The Church As a Transformation Agent Must Bring ack Integrity into The Church –Pastor Abiodun Fijabi

Pastor Abiodun Fijabi, a seasoned engineer by profession and former guest lecturer at different higher institutions of learning, is the CEO of Lord Princely Associates, a public speaking and training firm. Through Church Envisioned, he works with churches and ministries to prepare their leadership for maximum impact in the society. He is an active member of Full Gospel Businessmen Fellowship International (FGBFI) as a National Director, also Senior Faculty, Haggai Institute. He was in Lagos as a guest speaker on topic, INTEGRITY during the The Living Stone Builders Ministry annual convention. He spoke with Gracious Akintayo on why Christian integrity and leadership are required keys for the church and the society stability. Excerpt;

What is the effect of integrity and leadership in our present day society?

Leadership falls to places without integrity, because leadership and integrity are of the same character and when the character angle is missing, it becomes a major challenge that requires character. When everything else fails, integrity remains and integrity makes a way for leaders. Integrity is very vital to leadership and without it; you can only go far without farther. One thing everyone needs to inculcate, the ability to be integral in your word and action, inaction and intents. Imbibe life values, make life better and open yourself to others. Integrity is a life to live as a leader.

Do you think integrity and leadership quality have been significant in the present state of the church? 

Significantly, people are losing confidence in Nigerian church leadership and by extension, on the Christian faith. Because, the leader does not epitomize what they say and what they profess. And so when you have a doubt between words and actions, you have problems with integrity and these issues, like after the general election. It’s now becoming a factor of doubt on Christian leader’s integrity, especially where many failed prophecies in the last election were recorded when many people had built their confidence on them. But it turned out to be a failed prophecy, with many speaking carelessly with confidence and some went as far as saying, “if it doesn’t come to pass, it means, I am not a man of God” and the prophecies didn’t come to pass. Yet, having led people astray with their failed prophecy, these prophets could not come back to publicly apologize. It is an integrity issue against the church which everyone that carries the name of the Lord must see to it that we restored back to the church by doing what is right, seen ourselves been open, been vulnerable, making genuine impact on people rather than all the kind of things we do to manipulate people into obedience and giving out their resources. We need to bring back integrity into the church.

How do you think the church can impact society?

The church is a transformation agent of the world. Because the church is the pillar of truth, it must stand on the truth. The church is a light in the darkness and the church is the salt of the earth. All of this metaphase describes us as a transformation agent and we cannot hide under the bushel, we have to be right on the table where they can be able to see the light. Our salt must be able to mix in the society and impact, purify, sweetening and prevent it from decay. We are the hope of society and you can imagine when we have lost our saltiness, it is therefore good for nothing more than to drop it on the feet of men. It is a calamity of monumental proportion and that’s what we seem to be seeing now and it could be more. People have to work on themselves, imbibe the Christians principles and know the mind of God.  Unfortunately many Christian are associating and communicating with what and who they are not supposed to. But no matter what is happening in the church today, the church must be ready to take her place in the society.

What should be the role of leadership and integrity in parenting?

Parenting is a major issue, because we have a culture of how we do things, but that culture does not help much anymore. The culture of mum and dad is no more communicating with the children. All they do is just to give them instructions and they know what to do. But these children are now on the internet and they hear alternative points of view, they know what other things they are to do. The time has come for parents to engage their children more and Christian parents, who are using goal tactics to raise children, will discover that they are not doing it right, they will have problems in their hands in the future. There’s a need for us to change our attitude towards parenting, see it as an opportunity for us to midwife the children through life, where we are their guide. They are the arrows from the above, we are the bows and they are the arrows, we shoot them into the future. With the qualities of the characteristics that we have and the characteristics of the qualities of children we have. Because, we bow, in a situation where the adult is decadence, you can imagine what the future generation is going to be, probably the present and the future generation will be more than decadence, they will decay fast. To this extent, the parent and the adult put their act together and work in conformity with the word of God and impart the knowledge of the word in them. Apart from the knowledge of the word of God, there’s a skill we need to expose the next generation to and everyone must be willing to learn a skill. 

What advice do you have for Nigerians?

Nigerians should think outside the box and be proud of who they are. They should challenge their limits and ensure they say and do things in alignment. In every situation they find themselves in, Nigerians should be still, thankful to God, adapt to change and sustain their progress with the right mindset. On the last note, integrity matters in all you do and leadership must be shaped by values, rather than by popular opinions.