The Soul of the Black Church

While it is tempting to get bogged down in the details and political ramifications of Barack Obama's race speech (i.e. Mr. Wright's racism was excused...), there is a bigger issue that surfaced as a result of this. Through the mouth of Obama, those of us on the outside got a rare glimpse into the soul of the black church. Personally, as a Christian and a pastor, I have been concerned about the black church for some time. While many would say it is none of my business, I would argue that as a Christian, all my brothers and sisters in Christ are my business. I am my brother's keeper, and I must stand against any teachings that destroy the souls of men. For that reason, I want to express a few of my concerns for the black church.

"For me to live is black."
For many black Christians, their lives and their faiths are defined by being black. A quick trip to the webpage of Trinity United Church of Christ (Obama's church and a member of one of the most liberal denominations in the nation) reveals that they offer a "Black worship service and ministries that address the Black community." Being black is the center of their existence. They interpret the Gospel of Christ through the lens of race. An excerpt from Obama's speech shows this. He describes his first time worshiping at Trinity UCC:

"At the foot of that cross, inside the thousands of churches across the city, I imagined the stories of ordinary black people merging with the stories of David and Goliath, Moses and Pharaoh, the Christians in the lion’s den, Ezekiel’s field of dry bones. Those stories – of survival, and freedom, and hope – became our story, my story; the blood that had spilled was our blood, the tears our tears; until this black church, on this bright day, seemed once more a vessel carrying the story of a people into future generations and into a larger world."


From the Exodus of Israel to the Cross of Christ, everything is viewed through the lens of race and racism. Paul's words, "for me to live is Christ" are replaced with "for me to live is black." Please understand, I'm not saying that every black Christian believes this way. However, this mindset - openly expressed by Obama - is not uncommon.


"Let my people go."
Another common characteristic found in the black church is the idea that all our problems are the result of what someone else has done to us. Obama waxed eloquently on this for quite awhile. He blamed the disparities in the black community on slavery and Jim Crow. Segregation is to blame for the achievement gap between white and black students. Legalized discrimination of the past is to blame for the income gap between whites and blacks. Economic injustice explains the erosion of black families. The lack of basic services (like parks and garbage pick-up) in urban areas explains the violence and neglect among blacks.


In short, Obama has summarized the message coming from so many black pulpits: "We are victims of our heritage. It is not our fault. We were put here by 'them.' So our message for 'them' is, 'Let my people go!'" But this message only produces anger, resentment, and racism. James 3:16 says, "For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice." This disorder and vile practice is what we see in the black church and community. And it isn't due to slavery and Jim Crow (as evil as those things were). It is due to this self-centered victim mentality preached by too many black pastors.

"Your people shall be my people, and your God my God."

I know that I cannot fully sympathize with the black community; I do not pretend to. I know that black people have been terribly sinned against throughout the history of our nation. I know that even today there exists hatred and all sorts of injustice. I can even understand any deep-seated resentment on their part.

But in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, black nor white, for we are all one in Christ Jesus. My concern is not with the racism seen in the black community. My concern is with the racism seen in the black church. While I may not be able to identify with the black community at large, I can identify with black Christians for we are one in Christ. To my black brothers and sisters in Christ I say, your race is my race. Your people are my people. Your concerns are my concerns. Because your God is my God! I beg you not to put your people before God's people. Do not put the god of 'my rights' or 'my culture' before the God of Scripture.

"After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

Revelation 7:9-10

Sharpton Goes A-Huntin'

Mark it down... if Dick Cheney goes hunting, something bad is bound to happen. Last time, he shot a hunting partner down in Texas. This time, he's got Al Sharpton up in arms.

The hunting club that Cheney visited in Upstate New York apparently had a small confederate flag hanging in a garage. Word of this got back to Al Sharpton who issued a statement saying, "the vice president should leave immediately, denounce the club and apologize for going to a club that represents lynching, hate and murder to black people."

Unbelievable. Sharpton is a pro at making racist mountains out of insignificant molehills. It was a small flag in an obscure location. But listening to Sharpton, you'd think Cheney made a campaign stop at the local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan. And while I certainly can understand how black people find the confederate flag offensive, I don't think it's fair to assume that everyone flying the flag wants to "lynch, hate and murder" black people. Sharpton, as always, was looking hard for a way to stir up racial tension.

