Pastor W.F. Kumuyi, founder of Deeper Christian Life Ministry, warned church leaders against placing their congregants in unnecessary bondage through excessive control and administration.
Speaking via a YouTube video, he stressed that a true leader should encourage spiritual freedom and individuality under God’s guidance, rather than enforcing restrictive practices that hinder personal growth and salvation.
Pastor Kumuyi’s message focused on the importance of allowing believers to experience their own relationship with God without being bound by excessive rules.…CONTINUE READING
He challenged leaders by asking, “Do you give people around you the liberty to be on their own? Do you allow them to feel like human beings, responsible to God, independent, or do you tie ropes around their hands, around their feet, even trying to enslave their minds so they cannot think for themselves?”
Calling this a “year of Jubilee” and “the year of release,” he urged pastors to let go of unnecessary restrictions, giving individuals the freedom to follow God’s commandments as they feel led. “Release their minds to think as they wish, release their bodies so they can move as they wish…for they are responsible to God,” he stated.
He stressed that while it is good to guide congregants, leaders should be careful not to impose a level of control that amounts to bondage.
Pastor Kumuyi further pointed out that a church can sometimes restrict believers’ spiritual freedom through excessive monitoring and regulation. “It’s good to watch over, but when it becomes bondage, it’s too much. ‘Beware,’ it says, ‘and don’t put anyone in such bondage that if they do anything not condemned by God, we condemn them,’” he warned. He concluded by reminding leaders that “release is essential” in helping members become true, liberated children of God.
