The Church is Now Full of People Without the Heart for God – Archbishop Eric Emiaso

Archbishop Eric U. Emiaso, the head of mission and the first celebrated presiding archbishop of Gospel Church of Christ Worldwide, is an alumnus of the University of Benin (UNIBEN), a product of Haggai Institute, Maui, Hawaii, and International Miracle Institute, USA. 

A stickler to Christian discipline and principles. An astute Bible teacher, conference speaker, leader and prominent figure within the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) where he was widely acknowledged and lauded for his message of hope and faith for Nigeria’s future, during the 18th National Biennial Conference in Abuja, emphasising it requires prayers for the country and its leaders.

He bared his mind to Gracious Akintayo on the present state of the church and the general society. Excerpt;

As the head of mission and the first Archbishop of GCC Worldwide, describe your leadership journey? 

I give God the glory for everything, it is not by power nor by might, but by God’s spirit, grace and power.

My leadership journey as the head of mission, Gospel Church of Christ Worldwide and as the first Archbishop has been very challenging and exciting. So far, God has been my helper and I give Him all the glory. The journey has been smooth and stable. No breakaway or infighting among members and the leadership of the church. It has been peaceful since I took over as the head of mission. It’s a privilege I don’t take for granted as the first Archbishop in a mission you didn’t find. I return all the glory to God for the privilege.

The most important is the acceptance, love and genuine honour being accorded me by the majority of church members and leaders, they are appreciated and cannot be undermined.

Though, no 100% level of acceptance and reception but when you have the majority, it’s a proof you are honoured. I thank God for His grace and glory as the head of the mission of GCC Worldwide and as the first Archbishop.

How do you manage the administration and leadership of GCC Worldwide?

Everything is wisdom. The Bible says, wisdom is the principal of faith. Without wisdom, you cannot handle any church affairs and management.

It is by the wisdom of God, also with the care and guidance of the Holy Spirit with the principles of fairness and firmness. These are the key and each challenge can be treated according to its merit and not comparison.

There is no church that doesn’t have its own challenges but by the grace of God, I have been handling the church administration and management effectively by the wisdom of God. If you don’t apply the wisdom, you will scatter the church. It requires wisdom to pastor, no area of pastoring is useless.

What are your memorable and challenging times as GCC head of mission? 

The most challenging period was when I lost three major leaders of the church. Rev. George Eloho-Idebe, who was a Regional Overseer in Rivers State, Rev. Livinus Okafor, a bishop-elect, and Bishop Felix Omenogor, of Taraba region. These were the most challenging periods I had but God saw us through.

Memorable times were when I was consecrated as the first Archbishop of GCC Worldwide and when my wife was consecrated as the first female bishop in GCC Worldwide in 2022, they are memorable moments.

What influenced you growing up and who are your role models in life?

I don’t have any specific person as my influence or role model but God has used many people to positively affect my life at different points.

My spiritual life was strongly built in the mid 70s to early 80s from the valley of Benin. That’s where we had solid foundation on whatever we are building upon today in Christendom. It’s not a particular individual here and there.

While on campus in the University of Benin, between 1979 and 82 as a student. The life the Holy Spirit has passed unto us is what I still view till tomorrow. I can’t say this pastor, bishop or that person influenced my life more than what it was while on campus.

What has been your guiding principle in life? 

My life guiding principles are holiness, righteousness, integrity, love, equity, humility and selfless service to God and humanity. Everything else is, by the way.

How would you compare today’s Christianity with your days? 

Christianity is a personal race and not comparable. It doesn’t have anything to do with seasons or generations. There are good and there are bad Christians today. There were good Christians then, also there were bad Christians.

The decision you make defines who you are and the way you run your Christian race is personal without comparison.

What is missing in today’s Christianity that should be improved on?

Christianity is essentially about soul winning and evangelism. Anything outside that is contrary. Today, there’s much emphasis on prosperity and breakthroughs, also commercialization of the church. We should de-emphasize all that stuff and seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.

