BEFORE YOU TAKE THAT OIL
Jerry Adesewo
Last week, from Wednesday, September 10 to Friday, September 12, Pastors and Pastors-in-Training of the Cherubim and Seraphim Movement Church Worldwide converged at the International Headquarters and camp ground of the Church for the annual Pastor’s Conference. This conference has, over the years, become a crucible where the fire of pastoral ministry is refined, rekindled, and redirected.
Though I was far away in Abuja, unable to attend due to ill health—I felt, even from my sick bed, the impact of the celestial mood at Galilee land. Feedback from those who attended confirmed that the quality of impartation was deep, spiritual, and practical. Many affirmed that it remains the right path in preparing men and women for ministry.
But as I reflected on the testimonies and pondered the weight of the sacred calling, I was reminded of my own journey into pastoral ordination. And it is from that personal experience that I now speak to those preparing for the oil of ordination.
My Journey with the Oil
I was first ordained a Pastor back in 2008. At that time, it was less about a divine calling and more about a title. Yes, my life had been largely devoted to God, but my ordination then was closer to a statutory promotion: from Brother, to Aladura, to Teacher, and then Pastor. It was the way of the system, but not the fullness of God’s voice.
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Three years later, however, when I migrated to the Movement Church, things changed. At Peculiar People’s Church, Dakibiyu District, I was taken through the proper process: Faith Foundation Class, Discipleship Class, and a compulsory diploma-level theological certificate. Beyond the academics, I also came under direct spiritual mentorship from leading pastors, under the fatherly guidance of Special Apostle Alex Ogundipe. That journey culminated in my ordination in 2018.
Looking back, I see clearly that the difference between the two experiences was night and day. The first was about promotion, the second was about preparation. The first was about a title, the second was about a calling. And that is why, today, I speak with authority when I say: do not bow your head for the oil unless you are sure heaven has bowed upon your life.
Lessons from Others
I have seen both the glory and the tragedy of misplaced oil.
Years ago, I heard of a young man who rushed into ordination simply because his peers were being promoted. He had zeal, but no conviction. Within months, he was overwhelmed. Counseling sessions drained him, prayer vigils became a burden, and he quietly withdrew from active ministry. The oil was upon his head, but the fire was not in his spirit.
On the other hand, I know a sister who served faithfully for years without ever being ordained. She taught Sunday School, visited the sick, led prayer meetings, and discipled young believers. When, eventually, the oil was poured on her, it was not a ceremony to “promote” her but a confirmation of what heaven had long recognized. Today, her ministry is flourishing because the oil met preparation.
These two stories remind us that the oil itself does not make a pastor. It only seals what God has already begun.
The Temptations of the Oil
So, before you take that oil, ask yourself a few questions:
Do you truly have a calling? Are you being drawn because of the prestige and honor that often accompany the pastoral office? Or are you seeking it because it looks like a fast path to financial security in a time when unemployment is biting hard?
I recall during the screening of Pastors-in-Training, a young candidate asked me whether we had sought God’s face to confirm if he had a calling. I replied: “It is not our business to determine whether you have a calling or not. That is strictly your business. Nobody should talk you into offering your head for the pastoral oil.”
The truth is this: calling is personal. If you do not have the conviction, don’t do it. You can serve faithfully in many areas of ministry without ever being ordained a pastor. But once you bow for that oil, you are declaring to God and man that you are ready to carry a burden beyond yourself.
What Must You Do Before You Take the Oil?
1. Examine Your Calling
The apostle Paul wrote in Galatians 1:15–16: “But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me, so that I might preach him among the Gentiles…” Calling is God’s initiative, not man’s suggestion. Have you heard His voice?
2. Test Your Motives
Why do you want the oil? Jesus said in Mark 10:45, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” If your motive is self, you will fail.
3. Submit to Training
Moses spent 40 years in Pharaoh’s palace and another 40 years in the wilderness before leading Israel. Even Jesus, the Son of God, spent 30 years preparing for a ministry that lasted three years. No one should rush into pastoral oil without training. Theological study, discipleship, and mentoring are not optional—they are foundational.
4. Count the Cost
Luke 14:28 reminds us to count the cost before we build. Ministry will test you—financially, emotionally, spiritually. Nights of fasting, days of rejection, seasons of misunderstanding, and battles against unseen powers will come. If you are not ready for the cross, do not desire the crown.
5. Seek Spiritual Mentorship
No man ordains himself. Elisha needed Elijah. Timothy needed Paul. A pastor without mentorship is like a soldier without a commander—exposed and vulnerable.
6. Understand the Burden of Souls
A pastor is not simply a preacher. He is a shepherd. Shepherding means sleepless nights, intercession, visiting, counseling, correcting, and sometimes carrying sheep who don’t even like you. Do you love souls enough to suffer for them?
A Warning to the Careless
Beloved, the oil is not a badge of promotion. It is not a fallback plan for the unemployed. It is not a family inheritance to be claimed because your father or uncle was a pastor. The oil is holy. If you bow for it carelessly, the same oil that should empower you may expose you.
Remember Nadab and Abihu, sons of Aaron, who offered strange fire before the Lord and were struck down (Leviticus 10:1–2). The oil does not protect hypocrisy. It magnifies it. The oil does not erase ambition. It reveals it. The oil is a sacred seal—handle it with reverence.
Final Counsel
Before you bow your head for the pastoral oil:
- Bow your heart in surrender before God.
- Seek His face until you hear His voice.
- Submit to training until you are sharpened.
- Find mentors who will guide and correct you.
- Test your motives in the light of Scripture.
- And above all, count the cost and embrace the cross.
The church does not need more pastors by title. The church needs pastors by calling. Heaven does not honour men who love oil; it honors men who love God.
As you prepare for the oil, I declare over you:
- May your ears be opened to hear the voice of God clearly (Isaiah 30:21).
- May your heart be purified of selfish ambition, and filled with genuine love for souls (Jeremiah 3:15).
- May you receive the spirit of wisdom, discipline, and service that marked the apostles of old (Acts 6:4).
- And may the oil, when it comes upon your head, be not a weight to crush you, but a fire to refine and empower you (1 Samuel 16:13).
I pray that the Lord will raise for himself shepherds after His own heart. He will purge us of every ambition that is not of Him. Refine our motives and cleanse our desires. Prepare us patiently in the secret place before exposing us on the altar. And may His oil never be wasted on careless or unprepared heads. In Jesus’ mighty name I pray, Amen.