, fresh anointing, strength and preservation, not prayer to stay away from sin.

Staying away from sin is a personal decision and something one personally prays against. Nobody can effectively pray that prayer for anybody. Not even the church can pray that prayer for any member or pastor, instead it’s the pastor’s responsibility to lead his flocks out of sin, so if reverse is the case in any church, then the pastor in question has to pause and go for spiritual check-up.

Chris must do more than an apology to show genuine repentance, secures God’s forgiveness and gain people’s confidence. He gravely erred.

It’s the collective responsibility of all members of the Body of Christ to purge the Church and contain the excesses of pastors and leaders. Pastors cannot be indulging in immorality, drunkenness, corruption, verbal recklessness, pride, gambling, scam, haughtiness and all those things that bring shame to the Church and still be standing on the pulpit as ‘preachers’ of the gospel. No!

They either repent or quit. He who cannot stay away from sin should stay away from the pulpit, and he who stays on the pulpit MUST stay away from sin.

~ Eche’Ofun