Someone Collects Pics Of Preachers Wearing Expensive Designer Items To Show The Other Side Of Church
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About 37% of Americans attend the church at least once per week, a recent study has shown. However, would this number decrease if they knew their pastors wore luxury brand sneakers that are worth thousands of dollars? A 29-year-old man named Tyler has set out to find an answer to this question. Tyler has created an Instagram account called PreachersNSneakers, calling out famous pastors for their liking of overly luxury goods, and it has reached over 66K followers in just a few weeks.
Ron Carpenter
“I’ve been really into buying and reselling sneakers for the past few years,” Tyler told Fashionista. “On the other side, I’m an evangelical Christian and am pretty ingrained in that culture. One Sunday I was looking for a song I really like by Elevation Worship, and I realized the lead singer was wearing a pair of Yeezy 750s. They’re pretty rare; they resell for 800 bucks or so. I thought I knew about pastor salaries — my wife works for a church — and so I was like, ‘This does not compute. How is this guy wearing these kicks?'”
Image credits: preachersnsneakers
John Gray
Image credits: preachersnsneakers
“Then I started looking into the pastor at Elevation, Steven Furtick, and I came across a video where he was wearing this pair of shattered backboard Jordan 1s, the orange and black colorway,” Tyler said. “That’s one of my holy grail shoes. I looked them up on StockX, and the last sale was for like 900 bucks. I started deep diving these megachurches and I realized there’s a lot of people out here wearing like the hypest outfits, the highest resell kicks in the game. I made a video for my personal Instagram, and people responded really well. At that point was like, maybe there’s some ongoing comedic factor here.”
Carl Lentz
Image credits: preachersnsneakers
He has had hundreds of church leaders, and people in ministry message him ‘Thank you, keep doing what you’re doing. It’s prompting a discussion around what leadership and stewardship look like within the church.'”I also have this whole other component of the secular, questioning or atheist community that are messaging me like, ‘Dude, this is hilarious. It’s crazy the money that these preachers make.'”
Rich Wilkerson
Image credits: preachersnsneakers
“Somebody called me a hypocrite today and said that I was causing disunity within the church,” he continued. “But I’ve been pretty intentional to leave it relatively open-ended. It can be read passive-aggressively, or it can be read like ‘Oh this dude’s just gassing this pastor up for having a sweet outfit.’ I had a Dallas-based pastor reach out to me and ask to be featured on the page yesterday.”
Chad Veach
Image credits: preachersnsneakers
When Tyler started the project, he never expected any of this multilayered discussion. “All I do is find pictures, look up the things that they’re wearing and then put out the current market price and let you decide what you feel about that, you know?”
Natalie Todd
Image credits: preachersnsneakers
But the biggest question here has to be about whether or not people think it’s inherently problematic for church leaders to own or post pictures of themselves in these uber-expensive shoes and clothes. “As somebody that has given money to my local church, personally I would be a little irritated if I saw the pastor step out in some fresh Yeezys. I would at least ask the question.”
John Gray
Image credits: preachersnsneakers
“The rebuttal to that is ‘Well, these megachurch guys are making major book sales or doing speaking tours,’ which is valid. I don’t fault any of them for making a lot of money. But I do think that you’re held to a different standard if you are leading a church that people are contributing money to and investing some amount of their trust in you to lead them spiritually. That’s a pretty heavy calling. I think you at least need to be aware of the optics of the things that you’re wearing.”
Julia Veach
Image credits: preachersnsneakers
Another problem is that nobody can say for sure if these accessories and sneakers were gifts or not. “All I know is that you’re on the ‘gram wearing a $2,000 pair of boots. I can’t reconcile it. I can’t think of a meaningful explanation as to why you would feel 100% okay with wearing a pair of boots that probably the majority of your congregation could never afford. I am just here to say ‘Whoa, homie’s wearing $800 track pants.’ Y’all do with that what you want, you know?”
Erwin McManus
Image credits: preachersnsneakers
“I mean, I cannot stand here and say that you should never be wearing that. These guys like Carl Lentz and Chad Veach and Judah Smith, they probably have really wise mentors. And where I sit now I don’t understand it, but maybe there is an explanation behind it — I would love to hear it.”
Mack Brock
Image credits: preachersnsneakers
“It’d be one thing if they were to come out and explain, like, ‘this is why I bought this pair of Off-White Chicago 1s, because I feel strongly about how they’re made.’ If you could get a congregation to somehow agree that their money going to those $2,500 pair of kicks was good for the kingdom of God then I can’t have an argument with that. I definitely don’t want to say you should fund sweatshops. But I also think there’s got to be a balance between that and wearing Burberry sneakers.”
Chad Veach
Image credits: preachersnsneakers
Tyler himself has never decided about what church to go to based on what the pastor wears. “That would be the most superficial way of choosing a church, in my opinion.”
Planet boom
Image credits: preachersnsneakers
Chad Veach
Image credits: preachersnsneakers
Steven Furtick
Image credits: preachersnsneakers
Chad Veach
Image credits: preachersnsneakers
Rich Wilkerson
Image credits: preachersnsneakers
Chad Veach
Image credits: preachersnsneakers
Judah Smith
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Keion Henderson
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Chris Brown
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Robert Madu
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Jimmy Rollins
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Rich Wilkerson
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Levi Lusko
Image credits: preachersnsneakers
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Church Leaders? Thank God I am an atheist :-)!
Did you know that you still support churches by paying takes (in the US)? As Mark Twain argued: "No church property is taxed and so the infidel and the atheist and the man without religion are taxed to make up the deficit in the public income thus caused."
In Finland (where I live) you have the option of either paying "Church tax" from your monthly income or not. I don't. It's usually linked to if you are religious or not but people can of course have different reasonings for paying or not paying. Depending on what region you live in the tax is 1%-2%.
Tax all the churches. They now can be political bully pulpits
Even here in India, all religious institutions are exempted from taxes and common people have to pay for it. You will be shocked to know how many millions of dollars such institutions hold in their off shore accounts.
I live in France, church and state are apart since 1905... but in my region, once occupied by the german Empire between 1871 and 1918, the french republic still pays the catholic and protestant priests
@C I agree with @LittleFish for saying that everyone needs public education in order to make a less moronic society. People pay school taxes so that the general public can gain education and maybe, just maybe, work towards un-trashing the world (at the very least, by making sure they don't become trashy people).
This comment has been deleted.
DO YOU KNOW THAT ISN'T TRUE???
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
I deleated my comment because it is not my choice that you are all unchurched and anti-christian, you "paying tax for a church" does not affect you enough to matter JUST SHARE also you could like take advanage of your "payment" and go to a good Christian church where this kind of stuff doesnt happen
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
No one is taxed more because non-profit organizations don't pay taxes. Thats like saying people with kids pay less taxes (in claiming dependents) so childless people are taxed more to make up for it. There is zero coloration. Mark Twain had an axe to grind with religion so his twisted perspective makes sense.
Thank "God" I am UK and we don't really have this mentality here. No genuine preacher should be living a lifestyle funded by and wearing the the donations of ordinary people. A pair of trainers is a month's income for a family.
The german saying is "They preach water and they drink wine" :-)
A Sun investigation reveals the lavish worlds of Britain's loaded pastors including plush mansions, a £120k birthday party and worshippers thrust thousands of direct debit forms a week INVESTIGATION By Richard Wheatstone 4th January 2018, 3:30 pm Updated: 22nd June 2018, 10:18 am
I live in the UK, we bought a flat last year and had to take out Chancel repair liability insurance, which although something I had not heard of at the time is an archaic law that's still in effect, requiring landowners in the UK to payout if their local Anglican parish church is damaged, this in modern secular Britain, it's crazy.
HA! Say that to the Church in my Town... The pastor is exactly this. They hide their donations as paying staff stupid amounts. Have homophobic and transphobic opinions and convince all their followers to donate over 1 million each year and have over 4 million saved up, which they never actually give to the community, they help their community, in small it's okay God loves you kind of ways they think it's all great fun then the pastor takes the rest of the money or they put more money into huge speaker systems and lighting for the millions worth modern building recently finished.
Religion is a lie and preachers are white collar con artists.
I was taken back to the Reformation in a few ways. Not quite indulgences, but enough to make me question what's going on inside church walls. Another reason why I am, and will stay, an atheist too. :P
Like seeing the Pope rocking Versace - very wrong
The Pope covering for child molesters is worse than what is on his feet
Me too, and 10% (more than education) of the national budget goes to the church. They don''t have fancy clothes, of fancy cars, houses, jets, etc, but still... An atheist living in Perú.
religious cults are run by Pimpin' Preacher Boys
"Thank god"... Atheists don't thank "God". :-)
Correct, that's why this little ":-)" is with the quote
LOL
Lol, I love your statement- there is more truth in it than comes from these preachers. I am a Christian, but run away from these proclaimed 'churches'. I believe the bible's 'church' is the body of Christ, all believers in Him, of all walks. I guarantee you God does not live in a building. Jesus fulfilled the time of the Law ( 1st Testament). At the moment of His crucifixion, God rent (tore open) the veils of the temple, which only appointed priests could do, to intercede for the sins of the people. Now it was open to all. No need anymore to bring sin offerings-the holiest of all offerings which was only to be eaten in the innermost holiest room of the temple. Jesus became our sin offering, our Passover Lamb. That was the end of approaching God in a building. False teachers also teach that "Jesus became sin," when in Hebrew, the words 'sin' (evil) and 'sin offering' (holy) were interchangeable, sort of like check and bill. Jesus paid for our sins- without ever sinning.
YOUR RELIGION IS B******T. F**K jESUS!
While I hate the gross misconduct by church leaders to take advantage of their members but aren't all the free will gifts given to church exactly that? gifts? should the govt tax the gifts you gave to your friends too? to family? it gifts
No, the government should tax the churches.
Their fashion sense made me think about being one...lol
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
YOU HAVE NO GOD TO THANK, WOULDN'T THAT BE CORRECT? YOUR DAYS IN ETERNAL HELL WILL COME, IF I'M RIGHT AND YOU AREN'T! I'LL THANK GOD I CAN PRAY FOR YOU!!!
Eternal hell and punishment are not mentioned in the bible (except in mistranlations). It merely states that the earth will be restored (to paradise/eden), and the unrighteous will remain dead while the righteous are granted eternal life. (Non religious person here but I've had a lot of experience with it, and the American misinterpretation of people being tortured for eternity always drives me nuts).
Because I believe that churches should be down to earth, humble, open and welcoming to all and everyone, I am totally for exposing this waste of money. Pastor actually means "shepherd" - not idol, cool speaker or shoe model. But these guys didn't get the message...
I had a friend who told me that her church had kicked a woman out because they did not approve of her behavior. Sexual, I think. So much for welcoming the sinner. Hell, so much for defining what is a sin.
Most people don't think the "shepherd and his flock" metaphor through to the end. While a shepherd's job is to protect his flock, the sheep aren't his friends or his pets. They're livestock, and his job is to keep them alive so they can be fleeced and slaughtered. Need I say more?
😄😄😄😄😄 I'd never seen it that way, but it's so accurate! I would give you 2000 upvotes if I could!
Pets were not particularly a thing in Biblical times, hence why there was not a metaphor about them, any more than you would use a metaphor about a thing that does not exist now. No one except the obscenely wealthy would have kept an animal just to have it around, and Jesus was not talking to the obscenely wealthy.
Should have called the page Sneachers. What's with this John Gray person and his butt ugly $5k sneakers?! After a quick Google search I see that this dude gifted his wife a $200,000 Lamborghini Urus after cheating on her. Lord have mercy, I sure am in the wrong line of business...
