In a blistering sermon on Sunday, November 25, Pastor John Gray of Relentless Church in Greenville, South Carolina tore into fellow church leaders who implore their followers to "give and give" while they cash in and live lives of luxury.
According to the Christian Post, Gray told his congregants to help themselves to money from the donation plates if they were in need because that is where the tithed offerings are supposed to go.
In what the Post called an "emotional service," the pastor labeled some of his fellow Christian leaders as "pulpit pimps," in a sermon labled "Leftovers."
“For too long people have stood in a pulpit and told you to give, give, give. Very rarely have I seen churches stop and said ‘leave the baskets out, let the people get what they need'," Gray reportedly told his followers. "We’ve got too many pulpit pimps who want to get fat off people but don’t want to meet the needs of the poor people."
"And Jesus said that’s who you supposed to be taking care of. We got widows, we got orphans, we’ve got single moms in here. We might not be able to do everything but we can do something. I wish we could do more but it’s the best we can do right now,” he continued.
Additionally Gray told his flock to withhold their own donations if they disagreed with what he had to say.
“The role of the church, elder, is not only to receive from the people of God but to meet the needs of the people of God. I asked you to hold your offering until something in your spirit connected with the Word. Did you all hear me when I said that? But the role of the church is also to meet the needs of the people in the house,” he explained.
“Are there any single mothers in here? You had an orange light in your gas tank when you pulled up, where are you? Come to the altar. Hurry. Single mothers," he continued. "Are there any single fathers and you had less than a quarter tank of gas, where are you? Come to the altar, come to the altar."
The reports states that Gray placed the donation baskets before the members who came up to the altar, telling them: “Here’s what I want you to do. There’s some money in these baskets. You get what you need for you and the kids to eat and get some gas."
You can watch video of the entire sermon below via YouTube:
