By Pst Olumide Akinrinlola

Marriage is a personal contract between a woman and a man. As such, if one does not restrict himself from talking about someone’s marriage, we may be invading into the privacy of someone’s personal life.

I am moved to write about the marriage of His Imperial Majesty, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, the Ooni of Ife who married recently to a young Prophetess/Evangelist which has attracted so much criticism on social media with many people questioning the christianity life of Her Majesty, Olori Moronke Naomi Silekunola Ogunwusi, the new bride.

I wonder when marriage has become the yardsticks to know who is a christian or who is not a christian. I don’t also know when marriage is the standard to define a pastor or a servant of God.

At the same time, we often erroneously believe that every king is an unbeliever. While some believes as well that a true child of God cannot become a king.

I want to say, perhaps, these set of people are those who belong to the school of thought that it is wrong for a servant of God to marry a King. And those in these school of thought had concluded that a true child of God cannot marry a king or become a king. Many people are passing judgement based on their canal knowledge.

Let me start by saying a true christian can marry a king. I do not see anything wrong in that and there is no portion of the scripture that forbids that. That a child of God marries a king does not take away her salvation if she does not compromise her faith.

Queen Esther was a true child of God and a Jewish. God destined her to marry a king. Not just that she married a king, she married to a non Jewish King. God did that for a purpose. Please read the book of (Esther chapter 2).

King David was not just a servant of God but a man after God’s heart. He was anointed king over Israel. And he wasn’t the only servant of God who become king according to the scripture. We have many others who were made kings and were close to God as a true child of God in their lifetimes.

I digressed a little because I also want to clear the doubt and say that there is nothing wrong as well with a child of God becoming kings if such person is deep and does not compromise his faith. As a child of God, you can refuse from participating in some rituals if your community are insisting on you to become their king. As a wife, it is your personal decision to serve God or mammon. That your husband is not born again does not mean you should follow suit. Infact, you should influence him to accept Christ if you know what you are doing.

We have pastors and ministers who went through such conditions to become kings in their various communities and are still in charge today with all their chiefs now born again christians.

Coming back to the focus of this piece, I remember Apostle Paul spoke about the marriage of a believers to an unbelievers and gave his advice and personal opinion in 1 Corinthian 7: 12-14, saying that: “For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife who believed, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband who also believed”. Kindly note that Apostle Paul who gave this advice in his personal opinion also carried the grace of God and had the spirit of God in him during his lifetime as an Apostle.

In Hosea chapter 1, God told a prophet to marry a prostitute. In Nigeria, I am also aware God told late Ayo Babalola of Christ Apostolic Chuch to marry a single mother which he refused and ended up marrying the wrong person which almost ruined his ministry and frustrated his ministerial work when man alive.

My point is that God will forever be God; and our relationship with Him is strictly on individuals bases.

Just like the case of our Father, Ooni, whose former wife willingly departed through divorce, I remember Apostle Paul spoke about similar case that the wife or the husband is not under any bondage.(1Corithian 7: 14)

The true meaning of this scripture is that the woman or the man can go ahead and remarry as the marriage bond is broken already. Though many pastors are diplomatic about the true meaning of this verse so as not to encourage divorce. Many will tell you that the advice of Apostle Paul in that verse contradicted the word of Jesus Christ in the book of Mathew.

The truth is, we need Holy Spirit to interpret the bible correctly. It is not a straight jacketed interpretation most of the time. The advice of Apostle in this verse does not contradict the word of Jesus Christ in the book of Mathew 5:32 as people erroneously believe which is another message for another day.

My point is, there is nothing wrong that a pastor marries a king or that a Queen marries a pastor.

Though we are in Africa where tradition dominate the kingdom. Those who knows the grace they carry will avoid such tradition and break the protocols.

It is not a sin for a servant of God to marry a king. And it is not also a sin for a servant of God to become a king. I want to believe many servants of God hear from the Holy Spirit before they venture into marriage or do anything that can affect their salvation.

Let’s stop passing judgement base on someone’s marital decision. It is a personal individuals decision between them and God. As we have kings who are of the devil so also we have those who are of God.

We have many terrible politicians worst than many kings who got married to genuine pastors and ministers. That doesn’t take away their salvation if they are real indeed.

My take pls!

Pastor Olumide Akinrinlola writes from, Akure, the Ondo State capital.