Ademayowa Fadare

Minister | Global Youth Ambassador | Alumni Council @ Global Shapers Community Ibadan | Executive Director @ The Purpose Hub

[Ademayowa Fadare @iamlyfguard]

1. That someone is your friend doesn't mean you are theirs. You can be open and vulnerable about every aspect of your life and even go to great lengths in sacrifice, and they will never see you worthy of reciprocity. It taught me boundaries and self-protection.

[iNspiritextra @iNspiritextra]

Why was this part of Pastor Adeboye's video cut out? Why didn't it go viral?

[Brother Possible @BrotherPossible]

So even the language of exclusion in Matthew 18 carries within it the posture of pursuit.
The person is put outside not to be abandoned but to be shown what they are choosing by their unrepentance.

And to be pursued back in.

In 1 Corinthians 5, the church now faces a practical real situation, and see how it was addressed in the EPISTLES:

A man in the Corinthian church was sleeping with his father's wife.
Paul's response is unambiguous:

The church should have mourned and removed this person from among them.

"To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus." 1 Corinthians 5:1-5

This verse has troubled many people but read it carefully.

The purpose of the discipline is not destruction. It is salvation. "The spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus."

The Apostle is not pronouncing judgment on this man. He is creating the conditions under which this man might come to his senses.

The removal from the protective community of the church into the world Paul describes as the domain of satan which is designed to show the man what life without the covering of the covenant community actually feels like.

So that he will want to return.
And repent.
And be restored.

"Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?" 1 Corinthians 5:6

You see that principle again: PROTECTION. The reason for discipline is the protection of the community.

Unchallenged sin spreads, both morally and theologically. When a church tolerates unrepentant sin without response, it sends a message to everyone watching.

That sin does not matter here.
That the holiness of God is negotiable.
That belonging to this community requires nothing of you.

That is a message the church cannot afford to send.

Lastly, WHAT CHURCH DISCIPLINE IS NOT:

1. It is not punishment for punishment's sake. Even when God chastises us, He does for the peaceable fruit of righteousness. Hebrews 12:4-7

2. It is not the leadership exercising control over people they disagree with.

3. It is not a tool for silencing critics or protecting institutional reputation.

4. It is not permanent exile where repentance is not an option and restoration is removed.

5. It is not public humiliation even though it may include that in administration, but that's not it's purpose.

6. It is not reserved for the sins the leadership finds particularly offensive while overlooking others. It is for all sins that affects the community for which after many entreaty, the person refuses repentance.

The abuse of church discipline is real and it has caused immeasurable damage.

Heavy-handed leaders have used the threat of excommunication to silence, control, and manipulate vulnerable people. That is not what 1 Corinthians 5 describes and it is not what Matthew 18 describes.

Any exercise of church discipline that does not follow the Matthew 18 process,that is not motivated by the restoration of the person, and that is not applied consistently and not driven by genuine love is not church discipline.

It is spiritual abuse wearing church discipline's clothes. The answer is not to abandon the practice. It is to recover it and do it right.

[Brother Possible @BrotherPossible]

A Biblical Account on Church Discipline:

Church discipline is one of the most avoided subjects in contemporary Christianity. Over the last few days on X, those who mention it, have been greeted with labels of cruelty and lack of grace. Many people think of it as a mattter of control, abuse, and heavy-handed leadership. But it is not, and the Bible being the final authority on all matters of doctrine and Christian conduct, offers us some clarity on the subject.

But before I go on, I want to mention that those abuses that have been the matter of concern for some sincere readers are real and they deserve to be named. Nevertheless, the answer to the abuse of a biblical practice is not the abandonment of it. It is the recovery of it as the Bible prescribes. We can't avoid the conversation if we want to get it right.

So, let's see how church discipline began, and why it must be taken seriously.

THE OLD TESTAMENT:

The principle of removing someone from the covenant community for unrepentant sin is not a New Testament invention. It runs through the entire Old Testament.

See these texts:

1. "For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people." - Leviticus 18:29

2. "But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously whether he be born in the land or a stranger the same reproacheth the Lord and that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Because he hath despised the word of the Lord and hath broken his commandment that soul shall utterly be cut off." - Numbers 15:30-31

The first principle we must learn from here is that "being cut off from the camp or removed from the church was not primarily a punishment. IT WAS A PROTECTION, and it is today." That's the first thing about church discipline. It's for PROTECTION AND PRESERVATION.

It is protection of the holiness of the community. It is protection of the covenant relationship between Israel and God, and between God's people and God.

And in some cases, it is to protect the person who have sinned from the full consequences of their sin going unchecked.

You'll see these type of protection of the person themselves in Leviticus 13-14.

A person with a serious skin disease was put outside the camp, not because they were evil but because the community had to be protected; and the person has to be protected in a way that will heal them and help restore them. This is explicit in the fact that the priest examined them regularly, looking for signs of healing, so they could be brought back in.

The removal was always with an eye toward return. Removal for the sake of the community and extensively for the sake of the sinner so that their sin and defilement don't destroy them too with the door always open for restoration.

