Home Christian News Women Earn Less Than Men Because They Are Not As ‘Good at...

Women Earn Less Than Men Because They Are Not As ‘Good at Working,’ Says Pastor

jonathan shelley
Screenshot from YouTube / @Love Thy Neighbor

A pastor in Texas who believes the government should execute gay people had some pointed words for women last week. In an Aug. 28 sermon, Stedfast Baptist Church pastor Jonathan Shelley said that women are “really affected by pride.” He also said that women earn less than men because they are not as “good at working” and that women of a certain size—Shelley named Queen Latifah as an example—are not attractive.

“If there is a group of people that are really, really affected by pride, it’s honestly women,” said Jonathan Shelley. Women’s “biggest struggle is beauty,” said the pastor, who explained that women compete with one another by showing off their bodies so that men will consider them attractive.

“We even know what attractive women look like,” said Shelley, basing this statement on his assertion that all billboards “look the same.” Billboards depict “white women with long, blond hair in a dress or a skirt that’s immodest.” Shelley continued, “Obviously, there’s attractive women of all shades and colors, ok? We get that. But not all shapes and sizes. All right? Let’s at least get some facts.”

RELATED: Women Are ‘Disproportionately Hurting’ American Churches, Education and Healthcare, Says Dennis Prager

Jonathan Shelley’s Sermon on Cursing God

Stedfast Baptist Church is a congregation that recently relocated to Watauga, Texas, after being evicted earlier this year from its location in Hurst. Stedfast was evicted for hate speech after Shelley preached that those who practice homosexuality are “worthy of death.” 

In response to a request for comment from ChurchLeaders in June, Shelley defended the idea that gay people should be put to death, citing Romans 1:27-32 and Leviticus 20:13 as justification and adding, “​​This was the law in America in the 1600s, 1700s, and 1800s, in the late 19th century.”

Shelley made his comments about women in a sermon titled, “Cursing God In Your Heart.” The pastor spent the bulk of his message exploring the idea of what cursing God in one’s heart means, basing his teachings on Scripture passages that included Job 1, Exodus 22, Lev 24:11, Psalm 1 and Romans 1.

Essentially, people curse God in their hearts when they reject God, refuse to obey him, speak evil of him or otherwise blaspheme him. Shelley used homophobic slurs throughout his sermon and at one point said that because each Bible verse “always has caveats,” Jesus’ command to love our enemies does not apply all to enemies.

“Of course the Bible says to love your enemies,” said Shelley. “We realize God’s enemies and reprobates always are exceptions to that rule, right? We’re supposed to love the brethren. Well, they’re not brethren.”

As a basis for interpreting Scripture this way, Shelley cited 1 Thessalonians 5:17, which says, “pray continually.” We are not literally required to pray without ceasing, said the pastor, because 1 John 5:16 tells us there are times not to pray:

If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that.

Just as this latter verse shows that we do not literally have to follow the former verse (according to Shelley), Shelley argues that other Bible verses show us that we do not have to take Jesus’ command to love our enemies at face value.