A pastor in Missouri has gone viral following an impassioned sermon in which he scolded his parishioners for being “stingy” and not following God.
Reverend Carlton Funderburke did not criticize his congregation for sinning, not doing good works, or offending the Lord. He scolded the “stingy sons and daughters” of the Church at the Well in Kansas City for not “honoring” him with a lavish gift, as he had requested.
“That’s how I know you’re still poor and broke and broken and ugly, because of how you’ve been honoring me,” Funderburke told his congregation.
In the pictures, The Shepherd He recriminates his followers because he had asked them for a Movado watch months ago and still did not get it.
“You can buy a Movado watch at Sam’s,” Funderburke said. “And you all know I ordered one last year. Here we are in August, I still don’t have it. You haven’t said anything. Let me make the effort and talk to my stingy sons and daughters,” he added.
“Am I not worth your McDonald’s money? Am I not worth your Red Lobster money? I am not worth your St. John Knit, now somehow they can’t afford it anymore. Am I not worth Louis Vuitton? Am I not worth your Prada? your Gucci?”, you hear them say.
The 56-second clip of the sermon, posted on TikTok by a local news company, The Kansas City Defender, racked up more than 566,000 views in four days.
“I say this because I want you to understand exactly what God is saying,” adds Funderburke.
After the publication of the video, which quickly went viral and generated great controversy, the pastor apologized on social networks.
Pastor Funderburke called that part of his August 7 sermon “inexcusable” and said that “the video clip does not reflect my heart or my feelings towards the people of God”.
“The zeal of any presentation must be tempered with love and respect. And that was not shown,” he said.
It is not the first time that the luxuries of religious leaders have generated blisters. In fact, an Instagram account called PreachersNSneakers shows the leaders and the clothes they wear, with their respective cost. In one of the most recent ones, it can be seen that a pastor’s sneakers cost $1,420 dollars.