You already got the "Lord have mercy" bit. Now you only need to buy some TV-time and do some "magical" healings on a few friends who know a bit of acting and you're well on your way.
Yet people keep following and giving. They must be stupid or very desperate to have god on their side. But then why not follow a pastor/church/religion that doesn't rip you off?
There no such thing as a pastor/church/religion that doesn't rip you off. They always do, one way or another.
Speaking of a line of business... back in the day, there was a well known SF writer who told his fellow writers that if someone wanted to become rich all they had to do was start their own religion. Eventually, he took his own advice.
I don't you'd feel comfortable stealing alms from your flock, would you?
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Sneakers
Church Leaders? Thank God I am an atheist :-)!
Did you know that you still support churches by paying takes (in the US)? As Mark Twain argued: "No church property is taxed and so the infidel and the atheist and the man without religion are taxed to make up the deficit in the public income thus caused."
In Finland (where I live) you have the option of either paying "Church tax" from your monthly income or not. I don't. It's usually linked to if you are religious or not but people can of course have different reasonings for paying or not paying. Depending on what region you live in the tax is 1%-2%.
Tax all the churches. They now can be political bully pulpits
Even here in India, all religious institutions are exempted from taxes and common people have to pay for it. You will be shocked to know how many millions of dollars such institutions hold in their off shore accounts.
I live in France, church and state are apart since 1905... but in my region, once occupied by the german Empire between 1871 and 1918, the french republic still pays the catholic and protestant priests
@C I agree with @LittleFish for saying that everyone needs public education in order to make a less moronic society. People pay school taxes so that the general public can gain education and maybe, just maybe, work towards un-trashing the world (at the very least, by making sure they don't become trashy people).
This comment has been deleted.
DO YOU KNOW THAT ISN'T TRUE???
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
I deleated my comment because it is not my choice that you are all unchurched and anti-christian, you "paying tax for a church" does not affect you enough to matter JUST SHARE also you could like take advanage of your "payment" and go to a good Christian church where this kind of stuff doesnt happen
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
No one is taxed more because non-profit organizations don't pay taxes. Thats like saying people with kids pay less taxes (in claiming dependents) so childless people are taxed more to make up for it. There is zero coloration. Mark Twain had an axe to grind with religion so his twisted perspective makes sense.
Thank "God" I am UK and we don't really have this mentality here. No genuine preacher should be living a lifestyle funded by and wearing the the donations of ordinary people. A pair of trainers is a month's income for a family.
The german saying is "They preach water and they drink wine" :-)
A Sun investigation reveals the lavish worlds of Britain's loaded pastors including plush mansions, a £120k birthday party and worshippers thrust thousands of direct debit forms a week INVESTIGATION By Richard Wheatstone 4th January 2018, 3:30 pm Updated: 22nd June 2018, 10:18 am
I live in the UK, we bought a flat last year and had to take out Chancel repair liability insurance, which although something I had not heard of at the time is an archaic law that's still in effect, requiring landowners in the UK to payout if their local Anglican parish church is damaged, this in modern secular Britain, it's crazy.
HA! Say that to the Church in my Town... The pastor is exactly this. They hide their donations as paying staff stupid amounts. Have homophobic and transphobic opinions and convince all their followers to donate over 1 million each year and have over 4 million saved up, which they never actually give to the community, they help their community, in small it's okay God loves you kind of ways they think it's all great fun then the pastor takes the rest of the money or they put more money into huge speaker systems and lighting for the millions worth modern building recently finished.
Religion is a lie and preachers are white collar con artists.
