T.I. is Right About Church

Grammy Winning Rapper/Actor Tip Harris aka "T.I." was on gospel singer Kirk Franklin's podcast sparked conversation about the church, sharing that while he believes in God, he feels modern church often feels like a business or a Broadway show, with leaders twisting scripture for personal gain and creating performances rather than genuine spiritual connection, leading him to prefer a direct relationship with God without a middleman. He compared services to TED Talks and criticized manipulation, referencing Jesus overturning tables in the temple, but clarified his stance isn't anti-faith, but a call for authenticity. These comments gained traction after being shared from conversations on Kirk Franklin's podcast and social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook, drawing mixed reactions from the public.Some commentators agreed, sharing similar experiences of feeling disconnected from traditional church, while others defended the church or criticized T.I. for his critiques whether it is political, sinful or it is mixing the message in the wrong way.

“I have never been a church person. I grew up in a strong Christian household. My grandma and my auntie were very, very strong in prayer. So I know how to pray, I know the word, and I know God is real. I’ve seen His presence and His hand in my life personally. I’ve never really felt the connection with church. To be honest, I think it’s a business just like anything else. It’s a show, like Broadway or public speaking. A lot of times there’s a lot of ‘cap’ on it. Sometimes they try to twist the word and make it mean something that benefits them personally, not necessarily what the word means or what its purpose is. If you study the life of Jesus Christ, the only time you really saw Him lose His temper was in the church,” he said. “He went in there and saw how people were handling the word of God and how they were manipulating it to personally benefit. I’ve heard people preach, saying, ‘Come on y’all, put into the collection plate, dig deeper,’” he said. “Y’all telling me I’ve got to pay for my God to hear my prayer? I’m out of here.”

The rapper also criticised the emphasis on financial contributions, saying he does not believe prayer or divine favour should be tied to money.

I am not going to lie he is being honest about what is going on in the church. People may disagree but they are blinded by the ministry of what the preacher is preaching. Not only the church is treating the place like it is the house of the Lord or the Holy Place but they are treating like a financial gain or a business. For instance, Mike Todd's Transformation Church, pastor Mike Todd, a well known pastor who preaches at Transformation Church has made his show like a Broadway show. During Easter, Todd presented his musical play Ransom instead of presenting a traditional Easter play where Jesus gets crucified on the cross. Todd's somewhat Easter play tells a where angel ends up in hell where she meets Dragon (Satan), And the whole king and queens type of play I don’t know this time using artist's music from Beyonce to Kesha, with changed lyrics to make it more rated G.

The Easter play was so unreal that some churchgoers left the church. The play was livestreamed however half of the clips have appeared on TikTok and YouTube. However, according to Mike Todd, he defended the play and preached about that he wanted to try “something new” for his play instead of the traditional way and half of the churchgoers gave their lives to Christ after service.

That is not all Mike Todd has done, Mike Todd has done weird stuff during gotten his haircut during sermon, he put spit on someone while praying on him, and pouring syrup on the Bible.

Weird huh!

Another example, This Texas MegaChurch performed a crappy unauthorized Hamilton performance at their church. The church version of Hamilton used similar costumes from the Broadway show and changing lyrics to Christian and anti-gay lyrics. Their performance went viral and was dissed by fans for putting an unauthorized Hamilton show. Tony Winner Lin Manuel-Miranda who wrote the musical filed a cease and desist at the Texas Church.

The church cancelled their Hamilton performance and issued an apology to Lin-Manuel Miranda during their service. Years after, Concord Thea announce that it has secured exclusive worldwide secondary stage licensing rights to Hamilton securing rights so that way middle schools, high schools, communities, and churches can use the rights.

Also, Megachurches television pastors are living the luxury and using their profits from the church to buy some jet planes. Televised preachers using their moneies on their luxury well being when they could have done for the good for the church people like building a homeless shelter, using it to low income families who couldn’t afford to pay their rent or utilities, medical bills who needs it like elders or those who are suffering from cancer, building orphans, or starting a food drive. Anything to help the people because God knows we should help others instead of just praying for them.

Plus, they would think that they are rock stars like this preacher from Mississippi using wires flying around the church during sermon like he is Peter Pan. He went viral and was mocked for his "flying" sermon.

Another reason, the assassination of Charlie Kirk, September 10 was mixed tragedy when Charlie Kirk was assassination. Half of the preachers were showing respect for Charlie Kirk while others weren't fond of Charlie's comments and accept humanity for the people despite of Charlie’s comments.

I had already written article stories about Charlie Kirk if you would to read them:

Plus, preachers have always had their fair share of scandals and controversies.

Everything in Church is just a mess and it makes mockery on God. But God help us all!!

All sources from YouTube, Inside Edition, Watchmojo