Passion Java is a self-proclaimed prophet who was born on 29 October 1988 in Zimbabwe (Tagwirei 2023b:124). He started his church, named Kingdom Embassy (now Passion Java Ministries), in Zimbabwe, Harare in 2012, and relocated his ministry to the United States.

Tagwirei (2023b) reports that Passion Java hugely (ab)uses social media, especially Facebook, which is easily accessible to hordes of people across the world because of its cost-effectiveness. An assessment of posts on his Facebook page (under the name Passion Java) indicate that he uses controversy to charm followers by showing off expensive possessions and speaking funny street language as well as sexual innuendo (i.e. ‘get ready for a prophetic threesome’, ‘Saka aijazira iku benefita chi?’ (ChiShona question that asks, ‘so, what does Al Jazeera benefit from its documentary about institutionalised and state-protected corruption in Zimbabwe’ [which had been released in 2024]); mocking Zimbabweans that they cannot do anything about the disclosure of costly corruption, which involved his mentor, prophet Uebert Angel, the incumbent president Emmerson Mnangagwa and other state officials. Instead of standing and speaking out as the messenger of God who cares for oppressed people, Java proudly displays careless indifference, insensitivity and impunity of power.

At the same time, Java is on record for glossolalia in most of his prophetic ministrations (Tagwirei 2023b). The tongues include the phrase in ChiShona, ‘ndokundibhena, ndokunditetena’ [they resold and enjoyed me many times], referring to the hyperinflation of 2008 when Zimbabwe’s black market exchange rate enabled those who had access to foreign currency to a lot of money.

Because people seem to love controversy, many social media users follow his dubious posts. By 15 March 2026, Java had 1 400 000 Facebook followers. Instead of advancing the gospel, Java promotes partisan prophetic engagement with the state, while sponsoring partisan musicians and content creators (ZimEye 2021). In view of their behaviour, ecclesial leaders such Passion Java appear more charlatanic and controversial than Christian. Having overviewed charlatanry, the following case exemplifies controversial leadership.

Apostle Christopher Kapandura is a senior pastor and international youth adviser of ZAOGA FIF, who is popular for using explicit language in most of his sermons. In an exclusive interview with Tsika Lounge (2023), Kapandura said that he was born on 05 August 1955 in Chinhoyi. He is married to Angela Kapandura and, together, they have three children – a boy and two girls. Also known as Kaps and ‘aunt’ and preaching and teaching that married and unmarried believers have to be sexually pure before God, Kapandura proudly uses vulgar language in his preaching. Because of his shameless vulgar descriptions of private parts in his messages, Kapandura spends the better part of his sermons begging his audience to lift their heads and fix their eyes on him – because his audience is usually clearly uncomfortable. Sipeyiye and Mpofu (2021) report that his deliveries are often punctured by explicit explanations that are obscene and unprintable but, according to him, have moulded many youths, including his own three children, within and without the church to faithfully wear the chastity belt, and only release it after marriage. Chirisa (2018:n.p.) recounts that ‘Apostle Kapandura has often come under fire for his use of vulgar and graphic words when delivering sermons’. Kapandura branded himself as a gospel warrior that addresses sexual issues that are traditionally viewed in Zimbabwe as sensitive and private. Further confirming this claim, ZimEye (2018) reports Kapandura saying that:

As chronicled by Gospel Maestro (2019), the apostle passionately describes private parts while he attacks unfaithful and promiscuous men, women and youths. He always leaves some members of his audience shocked by his selection of words to describe what people do when they sin. In revealing his controversial stance further, Gospel Maestro (2019) shared a video titled ‘Apostle Kapandura gives explicit uncensored talk to leadership | Not for the weak of heart (part 1 up to part 5)’. While he rightly calls believers to live the gospel, and to be pure before God and people, most of his sermons are excessively and unnecessarily characterised by vulgarity, in spite of the teaching of Ephesians 4:29, which reads: ‘Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them’ (NIV).

Obviously, using foul and abusive language in a sermon is not ethical, because it dismisses sinners instead of welcoming and introducing them to the Saviour Jesus Christ. There are several verses that state that Jesus Christ came to save sinners (e.g. Jn 3:16; Mk 2:17; Rm 5:8; Jn 3:16; Lk 5:32; Tm 1 1:15; Pt 2 3:9). In view of Colossians 4:6, which states that our speech should be always gracious and seasoned with salt, clerics should avoid controversy caused by vulgarity, judgementalism and other miscellaneous evils. The recommendation is to minister the gospel for the glory of God and integral salvation of mankind. By drawing lessons from selected cases and ethical Christian leadership, the following section recommends Kretzschmar’s (2002) fivefold ethical formation to reform, restore and transform those who have fallen into charlatanry and controversies.

