“You only lead people if they trust you. If you lose people’s trust, you’ve lost it all. That is why the right to lead is earned, and it is earned by being trustworthy. I think the most damaging sin a leader can commit is to betray the trust of his people.”
Those were the words of Bishop Michael Adio, the founder of Christ Preach the Gospel Apostolic Church, narrating his journey to the ministry, his salvation experience, how he got converted from Islam to Christianity.
Bishop Adio, who like Apostle Paul in the Bible, said he too was once a persecutor of Christians, declared that integrity is the foundation of leadership.
The 60-year-old cleric, revealing his journey into ministry warned that, “there are so many fake preachers and prophecies now and people should be careful of who to follow in their Christian life.
He said: “I was born on January 1, 1960 to the family of Shittu Adio of Ijaiye, in Abeokuta, Ogun state. I was born a Muslim. I served as a Muslim for many years.
“I attended nursery and primary school before I stopped due to some reasons and later went ahead to learn how to become a mechanic of which I became a professional.
” As earlier said, I was a Muslim, one day, I was in the mosque because I happened to be the Imam of our mosque then, as I was praying in Muslim way something struck me that made me to start speaking in tongues. I did that for many times until they could no longer condone me, so they directed me to the Church where I gave my life to Christ Jesus.
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“Even, after my reconciliation with Jesus, I was still adamant to succumb because I did not belief in Christianity like I believed in Islam, but today, Jesus has taken me all over.
“Before then, my son fell sick and they told me that if I did not surrender my life to Jesus that my son would die. So, I accepted by giving my life to Christ on a condition that I would accept Christ if my son regained his consciousness.
“All glory to God who perfected my son’s healing and that made me to fully belief that truly Jesus reigns.
“From there, I attended a Bible school from 1994-1995 before I started the ministerial work fully. Then, the church was at a small shop in front of my house before we moved to where the church is today. To the glory of God, the ministry is moving as God wants it today. Praise the Lord.”
Speaking further, on how to maintain moral integrity as a minister? The minister said: “Never consider yourself above temptation.
“Don’t deceive yourself. People say, ‘It couldn’t happen to me.’ That is a bunch of baloney! We need to be aware how vulnerable all of us are. The first defense is an attitude of humility that says, ‘I’m a human being.’ We need to watch out. 1 Corinthians 10:12 says: ‘So be careful if you are thinking, ‘Oh, I’d never behave like that.’ Let this be a warning to you, for you too may fall into sin.’ None of us is invulnerable. None of us is immune. Proverbs 16:18 says: ‘Pride goes before destruction.’
It is like a person who believes he is never going to be robbed, so, he never locks his doors, never bolts down his windows, and leaves his money lying all around. Who is going to get robbed? The guy who thinks he is never going to get robbed. Jeremiah 17:9 says: ‘The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?’
“That means every person has his or her price. My heart is deceitful. That is what God says about my heart, and your heart. Given the right circumstances and set of events, you can’t tell what you would do, myself neither. We should have a holy fear of ever thinking we’re beyond temptation.”
