Ep 846 | Hillsong, Steven Furtick & the Dangers of 'Designer' Pastors | Guest: Ben Kirby (PreachersNSneakers)

Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey

Blaze Podcast Network

News, Religion & Spirituality, Christianity, News Commentary

4.6 • 19.2K Ratings

🗓️ 27 July 2023

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Today we're joined by Ben Kirby, founder of Instagram account @PreachersNSneakers and author of "PreachersNSneakers: Authenticity in an Age of For-Profit Faith and (Wannabe) Celebrities," to discuss the state of the church when it comes to wealth and prosperity and how we elevate pastors to the role of celebrity. The PreachersNSneakers account posts photos of celebrity pastors, such as Steven Furtick and Mike Todd, wearing extremely expensive clothes and sneakers and leaves the questions up to us: Should we be glorifying this type of wealth when it comes to the role of pastor, and does this help or hurt prospective believers interested in the church? We discuss the relationships that have formed from this account, with some pastors engaging in good-hearted discussions with Ben about their clothing choices and others responding with more vitriol. We also discuss the two recent Hillsong documentaries that highlight the rise and fall of celebrity pastor Carl Lentz. Then we explain the seriousness of the pastoral calling and explain why many pastors who tend to show off their wealth also preach a toxic prosperity gospel with shallow and vapid messaging. --- Timecodes: (01:24) PreachersNSneakers (07:16) What is the point of the posts? (10:20) Why do some pastors wear expensive clothes? (23:07) Did you form relationships with pastors? (30:21) Do these clothes attract people to church? (34:20) Hillsong documentaries (42:45) Prosperity gospel & shallow messaging (52:20) PreachersNSneakers: Authenticity in an Age of For-Profit Faith and (Wannabe) Celebrities --- Today's Sponsors: Good Ranchers — get $30 OFF your box today at GoodRanchers.com – make sure to use code 'ALLIE' when you subscribe. You'll also lock in your price for two full years with a subscription to Good Ranchers! My Patriot Supply — prepare yourself for anything with long-term emergency food storage. Get your new, lower-price 4-Week Emergency Food Kit at PrepareWithAllie.com. Seven Weeks Coffee — get your organically farmed and pesticide-free coffee at sevenweekscoffee.com and let your coffee serve a greater purpose. Use the promo code 'ALLIE' to save 10% off your order. Jase Medical — get up to a year’s worth of many of your prescription medications delivered in advance. Go to JaseMedical.com today and use promo code “ALLIE”. --- Relevant Episodes: Ep 786 | Mike Todd’s Blasphemous Easter Service https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-786-mike-todds-blasphemous-easter-service/id1359249098?i=1000608480872 Ep 551 | My Take on Pastor Mike Todd’s Spit Take https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-551-my-take-on-pastor-mike-todds-spit-take/id1359249098?i=1000548398419 Ep 528 | What Progressive Christianity & Prosperity Gospel Get Wrong About Jesus | Guest: Costi Hinn https://podcasts.apple.com/at/podcast/ep-528-what-progressive-christianity-prosperity-gospel/id1359249098?i=1000542874144 Ep 257 | Leaving the Prosperity Gospel Behind and the Deconversion of Christians | Guest: Costi Hinn https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-257-leaving-the-prosperity-gospel-behind/id1359249098?i=1000476404583 --- Buy Allie's book, You're Not Enough (& That's Okay): Escaping the Toxic Culture of Self-Love: https://alliebethstuckey.com/book Relatable merchandise – use promo code 'ALLIE10' for a discount: https://shop.blazemedia.com/collections/allie-stuckey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Time for Diet Coke, mate. Yes, yes, yes!
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0:23.0	plus hundreds of prizes curated by Kate Moss.
0:26.0	From a Paxen store, 18 plus teas and teas visit Coke.co.uk slash break.
0:30.0	Ben Kirby runs the popular Instagram account, Preachers and Sneakers.
0:35.0	And he posts exactly what it sounds like.
0:38.0	He posts pictures of preachers and very, very expensive sneakers
0:44.0	and other clothing items.
0:46.0	But it's not a critique of fashion. It's not even just necessarily a critique
0:51.0	of how much these pastors are spending on their clothes.
0:55.0	It is a commentary on how we elevate pastors to a place of celebrity and importance
1:02.0	and how some of these pastors preach a health and wealth gospel that
1:07.0	paired with the clothing items that they are displaying on stage
1:12.0	can not only foster covetousness but also present a false hope, a false gospel
1:19.0	to the people who are listening to them and watching them.
1:23.0	And so we're talking about all of this today in studio.
1:26.0	And then we are also going to talk a little bit about the Hillsong documentary
1:29.0	that came out in May that centered on the story of celebrity pastor Carl Linz
1:35.0	and his scandal. Very interesting conversation that I know you guys are going to like.
	...

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