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The General Secretary of The Church of Pentecost, Apostle Alexander Nana Yaw Kumi-Larbi, has said that a minister who does not live above reproach is not sound and fit for his or her calling.
“As a minister, you must be a person of integrity. The people you are leading must see you as sound and fit to lead them. If not, then you are not fit for purpose,” he said.
Apostle Kumi-Larbi said this on Friday, 14 February 2020, when he made a presentation on the topic: “Living A Life Of Integrity As A Christian” at the ongoing maiden Francophone Ministers and Wives’ Conference at the Pentecost Convention Centre (PCC), Gomoa Fetteh, near Kasoa in the Central Region.
In his presentation, the General Secretary said that one of the key elements of one’s walk with God is trustworthiness. Therefore, as ministers, who have been entrusted with the holy people and holy things of God, it behoves on them to live a life of integrity, he stated.
He pointed out that, although God created human beings to be upright, humans, due to disobedience, have chosen to take the path of scheming (Ecclesiastes 7:29).
“Most of the time, schemers circumvent policies and rules. Scheming is a sign of covetousness. If a Christian is full of hypocrisy and is dishonest, then he or she is a schemer,” he explained.
The General Secretary, however, asserted that as a result of their callings, it is required of every minister of God to be a person of integrity.
“As ministers of God, we are holy people in charge of holy things. We are, therefore, stewards of God; what is required of us is to be found faithful because the God we serve says He hates unequal balance,” he said.
He emphasized that it is only by upholding integrity that they would be able to equip their members to be agents of transformation in society.
Apostle Kumi-Larbi decried the situation where corrupt practices and other vices have bedevilled most countries, particularly African nations.
He said that the Church possesses the solution to the moral corruption and wickedness of humanity; however, the church would not be able to serve her purpose if she is perceived by the watching-world to have an integrity crisis.
Touching on integrity crisis in the church, Apostle Kumi-Larbi said that God values integrity because it ensures a just and fair society. He said that it is sad that the integrity of Christians in the contemporary generation is sometimes questioned.
This, according to him, has had a negative effect on the propagation of the gospel message of Christ and how watching-world responds to the message of Christ.
He said that for the watching world to respond positively to the gospel message, it is incumbent that Christians model righteousness like Daniel, Job and Noah, whom God testified of as righteous men in their generation.
The General Secretary, therefore, advised the ministers to uphold integrity by maintaining a consistent lifestyle whether or not others are watching, and maintain a clear conscience for every decision they take, for God looks at their motives.
“Like Paul and Samuel, we must always keep clean hands. We must live above reproach; people should not struggle to know us. We must live as if the whole world is looking at us,” he said.
Quoting Proverbs 14:34, Apostle Alexander Kumi-Larbi said that African nations continue to perform poorly on the Corruption Perception Index ranking by Transparency International because of the lack of integrity and righteousness. He, therefore, urged ministers to model righteousness and equip members to do the same in order to transform the fortunes of the nations.
“If we choose the path of righteousness, the nations will grow, but if we choose corruption and other vices, it will lead to disgrace. There is no middle ground; we, either, become people of integrity for our nations to grow, or choose otherwise for our nations to fail,” he said.
