Apostle Joshua Selman of Eternity Network International has said something has to be done quickly, or else pastors in Nigeria will soon start killing each other because of hatred.

According to him, dishonour among pastors and even their elders in ministry is now becoming a thing of fashion.

Selman said this while delivering a sermon to his congregation on the need for efficient management of zeal.

He said, "This is particularly to my generation of ministers. There is what we call the inefficient management of zeal. This has led to widespread communication of dishonour to fathers and contemporaries. Right now, there is a growing trend within the Body of Christ where dishonour looks fashionable. People have spiritualised the lack of manners. Just because we quote scriptures around it does not make it right.

"There is a lot of mismanagement of zeal, and I' hoping and praying that God is going to grant grace. All over social media, you find... in fact, it has even become a human rights violations issue. As simple as it sounds, if this is not addressed, pastors will start killing themselves.

"The level of growing hatred in the Body of Christ and everything is credited to our love for Jesus. That's not a model we find in scripture. We cannot love Jesus too much to kill one another as proof that we love him. Something is wrong with our understanding, something is wrong with our zeal."

Apostle Selman then issued a list of recommendations, one of which suggested that pastors undergo a medical evaluation to demonstrate their mental fitness to hold their office.

He said, "One of them is to truly examine the mental state of ministers. It looks like a very subtle issue, but there is a need to examine the mental state of pastors. Many pastors have spiritualised trauma from childhood and will come to the pulpit and turn it into sermons. This is not just an issue of prayer and fasting. There might be a need to bring in professionals to look carefully as to whether or not preachers are fit enough to serve in the pulpit."

ASA