Baptist Preacher Blasts Congregant During Sermon for Sleeping; 'Hissy Fit' Goes Viral

[Donn R Arms]

Have to cut this guy some slack. It is probably a southern, blue collar kind of church where this kind of thing is endearing. It is a cultural thing. We ought not to let the sensibilities of our own milieu color our view. We are just looking in and were not present and part of the congregation.

I recall several occasions when Paul Tassell did the same thing at Grandview Park Baptist, and his people loved him dearly.

I grew up in an abusive church like this and I literally broke out in a sweat as I watched it. Yes, it is a lot like the Stockholm Syndrome. The passive aggressive “I beat you/I love you”, the forced confession of appreciation for the abuse in public, the swagger — it was all there. There’s another word to describe this “church” that begins with a “c” — “Cult” (not to mention “crazy” and “controlling”.)

Donn — As someone from the South and from a Blue Collar background, let me tell you there is a whole lot of other unBiblical behavior (like racism) that is a “cultural thang” and it is also equally wicked.

I wish I had known then what I know now. I would have stomped out of more than one church service (at various churches) and done so loudly.

This guy does NOT have the Spirit of Christ….

[Donn R Arms]

Have to cut this guy some slack. It is probably a southern, blue collar kind of church where this kind of thing is endearing. It is a cultural thing. We ought not to let the sensibilities of our own milieu color our view. We are just looking in and were not present and part of the congregation.

I recall several occasions when Paul Tassell did the same thing at Grandview Park Baptist, and his people loved him dearly.

Unless this man is joking or suffering from some sort of dementia, there is absolutely no context under which we should “cut this guy some slack.” He violates not merely the “sensibilities of our milieu”; he violates the spirit of Christlike love and humility that should characterize any minister of the gospel. If this sort of egomaniacal pulpit manner is “endearing” to the people in his church, it is because of one or both of the following: (a) he is appealing to the cruel part of their sin nature that finds pleasure in hearing people subjected to public ridicule and humiliation; (b) he is manipulating some craven desire of his people to submit parts of their lives to his authority that are outside his legitimate purview as a pastor. In fact, I’d be tempted to say to that anyone who finds this “endearing”: “You know not what spirit you are of!”

This sort of “leadership” isn’t exclusive to the south. (Just ask the folks in Hammond, Indiana.) The tactics of Jack Hyles are alive and well.

All I can say is “me too” and I’m glad that it’s all in my rear view mirror.

And they aren’t all from the Hyles’s camp. Some hold degrees (earned and honorary) from respected fundamentalist schools and are contributing factors to the exodus of our younger generation.

It may not be you or me, but the a lot of spectators think we’re related to them.