A Good Samaritan offering free haircuts to homeless men in front of a church in Oakland, California, was publicly berated by the church’s congregation. The barber filmed the interaction with members of the church and shared it on Reddit.
In the video, the man is seen operating a makeshift barbershop outside of a building with the inscription “Allen Temple Baptist Church.”
The barber is heard introducing himself to two members of the church who confronted him, saying, “I do free haircuts for the people outside.” One woman from the group questioned why he chose to carry the services in front of their organization.
In response, the man said, “I figured the church would be more appropriate since it’s God’s word.” The woman fired back at him, claiming that he should have communicated his intentions with the organization beforehand. She further claimed that she had previously warned the man and his colleagues not to use the front of the church premises. However, the man denied the accusation.
When the barber asked what he was doing wrong, the lady replied with an analogy. She asked, “Can I come to your house and start offering services in front of your house?” Responding to the woman, the barber said, “But this ain’t your house, though. It’s God’s house.”
Before the clip ended, the barber emphasized he was not leaving the premises. He declared, “Call your police, call your pastor, call who you need to call, but we are not moving.”
The video sparked strong reactions online, with many social media users criticizing the church member’s behavior. One user remarked, “Oh, the hypocrisy.”
This other user shared his personal opinion about Christians. The user wrote, “I’ve found in the past that people who profess to be active church going Christians are some of the worst people I’ve ever met. Not all of them obviously, but more than I thought there’d be.”
Another netizen added, “This is why people are leaving religion behind.”
Just last week, a church in Dallas, Texas, faced criticism for reportedly urging its members to leave their wills and legacy to the church. As The Nerd Stash reported earlier, documents surfaced online detailing that the church uses estate planning seminars to orchestrate its intentions.
According to the document, the church plans to “pressure the attendees to put the church in their will first and leave whatever is.” Elsewhere in the document, the institution stated that including it in your will is the best way to gain God’s favor before passing away.
