While many religious leaders lead by pious example, others are prone to abusing their power.

What would you do if your pastor stepped over the line with you and your spouse so severely, then gaslit you into thinking it was your fault?

One woman recently shared her experience with this situation, which happened on Christmas Eve.

Here’s what went down.

AITA for not inviting a stranger our pastor told us to invite over for Christmas Eve with just my husband and I?

Let me set the scene: It is Christmas Eve and below freezing outside, and snow is blowing lightly around.

My husband and I are alone, but will be going to visit family the next day.

We used to have our celebration on Christmas Eve just us, then go to the big family event the next day.

Their pastor didn’t know a lot about them.

There was a guy our pastor was helping out, around 20 years old. My spouse and I were early 20s as well.

The only thing the pastor knew for certain about us was that we didn’t have kids and we didn’t have plans for Christmas Eve that involved other people.

Or maybe he didn’t know the second part and just assumed? Unclear.

He what!?

Anyway, hubs and I went out for our annual Chinese food meal and to hang out looking at Christmas lights, then planned to watch a movie or something at home.

While out at dinner, my husband got a call from our pastor telling him that he’d sent the guy we didn’t know (we’ll call him Brian) to our house.

“Because we weren’t doing anything and thought we should be kind and share our Christmas Eve with the man”.

Let me be so clear that this was never discussed prior.

Well, he sent the guy to our house on a dang bicycle in freezing temperatures and was irate when we didn’t leave our food to go visit with Brian.

This pastor seems unhinged.

We were lectured about Christian love and how we were not being good Christians by not inviting Brian along.

So, we eventually go home, Brian is on our couch (presumably he was told to just go in? We lived way out in the country so the doors weren’t locked).

I’m shaking with anger.

I tersely said goodnight and went to bed because I was not dealing with a relative stranger when my little introverted heart had been promised one night of peace out of the week of chaos.

Brian got the real short end of the stick in all of this.

All of this was reported back to the pastor by Brian who was so hurt and put out by us not being there when he arrived.

I thought nothing of it honestly until months later I asked the pastor for a letter of recommendation.

Which he willingly gave, only to find out he wrote horrible things about my character and my uncharitable nature.

Based, I can only assume, on that event since I served regularly at the church and helped quite a lot of people if I’m being honest.

Which this pastor would have known.

So. AITA?

Sounds like religious psychosis at its finest. Let’s see if Reddit agreed.

Every commenter was rightfully perturbed.

Others pointed out the pastor’s hypocrisy.

Some had no sympathy for Brian.

There were so many better ways to handle this situation.

One person addressed the elephant in the room.

Nobody has the right to invite a stranger to your home when you’re not even there.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check out what happened when a family gave their in-laws a free place to stay in exchange for babysitting, but things changed when they don’t hold up their end of the bargain.