Pastor Goes Viral After Demanding Congregation Bring In Their Tax Returns So He Can See If They're Tithing Enough

A pastor is going viral for, as usual when it comes to pastors, all the wrong reasons after demanding his congregation prove they're tithing enough.

"Tithing" is the Biblical principle of giving away 10% of your earnings to the church.

The pastor commanded his congregants to bring him copies of their tax returns as proof that they were actually giving him the 10% to which he feels he is entitled.

Needless to say, a video clip of the pastor's sermon has gone very viral.

In the video, the pastor can be heard saying:

"Starting next week, I'm going to start asking all church members to bring me your tax returns so I can review them.

He then went on to scold:

“I’m gonna put a stop to some of y’all playing in my face during tithes and offerings on Sunday mornings."

Guess the church is having revenue problems, huh?

If the congregation was offended by the pastor's words, they did well at hiding it: The message was met with a chorus of "Amens" from the pews.

Of course, churches and pastors have bills to pay just like everyone else, and they rely upon donations for the revenue to do so. This is certainly nothing new, and it's intrinsic to the way churches operate.

But the pastor demanding his congregants prove they're giving him every last dime they can afford to give crossed a line in many people's minds, who found it invasive, a violation of privacy, and presumptuous, to say the least.

And it's hard to blame them: It's not like we don't have myriad examples of greedy pastors out there who've grifted millions of dollars off their congregations only to be found to be using that money for lavish lifestyles and, often, far worse.

On social media, the pastor got plenty of criticism from those who viewed the video.

But many others defended the pastor, saying that he relies upon his congregants to keep the bills paid and his demand is in line with Biblical principles.

The pastor has not been identified, so it's possible this video is not even real (several online are convinced it's AI). Regardless, the anger it sparked is very real, as America is full of stories of crooked pastors essentially stealing from congregants.

Brooklyn pastor Lamor Whitehead, aka "The Bling Bishop," was sentenced to nine years in prison in 2024 for financial crimes, and Tennessee pastor Ricky Lee Taylor, Jr. was sentenced to 30 months this past January for similar charges, and that's just to name two of several.

And then, of course, there's our current Trump regime, the darling of Christians all over the country despite him openly mocking Christianity several times. Trump's "spiritual advisor," evangelical loon Paula White-Cain, has been caught several times grifting from her congregation and television viewers.

Tithing may be Biblical, but it's hard to fault anyone for being a bit skeptical of this pastor's motives.