General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has explained that he is careful in making public comments to avoid mistakes.
In an interview with Haaretz newspaper during a visit to Jerusalem, Adeboye said he had shied away from speaking out on national issues in order to avoid influencing people in the wrong way.
He also said he was aware of the enormous responsibility on his shoulders as the leader of a global church with millions of members.
"At times it's frightening. In Africa you have a saying, the man who is carrying a basket of eggs must walk gently … whatever mistakes you make, you affect destinies," he said.
Adeboye stated that his transformation from a Mathematics lecturer at the University of Lagos to a pastor was a divine call, noting that he has a mandate to preach peace everywhere he goes.
"I've always said turning a mathematician into a pastor takes only God. In my work with God, I've learned that he has a sense of humour," he stated.
The pastor, who has led the RCCG for three decades, arrived for a meeting at the Dan Jerusalem Hotel, surrounded by an entourage of eight loyal aides, who treated him with the awe normally reserved for heads of state, the paper said.
Speaking on the growing global influence of African preachers, he said the seeds sowed by missionaries who brought Christianity to Africa were producing fruit.
"When you reap, after a certain period you begin to sow. Today, in many parts of the Western world, people have gone rather cold toward the church. Fortunately, the seed sowed in Africa has germinated and the harvest is now coming back to them. So, they are merely reaping what they sowed.
