The guilty pleasure the past few weeks has been the Instagram account @preachersnsneakers which posts pictures of popular pastors wearing expensive shoes (and other designer items) along with price tags. In less than a month the account has attached over 130,000 followers. Its so hot even the Wall Street Journal did an article about it. For some reason many of us, myself included, love to see pastors called out for expensive shoes. This raises a couple of questions for me. First, “Why is a site like this so popular?” I can’t answer for you, but here is what I suspect about myself:
I feel better about myself when someone more famous, more successful or more well-paid than me gets “caught”.
I would never say it out loud, but when someone like Perry Noble, Carl Lentz or James McDonald gets roasted in public I feel a little tingle of pleasure. Somehow seeing them fall makes me rise, at least in my own eyes.
I feel a celebrity pastor is getting what he deserves when he’s publicly shamed
If I were in the public spotlight, which I’m not, I would know better than to build a big house, buy my wife an expensive car or Instagram myself wearing Yeezy Boost 350s. If I pastored a big church, led a national ministry or wrote a best-selling book I’d be too smart to spend the money on anything anyone could criticize.
I feel morally superior knowing I paid less than $50 for my sneakers
I buy our shoes from Payless, or WalMart or Target. I am frugal and wise. Other than that boat I used to have, those golf clubs I used to play with, that new car I bought one time, or that vacation I splurged on, I don’t spend a dime on myself.
Which brings me to my second question, “How much SHOULD a preacher pay for sneakers?”
With all the attention around shoes right now its surprising Jesus said very little about the proper price for preacher’s footwear. He did, however, have a couple of thoughts on sneakers and feet,
In John 7 a bunch of pastors brought a “sneaker” to Jesus, a woman caught sneaking into the wrong man’s bed. Jesus told the self-righteous church leaders they were right, the woman should pay the ultimate price for her sneaks. He then encouraged anyone who had never wasted money on expensive shoes, who had never been jealous of another pastor, who had never gossiped behind another leader’s back to destroy the sneaker in public. When the pastors examined their own hearts, they realized they didn’t have the stones to carry out the execution. Although Jesus did have a clear conscience, he chose the path of compassion rather than condemnation, and let the guilty one go free.
As for feet, Jesus seemed more concerned about our attitude than our Adidas. The last time he and his friends hung out before his crucifixion Jesus chose to wash their feet rather than judge their Jordans. And when he was done he said something rather odd, “Now that I’ve washed your feet, you should wash one another’s feet.” Why would he say that? Does he really expect me to wash some dude’s nasty barking dogs? Maybe his point is that its really hard to trash someone and wash his feet at the same time. Its hard to love your brother while you price his shoes.
At the end of the day I have no idea the right price for a preacher’s sneakers. When I worry about the “right” amount of money for another pastor to make or spend I am focused on the wrong thing; I am throwing stones instead of washing feet. I imagine if instead I concentrated on doing my job, and let God do his job, we’d all be better off.
