Pastor Femi Mann is the senior pastor of the Tribe of Judah, an affiliate of The Fountain of Life Church, Lagos. In this interview with SEGUN OLATUNJI, Mann, who combines spiritual duty with secular work, speaks on his experience as a pastor, the proliferation of churches, the state of the nation and other issues
You are a pastor and yet keep a secular job. How easy is it, combining the two?
The truth is every individual has his unique, God-given design in life. We all have purposes that are unique to us. When a person understands his purpose, the required grace to carry out his assignment follows the purpose. So, for me, I have come to discover that this is the design that God has ordained for my life.
If you look at it from the other side, you will imagine it is a lot of work. But the truth is once you are in God’s will and purpose, He will make the grace available. He has granted me the grace needed to function effectively on both sides and none of it suffers.
What has been your experience as a pastor?
Well, before being a pastor, I am first a child of God and a believer. Every relationship must have a beginning. The experience, for me, has been humbling because it is nothing compared to you just being the ordinary church-goer, church worker, child of God kind of relationship you had in the past.
Being a Pastor, ministering or being in the vineyard is something that is entirely different. The moment I got baptized into this calling, I began to understand that it is a fresh learning experience. It is like you never knew God before. I have had to learn new things.
As a pastor, have you had any regrets since you started working in the vineyard?
Never! The fulfillment is about you discovering the purpose of God for you, and you living according to the design. Nobody who lives life in line with the purpose and plan of God for his life regrets. Fulfillment brings with it joy and a sense of accomplishment. It is not because there would not be challenges but even in the midst of challenges, you are guaranteed the victory. It has been fulfilling.
We understand your church is affiliated to the Fountain of Life Ministry. How will you react to such claims that we have too many churches in Nigeria?
I will not generalise because even in the midst of the several ones, we still have sound ministries and churches. So, we won’t throw the baby away with the bad water.
To an extent, it is true that once some Christians begin to understand some scriptures and signs of revelation, they become impatient to be properly discipled, groomed and established. But the idea should always be about everybody pastoring; this is just one aspect of the ministry.
There are other very important ministries that may not be visible like a pastor’s ministry where you have to come on the pulpit all the time. That is what you see happening; and that, perhaps, is giving vent to critics who go around town to say that churches are too many. I don’t think that is the situation of things, as we speak today.
Do you share the view that pastors in Pentecostal churches are flamboyant and live extravagant lifestyle?
I know a lot of role model pastors who you cannot say are given to this type of lifestyle that people talk about. But I think, sometimes, we also need to be balanced in our criticisms. Some of these congregations and ministries are so big, atimes like four times the size of thriving blue chip companies in terms of their finances. Would you say such ministries cannot own one private jet, if they so desire? What parameter are we using? So, it depends on the perspective from which you are viewing it.
You lead a church that is still growing. What are your plans to take the church higher?
Our desire every day is to know His will and to live in accordance with it. No two ministries are the same because God would not do anything just for the fun of it. That is not the kind of God we serve; He is not superfluous. If God does something, there has to be a reason for it. The purpose may be different from those of the other ministries.
So, there, definitely, has to be a purpose attached to each ministry. I believe there is a plan behind this commission and our desire is to ensure that all God has ordained for us comes to pass.
Nigerians say churches have failed, despite their huge numbers, in stemming the occurrence of crime and other social vices in the society. What is your view?
I don’t think that is a fair assessment. Crime is a social malaise. Beyond crime, it is also a function of the economy, how good or bad it is.
So, if we go by the statement of Christ, crime is more of a function of the economy. It is from the heart that man manufactures evil thoughts. You can’t use the level of crime we have today as a yardstick to say that the church has done well or not, or measure how effective the church has been in carrying out its social responsibility.
I know a lot of ministries are doing their very best. A lot of us engage in charity programmes and rehabilitation of the destitute. In our parent ministry in Lagos, for example, they have a programme through which they specifically reach out to very troublesome areas the police would categorise as black spots. We take the gospel to these areas with the intention of reaching these individuals and getting to win their hearts.
Nigerians are groaning due to the hardship occasioned by the parlous economy. How will you advise Nigerians on how to live through this period?
Every power is ordained by God and God never makes a mistake. He brought us together as a nation, God had His plans. I want to believe that we are right in the will of God for us. Sometimes, even the terrible times have purposes in the life of a man or any nation. I want to believe that going through difficult times will bring us lesson.
However, part of the experience and perhaps benefit to us as a country is that the smart people are already interpreting the signs of the times. They are becoming self-reliant; people have discovered some potentials about themselves that they never knew before. A lot of people who were given to frivolous spending have become more cautious.
As a country, the things we never took conscious interest in, for example, agriculture, are now catching our interest. We are now waking up many sectors that were sleeping. I think it is a good development; as a nation, we will be stronger when we get out of this current situation. I won’t say that the country has failed; I think it is time for us to stop, look inwards and begin to explore all our potentials.