In view of Kretzschmar’s (2002) conceptualisation of intellectual conversion in the context of ethical leadership, self-introspection and submission to learning from others is critical for ecclesial leaders to rethink and evaluate their being, positions and responsibilities in Christian leadership. Considering that knowledge is one of the pivotal competencies applicable to African Christian leaders (Tagwirei 2024), every church leader should consistently upgrade their knowledge of God, the Bible, hermeneutics, theology, homiletics and contexts. As Peter and Paul state:

Intellectual conversion reflects turning from ignorance to knowledge, therefore, if leaders continuously seek to grow their hermeneutical, theological, homiletical, contextual and leadership knowledge, they will eventually stay alert regarding the dangers of charlatanry and controversy and abide by Christian ethics. As Tagwirei (2024:211) asserts, ‘following Godly and Christly leadership leads to other-centredness in a world that idolises self-centredness’. In cases of a leader falling into charlatanry or controversy as a result of biblical ignorance, and or wrong theologies, intellectual conversion can lead to restoration. Theological training does not guarantee ethical leadership, because various factors (such as soundness of trainers and resourcefulness of schools) determine ethicality. Nevertheless, having at least some training improves knowhow and moral formation.

In the light of Kretzschmar’s (2002) affective conversion, Christian leaders should be reminded to keep high regard for God and His people. This means remembering that being a leader is being a steward of God’s mission to save humanity in accordance with His will. This author agrees with Faber (2023:29) that ‘the Christian philosophy of leadership can, and should be developed from the biblical image of a leader as a steward’. According to Kretzschmar (2002), Christian leaders should remember to follow the teachings and example of Jesus Christ who exemplified steward leadership through servant leadership. Jesus Christ taught and exemplified servant leadership by washing the feet of his disciples (Jn 13:1–17).

Considering that several African leaders obviously find it challenging to acknowledge leadership authority as entrusted by God and to live above reproach, the remnant of Christ-like leaders in churches and ecumenical bodies can and should remind and correct those who fall into charlatanry and controversy to repent and turn back to steward leadership. When a leader takes leadership as stewardship, the leader acknowledges their vulnerability to sin, charlatanry and controversy, they welcome correction, admit that they erred and realign themselves with God’s will.

According to Kretzschmar (2002), volitional conversion involves surrendering one’s will to God and aligning with God’s will. The will of God is taken to correspond with the word of God as recorded in the Bible. We can learn from the story of King David (2 Sm 12). Although David was not a charlatan, he controversially had Euriah killed and took his widow for himself. David’s controversial behaviour can be contrasted with his remorsefulness and repentance, which speak volumes about volitional conversion. When prophet Nathan rebuked David (2 Sm 12:1–25), David immediately demonstrated remorsefulness by accepting that he had sinned, weeping, fasting, praying and pleading with God for forgiveness, and for the child that Uriah’s wife had borne him. The child died, but God preserved David’s life. David’s immediate and humble response demonstrates volitional conversion – he submitted himself to God’s will for the sake of repentance and uprightness.

The case of David offers hope to all leaders who have failed morally but still desire forgiveness and redemption. Considering that David was a man after God’s own heart (Ac 13:22) who had fallen into grave sin, it is sobering to realise that even great spiritual leaders can fall, and still rise when corrected and helped to repent and get back on track. That David was restored after welcoming the uncomfortable correction through Nathan, and acknowledging his sin, suggest that leaders can be reformed, restored and transformed after acknowledging their missteps and choosing humility over pride.

Kretzschmar (2002) proposes relational conversion as an essential component of ethical leadership. Regarding relational conversion, Kretzschmar (2002) asserts that a Christian leader’s moral conscience can be built and sustained by a family, church and community. Christian leaders should build and maintain relationships and fellowship with their families, fellow believers, leaders and community to enrich their moral formation. Relational conversion links with the African philosophy of Ubuntu, which encompass love, unity, hospitality, empathy, mutual giving, dignity, harmony and shared humanity (Nzimakwe 2014). According to Tagwirei (2023a:9), ‘this philosophy is oriented towards fostering the creation and nurturing of a strong and interconnected community’. Unlike selfless charlatanry and controversy, Ubuntu ‘is a way of life and stresses the importance of community, solidarity, sharing and caring’ (Nzimakwe 2014:31). Clearly Ubuntu has a role to play in inspiring and challenging African Church leaders to serve others through African communal love, grace, humility, cooperation and care. Nussbaum (2003) declares:

Furthermore, relational conversion inspires inclusive teamwork. When leaders relate fellowship and work with their followers and communities, they can leverage ideological, human, material and financial resources to accomplish integral mission. If Church leaders lead their churches, families and communities holistically by proclaiming and demonstrating the gospel in all spiritual, political, ecological and socio-economic dimensions of life, collectively, they can transform the continent.

Lastly, Kretzschmar’s (2002) suggests that the conclusive component of moral action can help African ecclesial leaders. When leaders surrender to intellectual, affective, volitional and relational conversion, they can be inspired to act morally. Moral action relates to one of the competencies of Christian leadership development proposed by Malphurs and Manzini (2004): the competency of doing. Tagwirei (2024:213) explains that ‘the doing competency of Christian leadership focuses on the development of leading and pastoring skills’. Tagwirei (2024) lists a number of duties that Christian leaders ought to master, such as preaching, teaching, caring for followers and conducting oneself in ethical ways that align with biblical teachings. This author agrees with Kretzschmar (2002) that, when church leaders are intellectually, affectively, volitionally and relationally transformed, their behaviour changes accordingly. It is believed that the fruits of holistic conversion and transformation are godly and ethical deeds. When people are theologically trained and refreshed, and wilfully and wholeheartedly yield to God and maintain good relations with God and fellow humans, they can withstand temptations of immorality, charlatanry and controversy.