Pastor Keion Henderson Faces Backlash For Discouraging Congregation From Giving To The Poor

Pastor Keion Henderson gave a sermon recently regarding spreading wealth to the poor and caught much backlash for his remarks.

On Tuesday (Oct. 8), a clip from Henderson’s preachings made rounds on social media as he claimed there is “no blessing connected” to giving to the the less fortunate, like the “multiplier” blessings you receive from “tithing” in church.

“Here’s the other problem with the church,” he began. “Anytime a person is in need ya’ll go to running and dropping money. But let me tell you something, the poor will be with you always and there is no blessing connected to blessing the poor, other than getting back what you gave to them — but no multiplication.”

He further explained that the only way to receive an abundance of “blessings” is to tithe — which is donating money to the church.

“Multiplication is segregated for tithes and offering,” he continued. “When you give to the poor, the only thing you do is help them but you don’t help yourself. So when you give a dollar to somebody on the street talking about ‘but I did my job,’ God like ‘thank you, but it ain’t gonna help you.’ Charity does not bring wealth, only the tithe does that.”

The controversial comments were met with gasps and grunts from the audience and much commentary on social media.

“What kinda [f**kery] this false prophet saying …..tithes goes to you sir…you not getting my money I will give to the poor.. I don’t give to get,” one person wrote in The Neighborhood Talk’s comment section. Another person simply called it a “[foolish] statement.”

The pastor, who’s currently married to Shaunie O’Neal — ex-wife of Shaquille O’Neal — dealt with more backlash last month when he told a worshipping woman to “hush” in church. He later apologized to the emotional woman in front of the entire church and gave her a long hug — which led her to scream and cry even more.

While appearing on the Tamron Hall show following the viral moment, he explained his reasoning behind asking the lady to quiet down.

“As a pastor, I know the difference between disturbance and worship. What people have to understand is that every time you hear noise in church, it isn’t worship. And so, there has to be order.”

Additionally, Henderson made it clear he would “do it again” if needed.