NAIMA LETT | BLOG | HOLLYWOOD CHRISTIAN
New Reality Show: “Preachers of L.A.”
© NaimaLett.com/blog

© Oxygen, Cast includes 5 mega-church pastors and 1 Gospel artist

Never a dull moment in the LaLa!

If you’re going to do a new reality show about 6 preachers (pictured above), it just makes good Hollywood sense to do it in Los Angeles, right?! Wealth! Drama! Scandal! It’s all here.

Or that’s what the Oxygen Network wants us to think based on its new trailer video (below):

OXYGEN: “In the glitzy and glam city of Los Angeles live six mega-pastors, celebrated by thousands for their spiritual sermons and high-profile lifestyles. In our new candid reality series Preachers of L.A., we follow each pastor for a glimpse of their everyday lives inside and outside of the church.”

Call for Boycott?

Before the show has aired 1 episode, the Christian Post is reporting about a call for Christians to boycott the series and sign a petition to ask Oxygen to cancel the show. I don’t know if they realize it, but boycotts of television shows rarely do anything more than cause folks to want to actually see what you’re asking them not to see.

What’s the Fuss?

ABC News reports that the show follows “the son of an evangelist who was shunned by his church after a divorce; a pastor whose church is “full of celebrities”; a bishop whose weekly broadcast reaches 250 million homes worldwide; a pastor whose greatest obstacle comes from “within his own family”; a bishop who was a gang member and drug addict before turning to God; and a pastor who was a pioneer of competitive skateboarding”.

So what’s the fuss? Naysayers don’t appreciate that the series seems to focus on the extravagant wealth of its 5 mega-church pastors and 1 former pastor/Grammy nominee, with “fast cars, lavish mansions and infidelity”. But doesn’t everyone already know their lifestyles? Is it worse because they’re pastors flaunting it now? But don’t they already do that?

It’s Messy

It’s messy. But aren’t all reality shows messy? (Note: reality shows aren’t really “real”. They’re produced.) Messy is what keeps viewers watching week after week. If everybody held hands and sang Kumbaya, audiences wouldn’t watch. But if you put Deitrick Haddon, Gospel superstar and former pastor who left his church, moved to LaLa Land, had a baby outside of marriage and started living with his baby-mama, now… folks might watch that. I’m not saying it’s right. I’m just stating the obvious.

Let’s adjust our expectations, Fam. From the trailer and press release, it appears that the show is not about spreading the Gospel. It’s not about Jesus being Lord. It’s not “For God so loved the world…” John 3:16 or to win souls for Christ. This is not about God’s Word and living out godly principles. It’s more like The Real Husbands of Malibu with men who happen to preach.

Bishop Noel Jones, the 63-year old brother of actress/model Grace Jones who grew City of Refuge in Gardena, CA from 1,000 to 17,000 members, confirms that the “original intention was not for this (show) to be an evangelical tool… The only reason I signed up was to help to reduce the iconoclastic proclivities that church members have about their pastors to the point where if they break any of the rules that the church members are breaking, they completely throw them away.” Jones, who’s also been in the news recently over baby-mama drama, is real clear that the show isn’t a evangelistic platform. Why don’t we just take his word for it?

Real Preachers of L.A.

As pastors in L.A., my husband and I can’t help but wonder how the rest of the world may perceive our Los Angeles ministries based on this series. Truth is most pastors do not live like these 5 mega-church pastors and singer. The Hartford Institute for Religion Research reports that 99% of all U.S. churches are NOT megachurches (2,000+ members). Average attendance is 75 – 200 members and most pastors are not wealthy. We drive normal cars and live in normal homes with normal families. But normal doesn’t make it on reality shows.

Do you want to watch us counsel folks on navigating life, relationships, depression, forgiveness? Do you want to see us visit the sick, support those in court or incarcerated, lay loved ones to rest? Do you want to watch us sometimes just sit with folks because that’s what they need? Do you want to watch us pay bills, walk dogs, fix meals, wash dishes, all the stuff that you do? Our sermons might interest you for an hour on Sunday, but what about the other 167 hours in the week? Do you want to watch us serve, pray for folks, disciple people?

Not really. That’s why Oxygen’s new show about preachers has found 6 extravagant ones to craft story-lines that justify the cost of filming. Goodbye, real! Hello, reality TV!

So, here we go.
Never a dull moment in the LaLa,
Naima

Rev. Naima Lett, D.MIN, ABD
The Hollywood Christian®
Author of coming release Confessions of a Hollywood Christian®

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