Nigerian actor and current head pastor of the Fountain of Life Church at Ilupeju, Pastor Jimmy Odukoya, has finally responded to criticisms about his physical appearance.
Odukoya who explained why he sports dreadlocks in a recent interview he had with BBC Pidgin stated that his beards and hair has nothing to do with his calling as a minister of God.
The clergy who was reacting to his many critics who are chastising his physical outlook said that people’s personal opinions are in contrast to what the Bible calls sinful.
He cited the story of Samson in the Holy Bible when God told him not to cut his hair, and further emphasized that everything he does has biblical backing and not done on impulse.
The clergyman said, “God called me the way I am, just as I am. As for my dreads, the story behind it is long but the thing is everything I do is backed up by scriptures. If you tell me something, I’d tell you to check the scriptures. If someone says that long hair is wrong, I’d tell you to check the Bible where the Lord told Samson not to cut his hair.
“When people say, ‘Oh he’s a pastor and he has a beard,’ remember the Bible said that when Jesus was tortured his beard was pulled from his face. If he didn’t have a beard, what hair did they pull from his face, was it fresh skin?”
Odukoya encouraged people to ensure that they differentiate their personal preferences and opinions from ‘sin’ because they are not always mutual.
“Personal opinion is different from sin, If you like short hair or long hair no problem, but if you tell me that I can’t have long hair because, ‘It’s a sin,’ my brother, that’s where we won’t agree,” he stated.
