An Oklahoma pastor, Pastor Michael Todd of Transformation Church, apologized on Monday after a video of him rubbing his own spit in the eyes of a churchgoer went viral online.
The pastor tried to display the idea of receiving visions from God, "Receiving vision from God, might get nasty," Todd said before the unpleasant act. Other church members can be heard gasping in shock. "Do you hear and see the responses of the people?" Todd added. "What I'm telling you, is how you just reacted is how the people in your life will react when God is doing what it takes for the miracle."
Pastor Todd, who leads the Transformation Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, had a two-hour service on Sunday, which was live-streamed on YouTube. During the service, he invited his sibling Brent to come up to the stage to help him demonstrate his vision. Todd coughed up some phlegm, then spat on his hand and rubbed it on his brother's eyes.
The video swiftly spread online on Sunday, and people continue to express their disgust with the unhygienic sermon. Some worshippers found it disturbing when he rubbed his spit on his brother's face. Many social media users slammed and criticized Todd for the sermon, particularly amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and spread of the omicron variant in the United States. As strict rules and regulations must be observed, proper action towards people must also be considered as the pandemic continues to impact everyone's life.
Though Todd is seemingly trying to illustrate his belief and relay in his sermon that Christians should keep faith in God even when his "vision" doesn't make sense, people cannot help but point out his not-so Covid-friendly practice.
It’s never my intention to distract others from God’s Word and the message of Jesus… even with illustrations!
— Michael Todd (@iammiketodd) January 17, 2022
I apologize for my example being too extreme and disgusting!
I Love Everybody _#REPRESENT pic.twitter.com/YfzFmySCPe
On Monday, Pastor Todd posted an apology on Twitter, expressing how unintentional the act was. "I watched (the sermon) back and it was disgusting. That was gross. I want to validate everybody's feelings," Todd mentioned. "That was a distraction from 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."
