The essence of Christian leadership is to guide Christians to achieve the Great Commission, which is preaching and teaching people to observe all things that Jesus has commanded. The early church leaders were committed to this assignment so much that not only were the lives of individual members of the church impacted, but there was a social transformation of the environment in which the church found itself. Surprisingly, over the recent years, there has been a noticeable shift from the church being an agent of transformation in Nigeria to a centre for exploitation of people for economic gain by self-proclaimed prophets and preachers. To investigate this trend, the phenomenological method of enquiry was adopted because it is the most suitable for exploring a qualitative study of this nature. Data were collected from both primary and secondary sources, which were presented and descriptively discussed. The study revealed that African worldview, negligence of prophecy, miracle and divine healing, economic hardship, among others, are factors responsible for the increase of self-proclaimed preachers and prophets, while exploitation, defrauding of members and the large-scale loss of Christian spirituality in the church and society are the consequences. The study concluded by recommending that Nigerians, especially youths, should embark on skill acquisition, not depending only on prophecy or miracle for livelihood. The second coming of Christ and holy living should form the preaching and teaching of Christian leaders, and theological educators should develop a tailor-made curriculum to address the spiritual gap already existing in Nigeria. 

Keywords: Christian leadership, church transformation, religious exploitation, phenomenological study, Nigeria.