24/11/2023
PASTORAL AND MINISTERIAL ETHICS: THE CASE OF JOHN NUNDWE AKA PROPHET JOHN GENERAL.
By Bishop Bilon Kalumbinga
When all is said and done. When the judges are done condemning John General, when the loyalists are done standing with him and when the blind followers are done supporting him, there must be a common ground at which we all meet to learn something from this saga.
The common ground is that this matter is a case of Pastoral and Ministerial Ethics (PME). When you analyze most of John General’s “issues” you notice that they all border on breach of Pastoral and Ministerial Ethics.
The whole time I served under Mr. Gordon Suckling, my spiritual father, I never encountered him ministering or counseling a female. He trained a team of women in various aspects of Ministration, and these women attended to fellow women (sometimes under the supervision of his wife, Mum Ndona Peggy Suckling). At that time, we didn’t even know that this approach to ministry was called ETHICS. Now we know.
And when Mr. Suckling established the Christian Fellowships in Zambia (CFZ), this approach of male Pastors not attending to females continued in all CFZ churches. To this day, I support this approach.
If Prophet John General went to that lady’s house in the company of his wife, or if he just sent a team of women to minister to her, we could not be talking about this today.
I strongly encourage Pastors to train women who should attend to fellow women – starting with your wife.
Should it be imperative that a male Pastor must attend to a woman himself, that Pastor should be in the company of two or three women.
Also, we should avoid this idea of a Pastor attending to everything and everyone. Some things leave them to others. That is leadership – a leader works through others. A Pastor should never be a super star or a starling.
As a Pastor, Pastoral and Ministerial Ethics is a way of protecting your person and your ministry. Let’s embrace Ethics.
It is very sad that almost everyone is talking about John General and not about the woman! Do you know why? As unfair as that sounds and appears, that is how it is. A Pastor is always held in very high esteem, and so when he suffers a moral or role failure, the judgement is very severe (James 3:1)
Society will always have higher expectations of a man of God. Because a man of God is expected to be a moral campus. A representative of God!
So, everyone can sing Ephraim’s song, “limo limo ndanaka. Limo limo ndafilwa, ndimuntufye……..” but not a pastor! A Pastor is not allowed to sing that song! That song does not apply to a Pastor!
Yes, a Pastor is also a “Muntu fye” but, is expected to be a different “Muntu fye”. The standard of Morality and the Code of Conduct laid on the shoulders of a Pastor is very high. And, that is just the way it is. There are no two ways about it.
In conclusion, Pastors need to learn and by the grace of God practice Pastoral and Ministerial Ethics (PME). As a Pastor, take note that PME is designed to provide preemptive protection to your person and to your ministry.
I pray for the innocent souls in John General’s Church that God will protect them from being disturbed by Satan in the light of this occurrence.
Ref.
James 3:1 NLT
Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged more strictly.
Romans 2:21-22 NKJV
You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? [22] You who say, "Do not commit adultery," do you commit adultery?.......
