Baptist preacher Jim Standridge spawned a viral YouTube video after he criticized his Oklahoma congregation, and when challenged later refused to apologize for his tirade.
Dr. Standridge, 76, of Immanuel Baptist Church in Skiatook, Okla., first pointed out a member who had fallen asleep and then quickly went to another member, saying, “You’re one of the sorriest church members I have.
You’re not worth 15 cents,” reported The Huffington Post.
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The video, which had more than 213,000 views Tuesday afternoon, shows Standridge hugging the man after insulting him, although The Huffington Post pointed out that the man didn’t appear to be comforted.
On a Fox 23 Facebook post about the video, Ryan Underwood, apparently the man who was accused of being a sorry church member, posted a comment and said how hurt and insulted he was by what the minister said.
“Jim Standridge is a good man, I am in no way slandering his name or his church,” Underwood wrote on Facebook. “However I know things were not done right that morning. … I will be the first to say not all churches are like that but like he told me ‘if I don’t like it I can leave.’ So I peacefully left and left it at that.”
The Huffington Post reported that Standridge said he disciplines church members as a parent would discipline a child and that the church “applauds him.” He also told the news site that it is “the biggest joke of the century that this (video) is going viral.”
The YouTube video pulled in hundreds of comments about Standridge’s behavior, with most leaning toward the idea that Standridge’s display was not appropriate for a man of God.
Jarrod Cecil posted, “Even if what he was saying was in fact true, the scripture clearly states to speak the truth in love. Humiliation and shame is not a part of the message that Jesus came and died for. Both the pastor and the tech people who posted this should be ashamed.”
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