A popular pastor says he took things too far when attempting to "make the Word come alive" by rubbing his spit on a man's face during a sermon illustration.
A video from the sermon of Pastor Mike Todd in Tulsa, Okl. quickly went viral on the weekend. The video shows Todd standing on stage next to another man while preaching, talking about how "receiving vision from God, might get nasty." Todd then rubs his spit on the volunteer's face, and congregants can be heard responding in shock.
People online shared the video, responding in even more shock. Many people condemned his actions for not only being gross but also irresponsible in a time of COVID-19.
Todd took to his Instagram account on Monday with a short video apologizing for "when the spit hit the fan."
He says upon watching the video of the sermon he realizes "it was disgusting. That was gross," he says and the illustration became "a distraction to what I was really trying to do. I was really trying to make the Word come alive and for people to see the story, but yesterday it got too live."
Todd says he and his church, Transformation Church, "want to help people, we want people to see Jesus, we want people to feel loved." He says he's so passionate about helping people experience these things and discover hope in Christ that he "(tries) to do extreme things to help people get it and yesterday it crossed the line."
Jesus of course is known for spitting in dirt and rubbing the mixture on a blind man's eyes (John 9:6). Todd says no miracles took place through his sermon illustration. The man he spat on was his brother, and Todd says he was bald before the sermon and is still bald today.
Thu, Apr 18, 7:00 PM
Casual, Administrative