Church Members Mistreat Homeless Man in Church Unaware It Is Their Pastor in Disguise

reply to post by fluff007

He greeted people to be greeted back with stares and dirty looks, with people looking down on him and judging him.

The lesson and thought was great and this is typically spot on of how things go, however I'm not sure this particular story is true See Snopes

PhoenixOD
Yeah it seems this story is fake :

Internet hoax expert Snopes.com recently took up the case of the undercover pastor and found the anecdote contains echoes of several others, including a Princeton University psychology experiment from 1970, the true story of a Tennessee Methodist pastor who lived as a homeless man for four days before delivering a sermon on the experience and a best-selling book published in the late 19th century.

Perhaps more tellingly, Snopes, as well as Hoax-Slayer.com, revealed the stirring image of Steepek was in fact a picture of an English homeless man taken by photographer Brad Gerrard and readily available on Flikr and Tumblr.

Gerrard describes the photo, originally uploaded to Flikr in 2010, in a Tumblr post:

I was walking down the street in Richmond, saw this man talking to someone, could see he was quite a picture in the making. On the way back, when he was free I had a short conversation with the gentleman and he agreed to let me photograph him. I liked the result. He was very friendly.

Although sites such as The Blaze and The Examiner have also voiced doubt over the veracity of the Pastor Jeremiah Steepek parable, the story is still being shared on the Internet.

The Huffington Post, too, failed to turn up any evidence of a Pastor Jeremiah Steepek independent of the parable, but if he does exist, we would love to hear from him.

Pastor Jeremiah Steepek Hoax? Viral Story Of 'Homeless' Pastor Is Heartwarming But Probably Fake

If that's Richmond as in the Great Vancouver Area, then I think I've seen that homeless man.

I always talk to the homeless and treat them as a peer, so I wouldn't have been one of those weeping and wailing when the Lord employs their own heart as their judge.

a reply to: fluff007

Well, now, that''s a pastor that seems to have started on the right track! Shame people in the congregation reacted the way they did. Typical, though. Some long years back, when I Was working at a book store, the manager pulled a prank on an assistant manager, and several employees. She was a little heavy, and dressed as a homeless man, padding out her clothing to make it work. It was a very good disguise. I knew her when I saw her face, but some didn't. The big joke was on the assistant manager. We told him there was someone in such-and-such aisle he needed to see, and he went over, and started trying to tell "him" he needed to leave. The premise was that he needed to buy, but people browse bookstores all the time, and don't buy. It took a while for him to realize it was her.

Not quite the same situation, but it shows the attitude some people have.

I'd like to know what the church in this case did the next week, and after, and how long the pastor lasted!