Pimps In The Pulpit

Where do I begin?

Just kidding, I know where I want to start. I've long wondered if I was the only person that can see the problem of manipulation in the church. That was until I read that post about a radio show highlighting Pulpit Pimps. And the responses made me want to expand on what I think is the issue. The original question

My topic of next weeks show is pimp in the pulpit.. what is the characteristics of a pimp in the pulpit...

First let me tell you what my response was on the original thread.

A pimp (male or female) is simply a hustler. They are the master manipulators, those that know the right thing to say and when to say it. They are the users. Less concerned with your edification and more concerned with their elevation. They always want more without having to do much more than what they're doing now. And will achieve it by any means necessary. They have the ability to learn and adapt as needed. 

When it translates to the church setting we can see how dangerous it can be/ become.

Agreed?

A lot of people think that pimping is about sexuality. Nope. Pimping is about control. The method of control is just of a sexual nature. When you find someone with a pimp's nature that has the ear of a significant amount of people you with end up with a whole lot of hurt people. Enter your pulpit pimps.

One of the biggest falsehoods that I find people considering about the pulpit pimp is that they're going all to be flashy. That may be true, but that's external. I think most pulpit pimps have internal self esteem issues. They need to be in control. I think they also have anger issues. If they can't have the control they will retaliate.

There are more pulpit pimps than we'd like to admit to and this week I'm gonna show you how to recognize them.

Isaiah 56:11
King James Version (KJV) 

Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter.