PASTORS AND THE ANOINTED MEN OF GOD AVOID THE FOLLOWING SO THAT YOU DON’T GET INTO TROUBLE
… But wisdom is profitable to direct.
Ecclesiastes 10:10
As a Pastor, you need to live your life and do your ministry with wisdom so that you can last long in ministry and avoid trouble from law enforcement agencies.
As a pastor, please don’t do the following:
- Don’t guarantee or surety loans for people.
- Don’t introduce businesses and investment schemes from the pulpit.
- Don’t collect pictures from people for prayers.
- Don’t sign bail bonds for people you are not sure of, especially new members or people whose family members you cannot trace or locate.
- Don’t wed a couple when their parents have not consented or dowry paid.
- Don’t hide anyone that law enforcement agencies have declared wanted, in your house or Church premises.
- Don’t matchmake people for marriage. If the marriage have issues, you will be blamed.
- Don’t try to make decisions for the members or control them. Teach the word and leave decision making for members. Except where your opinion is asked, don’t force your ideas on people. When your ideas or decisions backfire, you will be denigrated.
- Don’t allow sick people to sleep in Church or in your house. If you must admit them, let them sign some documents that extricate you from any form of issue, should anything happen to them.
- Don’t allow your members pass huge amount of money through your account You could be arrested as an accomplice for advanced fee fraud, money laundering, kidnapping or drug peddling.
- Don’t conduct a christening ceremony service of a child whose gestation history you don’t know. What if the baby was kidnapped? You could be arrested as an accomplice for kidnapping.
Once again, wisdom is profitable to direct
Let me add little:
- Don’t bury a corpse that the family are not available with full medical report and death certificate. I have encountered situations where we were asked to exhumed a body four days after burial
- Limit your direct involvement in politics, as a clergy you are supposed to be non partisan.
- Don’t visit a family when the husband or either parents are not around, you may be tempted or implicated.
- Don’t allow a woman that has quarrel with her husband to pass night or remain under your custody
- Don’t take anyone to hospital without the family been aware or possibly present
A lot of men of God today, innocently in the name of clear conscience have fallen into these ministerial landmines and destroyed their ministry or sent into undeserving prison term.
God bless you as you adhere to the above pieces of advise.