CHRIS OYAKHILOME’S REVELLING & ORGY (PART I)

“Do Not Be Conformed to This World”

By Akin Ojumu

My Dear Ehis, you asked to be educated. I’ll be happy to oblige you. But you’ve got to bear with me here. This commentary is going to be lengthy. Chris Oyakhilome’s atrocities are too egregious for anything less than a robust and well-thought-out response.

As a “pastor” of a global religious industrial complex with untold numbers of branches/campuses and hundreds of thousands of customers and admirers, Chris Oyakhilome carries an exceptionally huge influence and clout. People, Christians and non-Christians alike, look up to him as a role model of a godly man. What he does and says carries significant weight. 

There are folks who, upon seeing king-wannabe Oyakhilome’s wanton display of pomp and pageantry, would desire to do the same. By his blatant show of shame, he has established a permission structure for others to do what they would never ever have thought of doing before. For someone who calls himself a minister of the Gospel, that’s a horrendously ungodly precedent to set.

Romans 14:13-19

“Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself, but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean. For if your brother is grieved by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. By what you eat, do not destroy the one for whom Christ died. So do not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.”

1 Corinthians 8:9-13

“But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.”

You ask, “what’s exactly wrong with him wielding his sphere of influence?” To which I say, everything. That’s right. Everything is wrong with a Christian leader turning his influence into a tool for self-aggrandizement and vainglory.

This is what you should know. When it comes to Christian conduct and the behavior expected of believers, it’s not an unwieldy jungle where every man is for himself and where there are no rules of engagement. The Bible is the Code of Conduct and the Manual for Christian living. Everything we need to live godly lives has been spelt out on the pages of Scriptures.

2 Timothy 3:16-17

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

Moreover, what are considered acceptable Christian conducts have already been modeled for us by the Lord Jesus Christ, His Disciples, and the Apostolic Fathers who succeeded them. Even when a particular behavior is not specifically mentioned in Scriptures, we can always go back in history and see how the early Saints navigated such behavior.

This much is clear. Nowhere in Scripture is it taught that it’s an acceptable Christian practice to engage in carousing, cavorting, debauchery, and revellings such as the one Chris Oyakhilome and his followers put on in their vainglorious show of shame. On the contrary, the Bible condemns such an unseemly display and calls us to modesty (i.e., humility, self-respect, and avoiding undue attention) and moderation (i.e., balance, avoiding extremes, and self-control in actions, consumption, and life).

Galatians 5:19-26

“Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousies, wraths, factions, divisions, heresies, envyings, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I forewarn you, even as I did forewarn you, that they which practise such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts thereof. If we live by the Spirit, by the Spirit let us also walk. Let us not be vainglorious, provoking one another, envying one another.”

In the Bible, “revelling” (from the Greek kōmos) means wild, excessive partying, drunken carousing, and unrestrained indulgence, often involving gluttony, lust, and loud, debauched celebrations, contrasting sharply with the sober life of the Spirit and God's will (Source: Google AI).

As Christians, we are in the world, but we are not part of this world. God expects us to not pattern our lives after the ways the people of the world do their thing.

Romans 12:1-2

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

For pastors and Church leaders, the bar of behavior is much higher and the standard and expectations for living are much more stringent.

1 Timothy 3:1-7

“Therefore an overseer must be above reproach…sober-minded, self-controlled…Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.”

Titus 1:5-9

“This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you – if anyone is above reproach…not open to the charge of debauchery…for an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant…or a drunkard…a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined…”

Debaucheries, revellings & orgies aren’t practices that should be associated with a Church leader. These are the forte of unregenerate souls. Believers in Christ are called to live modest exemplary lives in a depraved world. Our lives are supposed to be a powerful, visible testimony to God’s goodness. It’s expected of Christ followers to shine God’s light through good deeds and transformed lives. 

Matthew 5:14-16

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

1 Timothy 4:12

“Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.”

Believers in Christ do not shine their light for the world to see by putting on a gross public display of opulence and ostentatious living. You cannot call yourself a Christian or a Christian leader and parade yourself around wearing a crown and riding on a horse-drawn luxurious carriage on a gold-paved street with people cheering you on while pretending to be a king.

It is flagrant idolatry for any pastor to ask or permit his followers to bow down and worship him as though he is some deity. We read in the Book of Acts of how Paul and Barnabas reacted when the people of Lystra mistook them for gods and wanted to offer them sacrifices after they had healed a man crippled from birth. Scandalized by the gesture, Paul and Barnabas tore their clothes and rebuked the crowd.

Acts 14:11-15

“And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in Lycaonian, “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!” Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was at the entrance to the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates and wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds. But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their garments and rushed out into the crowd, crying out, “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men, of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.”

We’ll take it from here next time. Don’t go anywhere.