CHARACTER OF INTEGRITY: A CHALLENGE TO PASTORS IN THE LIGHT OF I SAMUEL 12:1-5

Godly character is lacking in the 21st century church. Integrity which is built on accountability and transparency is no longer cherished in the Christian body. The virtues are now seen as cankerworms of goodness and the unfortunate part of the story is that pastors - who should be role models to the church, are also victims of the menace of the ill characters seen in the Church today. The presence of these ill characters is evidenced by a number of high-profile pastors who have fallen in the church today and have been involved in questionable ethical situations. These tremendous character deficits have led to cynicism toward pastors and ultimately toward the churches they serve. This paper adopts an exegetical study of I Samuel 12:1-5. Its exegesis has the purpose of application to pastors. The passage challenges the character of pastors as it concerns integrity and accountability. It states primarily what the character of a pastor in the church should be. The theological, ethical and ecclesiological focus of this paper will help address this problem of character among pastors in the church.