Person Asks If They Were A Jerk To Refuse To Plan A BBQ Event For Their Church For Free

If you work for yourself, you know there is a risk of running into that certain someone who will refuse to dish out for the job you have done. However, when it’s your own employer who isn’t even paying you the minimum wage – yikes.

This guy worked for a local church that he had a special connection to, and as mentioned earlier, the pay wasn’t all too great, yet he did it because the folks there were his only “family.” But, you know what they say, just because they’re family – it doesn’t mean they’re great people.

Pastor asked a church employee to organize and work at a BBQ event on his day off

But when the guy pondered about pay, he got told that there would be none as he’d be doing it “for God”

“AITA for laughing when my pastor/boss told me I wasn’t getting paid for organizing an event?” – this internet user took to one of Reddit’s most honorable communities to ask its members if he’s indeed a jerk for laughing at his employer and then quitting on the spot after he refused to pay for a job. The post managed to garner over 6.3K upvotes as well as 686 comments discussing the situation.

The fact that our world is totally money-oriented and that we have no choice but to submit to it is not particularly shocking. Perhaps evolution is to blame for our all-time desire for status, or some bigwig in 600 BCE who is believed to have minted the first official currency – whatever it is, one thing we know for sure is that we pay to exist, and it’s not fun. 

Having a stable job is vital if you want to survive, and if you’re lucky enough to get a position in an appealing environment with a boss who treats you like a human, you might even get something out of it, like occasional fulfillment, for instance.  

Now, all jokes aside, not everything is that depressing. Although our world is filled with greedy individuals who want power and power only, finding a position that ticks all your boxes is possible, so – kudos to all the employers who take their subordinates’ labor seriously. 

However, evil still exists, and people do take advantage of others for their own sake. 

There are a bazillion issues that could come up with employment: lack of recognition, poor work-life balance, no potential growth, an office staffed with gossiping high schoolers, pay discrepancies, and the most popular one, crappy management.

To really paint a picture, according to a piece from Officevibe, an online platform that offers managers an employee experience solution to build better relationships with their people and create the conditions for great work, a Gallup study of 7,272 Americans revealed that one in two had left their job to get away from their manager.

Crazy, but not that surprising, eh? 

He then laughed in his face, and when he realized that the pastor was being serious – quit on the spot

Well, the star of today’s article is no exception and has also found himself in a bind with his superior.

Everybody knows that failing to pay an employee for completed work is, inarguably, criminal – however, when you turn down an internship just to work at a place that is barely bringing you enough to stay afloat simply because you consider them your only “family,” it pains significantly more.

Let’s do a quick recap: the 23-year-old started working for his church with “garbage” pay because the people there had helped him through some tough times. He did some general work, but his main focus revolved around finance budgeting, so when the pastor asked him to organize a BBQ event on his day off, naturally, he wondered about the pay.

But, instead of getting a number, the pastor straight up told him that there’d be none as he’d be doing it “for God” and that he shouldn’t expect to be paid on a Sunday.

Great, blame it on the deity!

Anywho, long story short, the guy laughed in his face and quit on the spot but later received a “second-chance” text, which essentially provoked him to take it online and establish whether he should just suck it up.

Many Redditors said that while the church did help the author when he needed it, the fact that they were openly trying to mooch off of his time and resources was downright unacceptable.

At the end of the day, these spiritual people did help a struggling soul, but, as it’s universally known, when you do good deeds, it doesn’t mean that you now get to exploit others for it.

What is your take on the story, though?

Fellow online community members shared their thoughts and opinions on the matter