CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Christian leadership as portrayed in the Pastoral Epistles is expected to serve as a role model of faithfulness, truth, honesty and chastity. The focus of these epistles is on the organization and governance of the Christian community. The central concept is conduct that is pleasing to God; a regular and reliable ecclesiastical hierarchy with clear assignment of responsibilities (Schrage, 1988:257). The New Testament strives to shape Christian life and concrete conduct in detail. It is concerned that Christians be “the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world” (Matt.5:13-14) and maintain their distinctiveness even in their “good works” (Schrage, 1988:11). Christians are called upon to lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way. The proven character of those who seek leadership in the church is more important than personality, preaching gifts, administrative abilities, or academic accomplishments (Stamps, 1992:1908). A pastor whose quality of life is an illustration of the faith is absolutely essential for Christian leadership. Church leaders have the obligation to live by the norms of Christian ethics as stipulated in 1Tim.3:1-7, Tit.1:3-8. A bishop as God’s steward, must be blameless; he must be hospitable, must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy. In this epistle, much emphasis is laid on the character of prospective Church leaders rather than the position. The expectations of God and the society for ministers of the Gospel is very high, this is because Christianity is an ethical religion hence when ministers of the Gospel, leaders from whom much is expected lacks integrity and misbehave, the result leaves so much to be desired. There is lack of respect for ministers and consequently the weakening of his expected godly influence over Parishioners and other persons in the society .The present state of the Nigerian nation could be a reflection of the state of the Nigerian Church. The lack of integrity or the loss of it among gospel Ministers in the recent time have reached an alarming rate which has caused a high level of deterioration not only in the quality of Christians but also reflected in the current deplorable state of the Nigerian Nation. The over-emphasis on materialism occasioned by the gospel of prosperity has not left the Church the same way it met her, it is the underlying factor of most ministerial misconducts. The loss of respect and influence occasioned by misconducts among gospel ministers has impacted negatively on parishioners and members of the society who are key players in the different aspects of national leadership. Everyone who has been in national leadership goes to a religious centre and comes under the influence of a religious leader or a Pastor and their performance in office could be related to what influence their religious leaders had on them. At the moment, government institutions seem to be weak and failing, there is a lot of decay and rottenness in most areas of national leadership. The Political class has not been able to stay clear of corruption and there are clear evidences that despite the increase in the number of churches of different denominations, the impact of Christianity is not much felt in the society today.

1. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

There is a lot of moral decadence in the lives of the citizenry such that the cultural value once celebrated as a nation such as honesty, faithfulness, patriotism, trust, and so on, are being eroded. In the light of the fore goings, it becomes necessary to understand the role that ministers’ lack of integrity or the loss of it have played in all of these and proffer solutions that can help reverse the trend.

1.3 AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The main aim of the research work is to examine ethical misconduct among church leaders in Nigeria: a case study of selected churches in Lagos State. The objectives of the study are:

1. to determine the effect of ethical misconduct on the growth of churches in Lagos State
2. to determine the effect of ethical misconduct among church leader on the image of the churches in Lagos State
3. to investigate the causes of ethical misconduct among church leaders in Lagos State
4. to examine whether ethical misconduct affects the morality level in churches in Lagos state

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The study came up with research questions so as to ascertain the above stated objectives of the study. The research questions for the study are:

1. What is the effect of ethical misconduct on the growth of churches in Lagos State?
2. What is the effect of ethical misconduct among church leader on the image of the churches in Lagos State?
3. What are the causes of ethical misconduct among church leaders in Lagos State?
4. Does ethical misconduct affects the morality level in churches in Lagos state?

1.5 STATEMENT OF THE HYPOTHESIS

H0: ethical misconduct has no significant effect on the growth of churches in Lagos State

H1: ethical misconduct has significant effect on the growth of churches in Lagos State

1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The study on ethical misconduct among church leaders in Nigeria will be of immense benefit to churches in Lagos State. The study will determine the various types of misconducts in most churches in Lagos State. The study will educate the Christian faith on the promotion of morality in the church and ways to dissolve the issues of ethical misconduct. The findings of the study will assist policy makers in the church how to handle the issues of ethical misconduct in churches. Also the study will serve as a repository of information to other researchers/students that desire to carry out similar research on the above topic. Finally the study will contribute to the body of the existing literature on ethical misconduct among church leaders in Nigeria.

1.7 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The study will cover on ethical misconduct among church leaders in Nigeria with focus on the three churches (living faith church, redeemed Christian church of God and Christ embassy)

1.8 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

Financial constraint- Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).

Time constraint- The researcher will simultaneously engage in this study with other academic work. This consequently will cut down on the time devoted for the research work  

1.9 DEFINITION OF TERMS

Ethical misconduct: Ethical misconduct is any falsification, misrepresentation, or fabrication of data, information, or outcomes involved in the research process (Gomes et al., 2013).

Morality: Morality is the differentiation of intentions, decisions and actions between those that are distinguished as proper and those that are improper

Doctrine: Doctrine is a codification of beliefs or a body of teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the essence of teachings in a given branch of knowledge or in a belief system.