Reason why I ceased from employing female secretaries — Pastor Adeboye
The General Overseer of Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye. Photo Credit: RCCG
The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, delivered a message on the necessity of severing compromising relationships during a sermon at the ongoing Holy Ghost Congress in Ogun State on Tuesday.
Speaking on the theme, “Jonah Must Go,” Adeboye warned worshippers about the dangers of nurturing immoral thoughts and maintaining friendships or associations that could hinder spiritual growth.
The cleric addressed the topic of maintaining boundaries with the opposite sex, revealing the strict personal policy he implemented after moving to the campground due to long working hours.
“From the moment I got to this campground, from the moment I got to a stage where, at night, I still have to work, I ceased to have a female secretary. Some people think it is gender discrimination,” he explained.
Adeboye justified this decision based on self-awareness and avoiding potential temptation, especially during late hours.
“I know myself. I know who I was before Jesus saved my soul. I know the possibility of dangers, being left alone at night with people of the opposite sex,” he said.
“If I were to get a secretary like the last one I had. She was a wonderful child of God. She’s saved, a very wonderful child of God. She was my secretary at Ebute Meta.
“And when I got here, I knew I would still be in the office at 3 a.m., and I could imagine that after a long day’s work, we have seen the last visitor. And then my secretary comes in at 2 a.m. to say, ‘We are through now, sir. Is there any way I can help you? Like a cup of tea to relax.’
“At 2 am? Jonah must go,” he declared, emphasising the need to eliminate the opportunity for moral failure before it arises.
Adeboye also shared cautionary tales from within his ministry to underscore his point.
He recalled advising a young man of God from the North who confessed to being excited about Mondays just because he wanted to see his secretary.
“Sack her. Pay whatever you have to pay,” Adeboye recalled advising the minister.
The secretary was said to have reacted angrily, saying, “I know where you are coming from. You’ve gone to visit that stupid man you call your father.”
“Not that I blame her,” Adeboye said. “My son says, ‘Call him stupid. Just go.’ Today is a great man of God. Why? Because Jonah must go.”
In another example, Adeboye spoke of a minister pastoring a large church in America who refused the instruction to sack his secretary and was eventually “relieved” of his duties.
He was said to have later married the secretary, only for the man to discover that four out of the five children the woman had belonged to the former pastor.
“It wasn’t long before the lady chased the pastor out and became the owner of the pastor. God have mercy on pastors,” Adeboye said.
The cleric stressed that achieving one’s divine destiny requires drastic action, saying, “There are things that we won’t do physically because we are afraid that if we are caught, the result won’t be good. But we dwell on them in our hearts.
“You yourself, you know that there are certain relationships, one or two or more that you have to do something about and do something about them quickly before they destroy you.
“Because the elders have a saying, stay away from a snake that has its head on. In other words, even if the snake appears to be dead until they cut off its head, stay away from it. You know, friends, quote and unquote, that when you are in their presence, you can’t think about God. Jonah must go.”
Adeboye concluded by reassuring worshippers that fear of loss should not prevent them from cutting off unhealthy ties.
“If I cut off this relationship, if I throw Jonah into the ocean… Leave the rest to God,” he urged.
“Anything that can truncate your destiny, friendship that is not leading you closer to God. Everything that will not let you reach your goal, Jonah must go.
“When you cut off this unhealthy relationship, you might be helping that fellow. Until they threw Jonah into the sea, he wasn’t going where God wanted him to go. Jonah must go,” he added.
