Source: Nike / NIke
For decades pastors of mega churches have been accused of swindling their congregations out of millions of dollars for their own personal gain and use and while many cases have proven to be true via investigations, Instagram is now being used to spot the suspect spending habits of certain men of God.
In a new piece from The New York Times, we find that a few pastors have been caught wearing high-end name brand gear that we kind of doubt Jesus would’ve given them his blessing to purchase. We mean, the son of God wore a robe and chancletas throughout his entire ordeal for Christ’s sake. Still, men like Carl Lentz and Chad Veach who make a living spreading the word of God seem to love to stunt for the gram like Kardashians.
Carl Lentz, the pastor who baptized Justin Bieber in a professional basketball player’s bath tub, appeared wearing a pair of Nike Air Fear of God sneakers that were selling online for about $500.
Then John Gray, a pastor from South Carolina, was shown in blood-red Air Yeezy 2s, the sneakers made in collaboration with Kanye West, that were going for upward of $5,000.
And in another photo, Chad Veach, who preaches in Los Angeles, had a $1,900 Gucci bag and wore $795 pants.
A new IG account dubbed PreachersNSneakers posts pics of pastors who’s closet game can rival that of your favorite celebrity and while we don’t know if these pastors and preachers are aware that they’re being put on blast, they will now. Already the account has amassed more than 140 thousand followers with hundreds of people posting criticizing and sarcastic comments about these humble preacher’s expensive tastes.
Pastor John Gray meanwhile got caught stuntin’ in a pair of $5,000 “Red October” Yeezy’s that many consider their holy grails. These are just his Monday kicks.
The man behind the account meanwhile is a 29-year-old graduate student who peeped these pastor’s closet game and felt it was something worth exploring.
“Initially, I felt very justified in the stuff I was posting and seeing,” he said.
The controversy resulting from the Instagram posts started off like any other social media flame war. Yet the exchanges soon morphed into something far different: a nuanced and at times challenging conversation that was carried out in social media posts and discussed at length in podcasts. At a recent Christian hip-hop concert, performers were discussing it backstage.
The pastors for their part have tried to downplay their expensive attire and have reached out to the graduate student to explain themselves.
The pastors have contributed little to the conversation. They have talked about it privately and reached out to the person behind the account, who said he was told by the pastors that shoes and clothes are often given to them. Others on Instagram defended them, arguing that the account aimed to sow discord and pillory the pastors.
Unless them “Red October” Yeezy’s is bootlegs, we don’t know any sneakerhead who would be willing to part with some $5,000 grails just off the strength of their religious beliefs. Just sayin.’
Source: HipHopWired.com
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