It takes another level of spiritual maturity to understand that just like anybody else, a pastor – be it Pentecos- tal, SDA, Catholic, Anglican, name it – is made of body, spirit and soul. And like my own pastor recently taught during a Sunday sermon, when God decides to use someone or anoint them, He deals with their spirit.
That is where the Spirit of God dwells to do amazing works for His saints, through this vessel. My pastor, Stephen Mukulu then said, the soul is a person’s mind; one’s very heart, where the will, good, evil, etc, dwell.
Now, if a pastor, spirit-filled and miracle-working allows God into his soul as well, the two components (spirit and soul) are a formidable force over which the third component – the body – has no power. That is why the body, this ‘cupboard’ that simply holds everything together, is nothing without a soul.
So, if anyone – even a pastor – allows his/her soul to be inhabited by evil, greed, lies, lust, jealousy, name it, those vices need the body to operate and will make him/her do despicable things in the full glare of the public eye, even as his/her spirit continues to do God’s bidding.
This is what confuses many of us, and I am so grateful that every few months, my pastor shares this teaching in church. It is one of my favourite sermons by him, because it puts so much into perspective.
This is not a justification for the despicable things men and women of God do these days; it just helps us understand that they are as human as the rest of us. And like us, fully turning one’s soul to God and thereby conquering the body, is hard work.
Even when we get saved, my pastor taught that the Holy Spirit inhabits the temple of God (our spirits) and at that point, expects us not only to serve Him, but also pray for the change our souls need, because God gave us a will.
Many ministers are content with successfully praying for the sick or even performing miracles in God’s name, using the anointing on their spirits, which He honors for His saints’ sake, but when the vessel in question (pastor/ minister) is filthy in body and soul.
It takes repentance to restore one’s soul and for it to be in sync with one’s spirit, then automatically stop one’s body from discrediting God.
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