Posted on 12/05/2013 8:06:39 PM PST by grundle
Pastor Jeremiah Steepek transformed himself into a homeless person and went to the 10,000 member church that he was to be introduced as the head pastor at that morning.
He walked around his soon to be church for 30 minutes while it was filling with people for service, only 3 people out of the 7-10,000 people said hello to him.
He asked people for change to buy food – no one in the church gave him change.
He went into the sanctuary to sit down in the front of the church and was asked by the ushers if he would please sit in the back.
He greeted people to be greeted back with stares and dirty looks, with people looking down on him and judging him.
As he sat in the back of the church, he listened to the church announcements and such.
When all that was done, the elders went up and were excited to introduce the new pastor of the church to the congregation.
“We would like to introduce to you Pastor Jeremiah Steepek.” The congregation looked around clapping with joy and anticipation.
The homeless man sitting in the back stood up and started walking down the aisle. The clapping stopped with all eyes on him.
He walked up the altar and took the microphone from the elders (who were in on this) and paused for a moment then he recited,
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.
“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
‘The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
After he recited this, he looked towards the congregation and told them all what he had experienced that morning. Many began to cry and many heads were bowed in shame.
He then said, “Today I see a gathering of people, not a church of Jesus Christ. The world has enough people, but not enough disciples. When will YOU decide to become disciples?”
He then dismissed service until next week.
Following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ should be more than just talk. It ought to be a lifestyle that others around you can love about you and share in.
Urban legend. Pops up on facebook regularly
Yep.
Do you have link? I ask so that I can share it with folks who lapped-up this story.
Try using a Search Engine with the relevant points listed, since the FR search function works marginally better than Barky throwing a baseball.
Still it sounds like something that a church might try.
The sheep/goats prophecy is too often taken as a tutorial on how to save oneself, by trying to act good enough, and that it can never be. It’s descriptive, not prescriptive, and delineates two groups, the saved and the unsaved. The saved are rewarded for every good thing no matter how small. The unsaved are punished for every bad thing no matter how small. The lesson to be taken away is: PRIMARILY, believe, and thus be a sheep. It’ll go better for you. SECONDARILY, if you believe, then the more you do for the Lord the better your reward will be.
This is a HOAX ...
http://www.snopes.com/glurge/homelesspastor.asp
Ive been checking for any references to Pastor Jeremiah Steepek on the net.
Other than references to this tale there dont appear to BE any.
A pastor of a 10K member church might have something in the web SOMEWHERE
I think I have been gad! oh well
My favorite scritures growing up Catholic attending Catholic school. Now it is my way to live and treat others as a priesthood holder of the Lord’s church.
I’ll try to find it, it was totally debunked the last time it was going around on facebook.
Reads just like the plot of the book, In His Steps by Charles Sheldon. Book was written in the late 1890s and basically has a similar plot device with the clergyman asking, “what would Jesus do?
money is EARNED by most people...
The pastor sounds like the author of “Black Like Me,” a book we were forced to read in junior high by a writer selling attention with a disguise gimmick. He decides results he wanted and made his experience fit it. His photo looks like he rented a chip for his shoulder & an attitude to match.
This particular incident may be an urban legend, but this scenario happened in an LDS church very recently
Would Jesus encourage hobos to stay away from churches?
give a hobo a job? naaah we are too classy for that!
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