I spent much of my early life studying Catholicism in a Catholic school. I admit that I am not familiar with every Christian denomination’s belief, but I do know that scripture calls for us to not be judgmental.
Matthew 7:1-5 (“Judge not, that you be not judged”), Luke 6:37 (“Judge not, and you will not be judged”), and Romans 2:1 (“Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges”), are all perfect examples of that ideology.
The New Testament in the Bible also taught us that when Jesus had a lesson to teach a sinner, he never belittled or shamed them. Instead, he taught and led with love.
But if you asked pastor Dale Partridge of King’s Way Reformed Church in Prescott, Arizona, he’d evidently take a different approach. In fact, in a recent interaction he had with a young waitress, he tried to lead her to Christ through shame and tattling to her boss. In a recent X rant, the man of God and entrepreneur expressed that he found his waitress’ outfit — allegedly a sports bra and “crack-sucking” leggings — sinful.
“Today, my family went on a family trip to Flagstaff. We walked into a quaint sandwich shop, and a young woman approached to take our order,” he wrote in his post. “She was wearing a sports bra and crack-sucking leggings. It was the kind of outfit our grandmothers would see as lingerie. Had I not been with my family, I would have said something like, ‘Ma’am, do you not know how inappropriate your outfit is? Are you not ashamed to be wearing that in public?’
“So, when I got home, I wrote the owner,” he added. “This won’t change until we make it change. Make sin shameful again. Remember, shame pushes people to see their need for forgiveness—in Christ.”
People had mixed reactions to his outrage, ranging from gentle course correction to flat-out disapproval, but mostly all of them disagreed with his take.
“If my husband was flustered all day over a waitress we spent thirty minutes with, I’d be pretty concerned,” wrote X user @autocorrect2.0.
“A sandwich girl in a sports bra made you lustful and you decided she’s the problem and you’re a victim. Incredible,” added X user @mouthy_mom_.
“‘Crack-sucking leggings’ For someone who’s supposed to be a pastor, your language is disgusting,” @Sapph commented on X.
Taking a look through Partridge’s Instagram, you can easily see he is a man who isn’t afraid to criticize anyone who doesn’t exactly follow his ideology.
In this clip, he accuses a young male Taylor Swift fan of being “feminized” by a “likely” divorced single mother who “stole” custody from his father. What?!
Partridge was actually referring to influencer, country singer, and American Idol contestant Britnee Kellogg’s son. Although she did divorce her high school sweetheart after he reportedly ended up being allegedly abusive and unfaithful to her, she actually remarried years ago.
I fully believe that Partridge has every right to his opinions, but I also see the hypocrisy in his preaching. Loving thy neighbor, not casting the first stone, and leading with love typically works out for everyone involved, and I sincerely hope one day he does better.
