The Sunday my integrity cost me my seat

It was a Sunday morning in 2019, during the second service. The General Overseer was visiting from Lagos, so the church was packed. The board had asked me, as the young assistant pastor, to set the pace for the building fund offering. They wanted me to pledge something big to inspire the congregation.

I looked at the figure they suggested and my stomach turned. It was the equivalent of three months of my salary. I knew I couldn't pay it. But the pressure was there. The elders were watching. The GO was smiling. So I stood up and pledged the amount.

For the next three months, I lived in hell. I borrowed from my savings meant for my daughter's school fees. I took a loan from a cooperative I wasn't even a full member of. I cut my feeding budget to one meal a day. My wife started asking questions I couldn't answer.

When the deadline came and I still couldn't complete the pledge, they called me into a meeting. The senior pastor said my 'lack of faith' was affecting the church's testimony. They asked me to step down from the youth ministry 'temporarily' until I could prove my financial commitment.

That was the day I learned that God is not a vending machine where you insert a pledge and get respect. I resigned quietly two months later. I still pastor, but now I lead a small fellowship where we teach people that your yes can be yes and your no can be no. You don't have to destroy your home to impress a congregation.