Now, Jesus establishes the process in the NEW TESTAMENT:

"Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee then take with thee one or two more that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church also let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican." - Matthew 18:15-17

Notice the process Jesus describes. The person receives private confrontation at first. Then two or three witnesses. Then the church. It only after all these is done to correct, appeal, reconcile and make peace with the person that the final step of discipline is done if the person remain unrepentant.

"Let him be as a Gentile and a tax collector." This means in Jesus' context that the church now treats such persons as someone outside the covenant community.

But notice something else.
How did Jesus treat Gentiles and tax collectors? He pursued them. He sought them out and He loved them toward repentance.

[Shahriq Khan @RealShahriqKhan]

"If Jesus was God, why didn't He just say it?"

I used to ask that as a Muslim.

I thought I had Christians cornered. Then I actually read the Bible I was criticizing.

And I realized I wasn't looking for evidence. I was looking for a specific sentence.

But does God need your preferred wording to still be God?

Because God said: "Before Abraham was, I AM."

The Jews immediately picked up stones to kill Him. Why?

Because they knew exactly what He was claiming.

He wasn't just saying He existed before Abraham.

He was identifying Himself with the "I AM" of Exodus 3:14.

The divine name of Yahweh.

And here's what wrecked me:

The Quran calls Jesus the Messiah: The Word of God. A Spirit from God. Born of a virgin. Sinless and alive today. Returning to judge the world.

Yet I'm supposed to believe He's just another basic prophet?

No other prophet gets that description. Not Moses, David, Abraham or Muhammad.

Then you open the Bible and Jesus forgives sins, accepts worship, claims authority over heaven and earth, and rises from the dead. So no, Jesus never walked around saying, "I'm God, worship Me" in the exact sentence structure I demanded.

He did something far more powerful: He lived it, He proved it.

And honestly, after reading the Scriptures for myself, the problem wasn't that Jesus wasn't clear.

The problem was that I didn't want to hear Him.

[Shahriq Khan @RealShahriqKhan]

"Christians follow Paul, not Jesus."

That used to be my favorite argument as a Muslim.

Then I actually studied Paul.

And the argument fell apart.

Paul wasn't some random guy inventing theology. He was a Pharisee trained under Gamaliel, one of the most respected Jewish teachers of his generation.

He knew the Torah.

He knew the prophets.

And he hated Christianity.

He persecuted Christians, dragged them from their homes, and approved their executions.

Then something happened.

He encountered the risen Christ.

And overnight, the man hunting Christians became one.

Think about that.

If Paul invented Christianity, why did he spend his life pointing people to Jesus instead of himself?

Why did Peter, James, and John endorse him?

Why did his teachings align with the apostles who actually walked with Christ?

And why would he willingly endure beatings, imprisonment, stoning, and eventually execution for a message he knew was false?

People may die for something they mistakenly believe is true.

But they do not willingly die for a lie they invented themselves.

Paul didn't create Christianity.

He met the risen Jesus and spent the rest of his life proclaiming Him.

If you've been told Paul invented Christianity, you've been handed a slogan, not an argument.

[Shahriq Khan @RealShahriqKhan]

When I was Muslim, I would argue & say we had the same prophets as Christians.

But this one broke me:

Surah 17:101: Allah gave Moses 9 clear signs.

I knew the list. The staff. The shining hand. The drought. The flood. The locusts. The lice. The frogs. The blood.

I held onto those 9 signs like proof I had the real story.

But bro, you know what shook me?

There’s a night missing.

After all nine signs, right before Israel walks out of Egypt, something happens that the Quran goes completely silent on.

A lamb is slaughtered.

Its blood painted on the doorposts.

And death passes over every house covered by that blood.

The Passover.

I grew up hearing the whole Exodus story. But nobody ever told me about the blood on the door.

Islam just skips it.

And here’s what wrecked me.

The Bible, the book I was taught was corrupted, mentions the Passover over 70 times.

Exodus. Leviticus. Numbers. Deuteronomy. The Psalms. The Prophets. The Gospels. Paul.

70 times.

So I had to ask myself the honest question:

If men corrupted this book, why would they obsess over the same story for 1500 years? Across dozens of authors who never met?

You don’t forge a document 70 times.

That’s just not corruption.

That to me is preservation.

And then I read the line that finished me off.

1 Corinthians 5:7.

“Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed.”

That’s when it hit me.

The whole story was never just about Moses.

It was always pointing to a King.

The final lamb. Whose blood, when applied to your life, makes death pass over you.

Forever.

The Quran gave me 9 signs but hid the one night that explains why any of them happened.

Because the moment a Muslim understands the Passover…

he’s one step away from the cross.

[Ademayowa Fadare @iamlyfguard]

It's learning you can multitask. Genuinely wanting them to sleep at the right time so they don't wake you early or have trouble waking up on time due to insufficient sleep while having the peace & quiet to do other things. You can care about more than two things at the same time

[Sully @sullymygoodname]

Being a dad is realizing your dad didnt actually give a shit about your bedtime he just wanted you to go to bed so he could do other things.

[Ademayowa Fadare @iamlyfguard]

@Letter_to_Jack The church is Love of God Church with Pastor Femi Bankole. I remember this as well.

