When I was a little boy and until some years ago, people who bore the title pastor, reverend, priest, evangelist, apostle, bishop, and man of God were seen as being holier than anyone else. They were highly respected and even regarded as assistant God.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of them today.  Anybody who uses any of the above listed appellations is now seen and treated with plenty of reservations.

Do you know why? The reason is not far-fetched. It is because some pastors, reverend Fathers, evangelists, bishops, all of whom are known as men and women of God, are known to have been involved in different forms of crimes and other activities that people of their status are not expected to be associated with.

For example, you cannot talk about adultery, rape, child-molestation, stealing, robbery, and murder, among others, without some of them being implicated. Rather than the situation abating, more and more of these Christian religious leaders are regularly involved in crimes.

That’s just by the way!   This is not why I decided to write this article. What prompted me to write it was an incident that happened within the premises of a bank on Bode Thomas Street in Surulere, Lagos, some time ago.

While I was on the queue waiting to make some withdrawals from the bank’s teller machine, an argument erupted between two men. Each of them was claiming to have come there before the other.

As their voice rose, one of them said angrily: “You’re playing with your life. How can you talk to a man of God of my status like that?”

“Man of God my foot,” retorted the other party.

I am not here to judge and tell you who was guilty and who was innocent.  I am here to ask you some questions, which I would like you to help me with some answers.

My questions are: Who’s a man of God or a woman of God, and who’s not?  What qualifies a man or a woman to become or be called a man or a woman of God?

For me, I think any interested person can become a man or a woman of God, provided he or she is ready to fulfill the following two conditions.

One, by believing in Jesus Christ as his or her personal Lord and Saviour, as required by John 3:16.  And two, by living by the word of God and being zealous in the things of God, including talking to people and teaching them about the things of God, as required by Matthew 28: 18-20.

I am always ashamed and disappointed when I hear and see some people, especially men, priding themselves as men and women of God, just because they attended a Bible school or because they are full-time pastors in a church or because they own a church.

If you’re one of such persons, you need to re-educate yourself. Attending a Bible school does not make you a pastor. In short that is one of the causes of the rut that we have in the Christendom today.  Most of such  people go about establishing mushroom churches and using them to commit crimes and other forms of atrocities.

Being a pastor in a church or owning a church also does not make you a man or a woman of God and others men and women of the devil. In case you do not know, there are people who are neither pastors in any church nor owners of a church, but who are more of a man of God than those who founded a church and built a cathedral.

True or false? Did American-born Billy Graham really own a church of his own in all the years he spent serving God and the people? How about Nigerian-born Rev. (Dr.) Uma Ukpai? Can anybody remind me the name of his church?

Even if you’re a man or a woman of God, must you flaunt it in the ignorant manner that the so-called man of God did in Lagos? No, no, no!

That was absurd. Flaunting your man of God status like a fool will only amount to you bringing bad publicity to the body of Christ.

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