The church has been turned into a business center, where some people opened a church because they are after making money. Most pastors don’t talk about Jesus in the center of their message, they talk about self, money, houses, cars and material things while Jesus, the owner of the church, and the Holy Spirit who is the church administrator are never mentioned in their messages. All these should be stopped and emphasis focused on Jesus, the owner of the church. Christians should be genuinely born again and heaven conscious. This was what gave us the foundation we have today.

Most christian today are not ready to evangelize and win souls, they try to convince others to leave their church and join theirs. Pastors only talk about prosperity and money, they are more interested in the offering, tithe and other income without emphasis on Jesus’ message of salvation, repentance, and righteousness.

The bane of today’s church that must be addressed is that many Christians are not genuinely born again and do not have the gospel spirit. They go to church to fill the space or for something else.

What advice do you have for church leaders? 

Church leaders, pastors, and preachers should de-emphasize money, prosperity, material things and make the message of Jesus the center message. In GCC, Jesus is our message and evangelism is our ministry. That is our drive, focus and mission. This is not to say we don’t talk about other things. But the emphasis is majorly on Jesus, the owner of the church with the primary focus on His messages of salvation, repentance and righteousness.

More so, the church should produce genuine Christians and make disciples, instead of going after the crowd without Christ centered control. Those are not Christ followers and that’s not the church of Jesus Christ.

We should preach the gospel of genuine repentance and salvation with righteousness as our core foundation in churches. People should be transformed and renewed through our messages, and not to be motivated, entertained, or cajoled.

Church leaders should go back to the basis of church foundation by preaching sanctification and holiness which has since been eroded and forgotten in our pulpits. Preachers and pastors no longer emphasize that to people and the church is daily crowded without Christlike christians.

Are you satisfied with the present state of the nation?

God is the owner of Nigeria. If you talk about satisfaction, I wouldn’t say yes or no because if God was not with Nigeria, most of the things we see in Nigeria today, let it happen in some of these West African countries, there will be no peace. But in spite of it all, people are still going about their normal businesses. Peace is the bedrock of any nation. Thank God for whatever God has allowed us to have now, we have some relative peace, though not absolute.

As long as Nigeria has been stubborn as a nation, God will always give us stubborn leaders, so that we can learn our lessons and rearrange ourselves. At least, it is better to keep God’s ways because if what we are going through, we are not going through it, we will not appreciate God, we will think everything is bread and butter.

If there’s prosperity everywhere, Nigerians will misbehave and do all manner of things worse than what we are doing now. At least to curtail our excesses and bring us to where we belong. At times, we lose reasoning and start buying luxurious cars, live flamboyantly, and block roads. God is bringing all these governments to us to curtail our excesses, it was at times as it were.

There’s no war and crisis, though there are some problems, but people still go about their normal businesses. To God be all the glory for everything, I would say God is with us and we need more of Him. If not, if there had been trouble, we would by now be crying, where’s God? But God is with us.

No country in the world that has no challenges, the American, Japanese, and others, have their own. But their media and citizens will not put it as the headline news or blow it out on the internet as is our practice here. They hide their own and seek for solutions but in our case, any little situation we will blow it out of proportion to the world.

We thank God for the president we have and for the way the economy is going. Thank God we have relative peace, there’s no trouble and confusion.

What is your opinion on social media abuse? 

No one has control over social media, unlike the traditional media. You don’t control social media, everyone sees it, it’s open and everyone is part of it. Our data controls it and if you don’t have data, you are not there. Any one who wants to be on social media without tangible reason or purpose is wasting money on unnecessary information. We have people that are wounded on a daily basis with our data on social media.

How do you relax and what’s the secret of your good look? 

Every year I go to the U.S with my wife for about a month or two to unwind. We do that to keep fit and keep strong. I eat well and don’t eat junk food or any food that comes my way. I have my way of eating and what to eat to keep strong and healthy.

My look is God’s grace, I sleep well. Despite the volumes of work, schedules, and activities around me, I don’t downplay my sleep. I rest when I should, eat what I should eat and avoid what I should not.

My attitude to life is simplicity. I live a simple life, I don’t bother about things or allow situations to trouble my mind and I don’t have issues with anyone or hold grudges, my heart is free and open. I take one day at a time and live peaceably.