Pastors will soon start killing themselves – Joshua Selman warns

Popular preacher and founder of Eternity Network International, Apostle Joshua Selman, has raised the alarm over what he described as a dangerous wave of hatred and dishonour spreading among Nigerian pastors and young ministers.

Speaking at the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) 40th Anniversary Conference on Thursday, Selman lamented that many clergymen have turned zeal into rivalry, warning that if the trend continues unchecked, “pastors will soon start killing themselves.”

“There is widespread communication of dishonour – dishonour to fathers, dishonour to contemporaries,” he said. “People have spiritualised lack of manners, and just because we quote scripture around it doesn’t make it right.”

Selman noted that the mismanagement of zeal among his generation of ministers has led to unhealthy competition and bitterness disguised as passion for God.

“The level of growing hatred in the body of Christ is alarming. It has even become a human rights issue on social media. We cannot claim to love Jesus so much that we begin to destroy one another as proof of our love. Something is wrong with our understanding and zeal,” he warned.

The cleric also expressed concern about the mental health of pastors, urging the church to look beyond spirituality and address trauma and unresolved pain that many preachers carry to the pulpit.

“Many pastors have spiritualised trauma trauma from childhood and they bring it to the pulpit, preaching it as sermons,” Selman said, calling for introspection and healing within the ministry.