It shook the Christianity world to its foundation when the head pastor of the Christ Embassy Church, Chris Oyakhilome dropped a bombshell while preaching that the act of masturbation is not a sin.
Ever since the sermon hit the internet, prominent pastors in the country and internet punters have continued to lambast Pastor Chris Oyakhilome and his Christ Embassy Church for that revelation.
Pastor Chris Oyakhilome is the owner of Believers Love World Fellowship which metamorphosed into Christ Embassy International Ministries. This Church has a regular membership of over 3 million in Nigeria alone and fans of over ten million people who belong to other denominations but see Pastor Chris as their alternative pastor. Inadvertently Pastor Chris Oyakhilome controls over twelve million people in Nigeria especially the youth and middle aged.
His telecast is still the most viewed among Nigerian Christians including Roman Catholics, Anglicans,
Methodists and Pentecostal brethren. This Pastor stirred the hornets' nest when answering a question on how to overcome masturbation said thus ''masturbation in itself is not a sin against God. Satan uses it in oppressing the mind and make them feel ineffective and inefficient in the sight of God.
But once you understand that it's got nothing to do with God, its about you and your own body…'' When people thought that his position was a slip of tongue, He defended it in another telecast weeks later and called it a habit which has nothing to do with God. The same pastor weeks later added that alcoholism and smoking is not a sin, rather it is just a habit.
Among the people who reacted to the video described Pastor Oyakhilome’s action as anathema abuse of Christianity. Thousands of readers, who reacted in various websites and blogs, including social networks such as Facebook, Naijapals and Twitter, also expressed shock and disappointment.