[Ademayowa Fadare @iamlyfguard]

@signor_martini They have deleted it 😭

[Ademayowa Fadare @iamlyfguard]

I will return to this when Arsenal wins both champions league and premier league titles.
@signor_martini I promise you I will be in your face.

[Ademayowa Fadare @iamlyfguard]

@ThePChris This might be a bit too absolute sir. When it comes to worship, sometimes ethics may go out of the window. What David did in 2 Samuel 6 didn't look ethical for a king but it was acceptable unto the Lord. I believe there's always a balance to issues like this.

[Ademayowa Fadare @iamlyfguard]

Kundi is camel meat?
I can't believe it took me 3 decades to learn this😲😳

[Ade.. Ade.. Ade.. @Budding_P]

@the_beardedsina You were probably not around when "Tinko" a.k.a "kundi" meat held sway in Nigeria culinary 😀.... These were sourced primarily from Camel back then.

[Ademayowa Fadare @iamlyfguard]

@sheilatebra The same hammer that shatters glass forges steel

[POJU OYEMADE @pastorpoju]

There is no substitute to raising your own "men." It is poor leadership to try to leverage on others and the work they have done.

Abraham our father in the faith built his own fighting force all born in his house and defeated mighty armies.

Genesis 14:14
"And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan."

Paul the Apostle said this

2 Corinthians 10:15
"Not boasting of things without our measure, that is, of other men's labours; but having hope, when your faith is increased, that we shall be enlarged by you according to our rule abundantly."

Build your own team, train your people or you will get exposed.

[Ademayowa Fadare @iamlyfguard]

@EmmanuelOnimisi She speaks the nerd lingo very well 😄

[Oyinkansola Alabi (Dr.) @EmotionsDoctor]

I once received a well-meaning bad advice.

"Keep your head down. Do the work. The right people will notice." I followed that advice for 6 years. 6 years of arriving early, leaving late, solving problems nobody else wanted to touch. 6 years of telling myself that results speak for themselves. That I didn't need to be loud. That integrity would eventually be rewarded.

You know what happened after 6 years? My colleague, three years less experience, half my commitment, got the promotion I had been building toward. I asked my manager why.

He said: "Honestly? We didn't realise how much you wanted it." I went home and sat with that for a long time. I had been so busy doing the work that I never once told anyone what I wanted. I assumed they could see it. I assumed the evidence was obvious.

That was the day I learned the most uncomfortable truth about professional life:

Visibility is not vanity. It is a skill. And silence is not humility; it is invisibility.

You have to learn to take up space. To name what you want. To let people see not just your work but your ambition.

I started over. This time I talked. Shared and made my goals known out loud.

Within eighteen months, I had built something of my own. The work didn't change. I did.

[Ademayowa Fadare @iamlyfguard]

Dangerous Dave, Super Methane Brothers and Prince of Persia.
The best way to launch them was DOS Prompt
CD..
CD jr
🤣🤣

[Dave @GamewithDave]

For those who used a computer between 1995 and 2001, what's the computer game from that time that sticks with you the most, and why?

[Ademayowa Fadare @iamlyfguard]

Last born vibes😄

[JeNiSe (ジェニス) ن 🍥 @geekyjenise]

😂😂😂😂😂

[Ademayowa Fadare @iamlyfguard]

This is very true! Once people have reasons to see you as condescending or spiteful, they will suspect anything you say and shut their hearts to you. Our words must carry Grace and to the best of our abilities show the love in our hearts if help is to be received wholeheartedly.

[Sam @DrFeruke]

If people believe you have malice towards them, they will not accept your words no matter how true.

If people believe you care for them, they will be attentive and judge your words fairly. And if your words are lacking in something good, they will give you the benefit of the doubt.

Those who want to be biblical and have a passion to see God's people become more biblical must genuinely love God's people and speak to them from that genuine love.

They must also invest in finding ways to speak in which their love for the hearers will not be hidden from the hearers.

Once people believe (either for good reason or not) that your feeling towards them is disgust, condescension or hatred, you will not be able to help them because all your help will be counted as attacks and your help will be rejected.

Do you love the church?
If you do, has your speech shown it?

If the answer to either of these is no, it will be better for you to stop trying to "help" and be quiet till the answer to both is yes. If the answer is yes, then keep speaking the truth and ignore the push-back from men's flesh and Satan. Because even when you show love like the Lord Jesus did, Satan and worthless men will still hate you.

PSam

[Ademayowa Fadare @iamlyfguard]

If you set boundaries they will blame you, if you don't set boundaries, they will destroy you and still blame you for not being sensible. Stop caring about what people will say and start being intentional about who you give access to. You only have one life to live.

[Oyinkansola Alabi (Dr.) @EmotionsDoctor]

I am strict with my life because I have seen what people will do with your life if you permit them.

They will destroy it and blame you for the destruction. If you don't guard your life with all diligence, they will turn it into small chops.

[Libriscent @libriscent]

Telling someone you recognize patterns well and are highly intuitive, and them still thinking they can outsmart you about you… is a special kind of delusion.