Absolutely not! Fathers abound; Pa Isaac Omolehin is only wishing for a grandfather or great-grandfather for reasons only he can better explain. Methinks that if the Founder of The Word Assembly Churches, Rev. Isaac Omolehin, had limited his comments to the absence of a father in Nigerian Christendom and the need for same, he would not have been embroiled in the controversy that came with dragging the names of respectable Christian leaders into the fray.

He may have meant well, desiring a unifying paternal figure in the Christian community. But one cannot help but ask this question: should he get his wish, would Rev. Omolehin be willing to submit himself and his ministry to the said father? Your guess is as good as mine, especially considering that the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has issued a “firm and final caution” against his excesses.

In a statement released on Wednesday by its President, Archbishop Daniel Okoh, CAN expressed “deep concern that these baseless claims were publicly propagated by Rev. Isaac Omolehin, founder of Word Assembly Ministry, Ilorin, without evidence and without regard for the potential consequences on national cohesion and the unity of the Church. We also note, with concern, the unwarranted references to respected Christian leaders—Pastor Enoch Adeboye, Bishop David Oyedepo, and Pastor William Kumuyi—in a manner capable of misleading the faithful and inflaming unnecessary tensions.”

Suffice it to say that one of the senior men of God whom Omolehin called out has struggled with partisan allegations because he once acted under authority by obeying a CAN directive for its members to participate in a protest against a previous government. If the Body of Christ had a father who issued such directives against incumbent civil authorities, how many pastors and churches would defy the implications or refuse to comply? Be that as it may, let’s bring you up to speed with the core issue.

In a video that has since gone viral on social media, Omolehin was heard saying:
“One young man was speaking so intensely recently about our fathers and mentioning that our fathers should speak out—that Baba Adeboye should speak out. He was mentioning fathers, and I was asking myself: are these fathers of Christianity in Nigeria? Without sounding disrespectful, these are denominational leaders. Christianity in Nigeria has no father.”

According to Omolehin, for the General Overseer of MFM, Dr. Daniel Olukoya, not to know what is happening to a brother in the Seventh-day Adventist Church disqualifies him from being a Christian father. Ditto for Pastor William Kumuyi, who is focused on Deeper Life Ministry and may not be aware of what is happening to someone in Jehovah’s Witnesses. If those are the criteria, then Pa Omolehin might simply be seeking a re-enactment of an all-seeing and all-knowing “Big Brother” in the Body of Christ in Nigeria.

The Ilorin-based cleric concluded his argument by stressing:
“Whoever will be our father must be the father of those in the Roman Catholic Church, the Methodist Church, the Anglican Church, the Apostolic Church—be the father of everybody, because we are going to the same heaven.”

While there are aspects of his comment that are uncharacteristic and therefore not reproduced here, there is no denying the concern over the absence of a rallying father figure for Christians in Nigeria. If one carefully reads the CAN statement, it is clear that those mentioned were referred to as Christian leaders, not fathers. Anyone expecting a central patriarchal figure for the Nigerian Christian community may, therefore, be under an illusion of grand proportions.

Even the Almighty, who is God over the entire universe, is not the Father of the whole world. He is Father only to those who come to Him through the finished work of Christ on Calvary. So, if God, though Lord of all flesh, is not Father of all, why should we expect all Christians in Nigeria to defer to one mortal man simply because he is interested in what happens across all denominations?

Does Omolehin understand what an onerous responsibility that would be? Is it not enough that leaders already carry the burden of their respective ministries? In any case, it is not within Rev. Omolehin’s place to assign roles to God’s servants; that responsibility belongs to the One they serve. He should, therefore, hold his peace.

As a man of God himself, he should understand that most ministers are highly protective of their pulpits and are therefore careful about the messages that emanate from them. They are equally mindful of the spiritual residue left by invited ministers on their altars.

However, if the Nigerian Christian community is ever in need of a father figure, it would resemble someone like the legendary Archbishop Benson Idahosa. Beyond defending the Christian faith, his influence on the ministers he mentored is still evident today.

Many of the Christian heavyweights, including those mentioned by Pa Omolehin, passed through his tutelage with much to show for it. In fact, there were times when the only stamp of legitimacy for any ministry was its connection to the late Archbishop. That perhaps is what a father figure in the Body of Christ in Nigeria should look like. Unfortunately, many of today’s rancorous and cantankerous preachers did not have the privilege of encountering an Idahosa. If they had, perhaps it would have tempered their approach to the Gospel.

Granted that the Lord Jesus prayed in John 17:21 that “they all may be one,” we do not need a central earthly father to achieve this. A more pressing matter is for all these churches and denominational leaders to find common ground on salvation, the Word, and doctrine. That way, a worshipper in a Roman Catholic Church would feel no different from one in a Seventh-day Adventist Church.

As for the concern over who would speak for Nigerian Christians when the need arises, that should not be a problem, because the Spirit of God can put the right words in the mouth of any believer. When that happens, let us hope that our assumed “father” will not, in a fit of hubris, act like Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah, and strike the Lord’s prophet while asking, “Which way did the Spirit from the LORD go from me to speak to you?” (2 Chronicles 18:23).

Written by VIS Ugochukwu, a Narrative Architect and Branding Strategist. (X handle @sylvesugwuanyi)