Dr. Sam Adeyemi on Belonging, Discipline, and Restoration: Theology of Community in Christianity

Dr. Sam Adeyemi is an Atlanta-based CEO, executive coach, and author who leads Sam Adeyemi, GLC, Inc. He founded and serves as executive director of Daystar Leadership Academy, whose programs have graduated 45,000+ alumni. With a large social-media following, he delivers leadership and organizational-growth guidance to executives worldwide. Adeyemi earned a Doctorate in Strategic Leadership from Regent University and belongs to the International Leadership Association. His books include Dear Leader: Your Flagship Guide to Successful Leadership and SHIFTS. He also cofounded Daystar Christian Centre in Lagos, Nigeria, where he is Senior Pastor. He lives in Atlanta with his wife, Nike.

In this interview, Scott Douglas Jacobsen speaks with Dr. Sam Adeyemi about “community” as a theological reality: believers bound to God and one another through the Holy Spirit. Dr. Adeyemi frames Christian belonging as love expressed through mutual respect, support, and spiritual growth. He argues congregational community forms when purpose, identity, shared values, rituals, regular interaction, and clear leadership create order. On difference, he emphasizes teaching impartial divine love, cultivating identity in Christ, cross-cultural humility, and diverse leadership. He describes discipline as restorative correction, not vindictive escalation, and says repentance requires admitting wrong, prioritizing victims’ healing, restitution, and stopping harmful practices.

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: When you use the word “community,” what do you mean theologically?

Dr. Sam Adeyemi: Community, theologically, means a group of believers who share a relationship with God and with one another, through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Jacobsen: What are the ethics of belonging in a Christian community?

Adeyemi: The ethics of belonging to a Christian community rest on the foundation of love. They include mutual respect, mutual support and spiritual growth.

Jacobsen: What turns a random local crowd into a congregational community?

Adeyemi: A random local crowd becomes a congregational community when it creates order. This includes establishing a common purpose, identity and shared values, establishing rituals and interacting regularly, and establishing a clear structure with leadership.

Jacobsen: How should churches build community across real differences?

Adeyemi: Churches can build community across real differences by teaching on God’s impartial nature of love, fostering a common identity in Christ, encouraging cross-learning across cultures with humility, and intentionally demonstrating diversity in the leadership.

Jacobsen: What does healthy church discipline look like?

Adeyemi: Healthy church discipline begins with sound biblical teachings and continues into taking corrective measures where necessary. Corrective measures begin with confronting individuals and then escalating where necessary in line with established procedures. The aim is restoration and not vindictiveness. It should be done in humility.

Jacobsen: When a community harms someone, what does repentance and restoration require?

Adeyemi: When a church community harms someone, repentance and restoration require the admission of wrongs to the individual or the community depending on the situation, focusing on the healing and wellbeing of the victim, making restitution if needed, and ensuring the behavior or practice that created the situation is stopped.

Jacobsen: What pastoral realities distort community life?

Adeyemi: Pastoral realities that distort community life arise from personal failure (sexual immorality or financial indiscretions), poor management and leadership skills (lack of delegation and poor conflict management) and cultural shifts within the church and in the society.

Jacobsen: How can online spaces genuinely help the churches?

Adeyemi: Online spaces can help churches to increase the effectiveness of their local and global outreach efforts, improve the effectiveness of their discipleship programs, increase the effectiveness of their internal and external communications, and improve the efficiency of their operations.

Jacobsen: Thank you very much for the opportunity and your time, Sam.

Scott Douglas Jacobsen is the publisher of In-Sight Publishing (ISBN: 978-1-0692343) and Editor-in-Chief of In-Sight: Interviews (ISSN: 2369-6885). He writes for The Good Men Project, International Policy Digest (ISSN: 2332–9416), The Humanist (Print: ISSN 0018-7399; Online: ISSN 2163-3576), Basic Income Earth Network (UK Registered Charity 1177066), A Further Inquiry, and other media. He is a member in good standing of numerous media organizations.