Pastor to the stars John Gray III is reacting to Marvin Sapp's viral Church donation request -- telling ushers to close the doors until the congregation coughs up $40,000 -- and he says culture and context are key.
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00:00Well, I've known Marvin Sapp for many years.
00:05He's a great human being.
00:07He loves God.
00:08Those are unquestioned things.
00:10He loves his children.
00:11He loves the church.
00:13I think the challenge is context, cultural context, because within the construct and
00:20the context of the people he was speaking to at that particular service, they would
00:25understand his language.
00:27But within that construct, I've seen much, much worse.
00:30I've seen $1,000 lines, $500 lines, don't leave, no one's leaving until.
00:36And I think what he was saying was more for order.
00:39And I have to take his word for that.
00:41But I understand how culture sees a moment like that, particularly when it comes to faith.
00:47You're looking at an absolute influx of multiple things happening.
00:51And then they see a pastor saying 2,000 people give $20, and that can seem deeply offensive.
00:58And so I think it's more incumbent upon leaders and pastors to truly be servant leaders, shepherds,
01:05because I understand what it's like.
01:08Our church, we do reverse offerings.
01:10We put baskets at the front, and I've told people, come down and get what you need.
01:15If you have a bill, you come get that.
01:17That didn't make the news, because the truth is, that's what the church should be doing.
01:21We should be meeting the needs of the poor, the widows, the orphans, the elderly.
01:25But when you see what took place and how it offended people, we in the faith community
01:30have to do a better job of understanding and communicating biblical truth.
01:34I understand why you feel that way, and that's not the message, and that's not the heart
01:38of Jesus.
01:39He wouldn't say it that way.
01:41But please, respectfully, also look at the culture and context, because he wasn't being
01:46wicked.
01:47He was culturally within brand.
01:51So maybe the issue is not so much what he said, but a culture that would allow that
01:56to be a language that's expressed across pulpits.
02:00That to me is the bigger issue, and that's something that we're going to have to reckon
02:03with over time.