Imagine a man. He is well suited, drive nice cars, charismatic, and he has many followers. His words can be used to uplift or to divide or ultimately to get what he wants. Who is he? He could be a Preacher who inspires and ministers to his flock or he could just be a Pimp, who is all about his money and his hustle.
I'll just say this right now that most of my readers will not understand this phenomenon and connecting the dots can be very tricky. Most of you may not attend church regularly (or at all) and I may disclose more than a few dark secrets of the Black church, but these need to be brought out. There are plenty of Preachers out there who are doing the LORD's work and I have high esteem for them, but this is for those few Preachers with a Pimp's mindset and attitude. Let's try this simple rule: if a Preacher is offended by anything that I say next, you may be a PIMP in preacher's clothing.
I grew up in a legendary church for which I have not yet found an equal. The Pastor of that Church was above reproach and the church felt like family with soul and brotherhood. He was a true man of GOD, who also happened to love his cars, but his focus on the Church and making it the best it could be. This man baptized my sister and me and we are still connected to his family to this day even though he passed away almost a decade ago.
Since leaving that Church after an ugly change of leadership and its aftermath, I have found it very hard to look at Pastors and ministers the same way again. Usually the first thing that I hear is the Pastor say that infamous part of the Bible (Malachi 3:8) that brings up my shield instantly, "Will a Man rob GOD?" It is then when I look at the Pastor or minister's wife and ask myself is that hat more expensive than the suit that I am wearing and whether the church is thriving or are all the resources going to the Pastor and into his pocket. I swear that there are more Black churches than 7 Elevens because Pastors especially Pimp Pastors want to have his own church so he can be in charge and in control.
So now we get to the Pimps and let's run through the similarities. They both usually have nice cars, clothes, married nice looking women while single women cling to and are fascinated by them. They both have huge egos, demand attention, can speak well, want to control everything, and have the skill to manipulate especially if one is not properly armed to think for him or herself. One main difference is that a Pimp will say what be has to get what he wants. For the Pimp Preacher he will justify himself and quote any scripture he has to in order to add more money to the collection plate for his benefit, not the church's. You will usually see this in the form of one month long Pastor's Appreciation Services that a honest Preacher would conduct in one day or other schemes to have members compete to see who can raise the most money for the Preacher's benefit and not the church's.
Even the Holy Bible warns as such. Read Matthew 7:15 where Jesus says, "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves." In fact, you should probably read Matthew 7:15-23. The last thing I need to hear from Pimp Preacher is that GOD told HIM that I should put "X" dollars into the collection plate and by that action alone, I will be blessed. I'm not easily influenced and while I don't know my Bible as well as I should, I know how to check the source before I ever believe or follow a Pimp Preacher and I hope you now do too!
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