I was taken back to the Reformation in a few ways. Not quite indulgences, but enough to make me question what's going on inside church walls. Another reason why I am, and will stay, an atheist too. :P
Like seeing the Pope rocking Versace - very wrong
The Pope covering for child molesters is worse than what is on his feet
Me too, and 10% (more than education) of the national budget goes to the church. They don''t have fancy clothes, of fancy cars, houses, jets, etc, but still... An atheist living in Perú.
religious cults are run by Pimpin' Preacher Boys
"Thank god"... Atheists don't thank "God". :-)
Correct, that's why this little ":-)" is with the quote
LOL
Lol, I love your statement- there is more truth in it than comes from these preachers. I am a Christian, but run away from these proclaimed 'churches'. I believe the bible's 'church' is the body of Christ, all believers in Him, of all walks. I guarantee you God does not live in a building. Jesus fulfilled the time of the Law ( 1st Testament). At the moment of His crucifixion, God rent (tore open) the veils of the temple, which only appointed priests could do, to intercede for the sins of the people. Now it was open to all. No need anymore to bring sin offerings-the holiest of all offerings which was only to be eaten in the innermost holiest room of the temple. Jesus became our sin offering, our Passover Lamb. That was the end of approaching God in a building. False teachers also teach that "Jesus became sin," when in Hebrew, the words 'sin' (evil) and 'sin offering' (holy) were interchangeable, sort of like check and bill. Jesus paid for our sins- without ever sinning.
YOUR RELIGION IS B******T. F**K jESUS!
While I hate the gross misconduct by church leaders to take advantage of their members but aren't all the free will gifts given to church exactly that? gifts? should the govt tax the gifts you gave to your friends too? to family? it gifts
No, the government should tax the churches.
Their fashion sense made me think about being one...lol
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
YOU HAVE NO GOD TO THANK, WOULDN'T THAT BE CORRECT? YOUR DAYS IN ETERNAL HELL WILL COME, IF I'M RIGHT AND YOU AREN'T! I'LL THANK GOD I CAN PRAY FOR YOU!!!
Eternal hell and punishment are not mentioned in the bible (except in mistranlations). It merely states that the earth will be restored (to paradise/eden), and the unrighteous will remain dead while the righteous are granted eternal life. (Non religious person here but I've had a lot of experience with it, and the American misinterpretation of people being tortured for eternity always drives me nuts).
Because I believe that churches should be down to earth, humble, open and welcoming to all and everyone, I am totally for exposing this waste of money. Pastor actually means "shepherd" - not idol, cool speaker or shoe model. But these guys didn't get the message...
I had a friend who told me that her church had kicked a woman out because they did not approve of her behavior. Sexual, I think. So much for welcoming the sinner. Hell, so much for defining what is a sin.
Most people don't think the "shepherd and his flock" metaphor through to the end. While a shepherd's job is to protect his flock, the sheep aren't his friends or his pets. They're livestock, and his job is to keep them alive so they can be fleeced and slaughtered. Need I say more?
😄😄😄😄😄 I'd never seen it that way, but it's so accurate! I would give you 2000 upvotes if I could!
Pets were not particularly a thing in Biblical times, hence why there was not a metaphor about them, any more than you would use a metaphor about a thing that does not exist now. No one except the obscenely wealthy would have kept an animal just to have it around, and Jesus was not talking to the obscenely wealthy.
Should have called the page Sneachers. What's with this John Gray person and his butt ugly $5k sneakers?! After a quick Google search I see that this dude gifted his wife a $200,000 Lamborghini Urus after cheating on her. Lord have mercy, I sure am in the wrong line of business...
You already got the "Lord have mercy" bit. Now you only need to buy some TV-time and do some "magical" healings on a few friends who know a bit of acting and you're well on your way.
Yet people keep following and giving. They must be stupid or very desperate to have god on their side. But then why not follow a pastor/church/religion that doesn't rip you off?
There no such thing as a pastor/church/religion that doesn't rip you off. They always do, one way or another.
Speaking of a line of business... back in the day, there was a well known SF writer who told his fellow writers that if someone wanted to become rich all they had to do was start their own religion. Eventually, he took his own advice.
I don't you'd feel comfortable stealing alms from your flock, would you?
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Sneakers