Preachers of L.A. is set to premiere tonight on Oxygen but the network has already made the premiere available to watch online. If anything is abundantly clear from the first episode it’s the abundance of wealth on display by these men of God (Spoiler warning ahead).
Pastor Jay Haizlip – The Sanctuary World Outreach (3,500 members), Bishop Ron Gibson – Life Church of God in Christ (4,000 members), Pastor Wayne Chaney – Antioch Church (2,000 members), Bishop Clarence McClendon – Full Harvest International Church (3,500 members), Minister Deitrick Haddon and Bishop Noel Jones – City of Refuge (20,000 members) are introduced to the viewers right alongside their massive pads and expensive fleet of cars.
Bishop Clarence McClendon
We get to know these men, their families and their back stories but we’re also inundated with images of extreme wealth. The concept of living lavishly and being men of their calling is an issue directly addressed in the first episode. “You see my bling! You see my Bentley and you see my glory, but you don’t know my story,” Bishop Gibson is seen proclaiming to his congregation.
“When you get to be my age then you think about, ‘Why can’t I have some fun?’ I like to go to exquisite restaurants. I like to go fast in my cars. I like it, it’s a part of being successful,” Bishop Jones explains as he’s shown speeding away in his Ferrari and Porsche. He adds, “I love what I do, you couldn’t pay me to preach.”
“The Bible says above all things, ‘I wish that you would prosper and be in health.’ I believe that. I’m not just a bishop or a pastor, I have to be a chief executive officer,” Bishop Clarence McClendon proclaims inside his opulent home (below).
When the pastors get together at Ron’s man cave, which is the residence he used to live in until, he’s heard joking, that it became too small to house his wife’s clothes, things get heated between Haddon and McClendon on the subject of preaching and wealth.
Haddon: Well they say the gospel should be free. Churches across the country can’t afford the honorariums that we’re asking for.
Gibson: They try to label us as “prosperity preachers.” It breaks my heart when people see your glory and don’t understand your story.
Pastor Wayne Chaney
Haizlip: The majority of most pastors are entrepreneurial anyway. Abraham gave God more than one avenue to be able to provide for him. So he wasn’t limited to just one stream of resources.
Chaney: I think that’s what they need to know. Everyone assumes that it’s coming from the church, off the backs of the people, but there are multiple streams for most people in ministry.
Pastor Jay Haizlip
Haddon: Y’all still haven’t answered my question. Should you charge a fee for the gospel? That’s what they’re asking us. Would Jesus have charged a fee?
McClendon: Jesus said, “Freely you have received, freely give.” I don’t request an honorarium. I ask them, “What is it that you have set aside for the man of God or for the ministry?” Because I don’t come alone because of how God uses us in miracles and in healing I have to have people with me. I travel with 4 or 5 people.
Bishop Noel Jones in his Ferrari
Haddon: So if somebody says, “We don”t have any budget, we just want you to come bishop?”
McClendon: Well then you don’t want me. You want my ministry, you need what I bring.
Haddon: That says your anointing don’t flow unless you have your team with you.
McClendon: No, son… It doesn’t say that. Here’s the point. My men know how I flow. They know how the anointing flows through me. So I need men around me who will help that anointing flow uninterrupted. Because somebody’s healing depends on it.
Haddon: Man, bottom line, you can make adjustments to accommodate smaller churches that want to experience your ministry. If the anointing is on you. You do not need an entourage. And that is the problem… That’s why we’re in the dilemma we’re in right now in the church.
Bishop Ron Gibson seen in his Mercedes
The TV premiere for Preachers of L.A. airs tonight on Oxygen at 10. You can watch it now here.
Images: Oxygen