Those of us who desire to see genuine racial unity have to realize that Sharpton is not on our team. I pray that the black community would recognize that his actions and comments do more harm than good when it comes to resolving racism in America.

_

Cheney was hunting ducks; Sharpton was hunting hate.

Jena, Justice, & Jesus

Here's a short timeline of the incidents that ensued at Jena High School:

>Sept., 2006 = During a school rally, a black student jokingly asked if he could sit under the tree where all the white students sat.

>The next day, three white students hung nooses from the tree.

>The white students were punished. Some reports claim they got three day suspension. The District Superintendent, on the other hand, says the teens were sent to an alternative school for 9 days, placed in in-school suspension for 2 weeks, made to serve Saturday detentions, attend Discipline Court, and undergo an evaluation before returning to school.

>Dec. 1 & 2, 2006 = Two incidents involving 16 year-old Robert Bailey, a black student, occured. On the 1st, Bailey and his friends were not allowed into a party and a fight insued with a white man (not a student). On the 2nd, Bailey and his friends encountered some white students at a gas station. A heated conversation followed, possibly a fight. What happened after this is not clear, but a gun was pulled by a white student. The gun was wrestled away by the black students. Going on eyewitness reports, police charged Bailey.

>Dec. 4, 2006 = Justin Barker, a 17 year-old white student, was assaulted at school. He was struck in the head by a black student, knocking him unconscious. A group of black students then repeatedly kicked him.

>Robert Bailey, Mychal Bell (16), Carwin Jones (18), Bryant Purvis (17), Theo Shaw (17) were arrested and charged for attempted second-degree murder. Jesse Ray Beard (14) was charged as a juvenile.

>Sept. 20, 2007 = The date of Mychal Bell's sentencing. Rallies were held in support of Bell. In attendance were Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Martin Luther King III, Ray Nagin, and several popular Rap artists. Bell was found guilty but was released on bail while his appeal was being processed.

How should Christians respond to all of this? Here are my thoughts:

Hating Blacks Is Sin. Hanging nooses in the tree was certainly an unacceptable prank. It reeks of racism and hatred. These sorts of actions are not funny and should never be tolerated. To hate and disrespect black people in this way is to hate and disrespect the God who created them.

Hating Whites Is Sin. As offensive as the prank might have been, it neither justifies nor explains the beating of Justin Barker. Six black students kicked and hit one white student until he was unconscious. For leaders of the black community to brush this off as a "schoolyard incident" is absolutely ridiculous and crossing the line of racial arrogance. This was a gang beating, nothing less. Dare we even consider the repercussions had the six boys been white and the one boy been black?

Justice For All. As followers of Christ, we should seek justice. The right thing needs to be done in Jena. It does not matter what the whites want; It does not matter what the blacks want. For those of us looking at this from the outside, it is hard to say what needs to be done. But my opinion is that justice has been served for the white students who hung the nooses. Now it's time to deal justly with the 'Jena Six'.

Mychal Bell has a history of violence. Robert Bailey was involved in several violent incidents just before Justin Barker's beating. Why is it unthinkable that these violent young men would be punished? Yet, black leaders are invoking emotional appeals like "they want to lock up our babies." The majority of the 'Jena Six' are now 18 or older. Those aren't babies. Those are men who beat another man...criminals.

Jena Needs Jesus, Not Jesse. I firmly believe that Christians of ALL races should stand against men like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. These men use the name of God to spread division and hatred. The gap that exists between whites and blacks in our country will never be settled until men like Jackson and Sharpton disappear. Jena doesn't need the flames of racial tension fanned anymore than they already are. Jena needs godly men, both black and white, to point the community to Jesus and to teach that in Christ alone we can have these barriers broken down.

When we begin to see that we are all sinners in need of the same Savior, then we'll begin to understand that our problems aren't because we're white and they're black. Our problems exist because we are all sinners, seeking our selfish goals. If we could trade in our 'white desires' and our 'black dreams' for God's will and Christ's kingdom, we would experience the blessings of justice and love.

We long for racial unity and God's glory to fill our land, and so we pray,

"Come quickly, LORD Jesus."

Six Degrees of Segregation

Ever played the game, Six Degrees of Separation? It's the idea that if you trace relationships back by about 6 people, all people are somehow connected... usually by knowing a friend of a friend. Sound odd? I agree, but before you dismiss the theory, you've got to hear this: "Rev." Al Sharpton and the late Sen. Strom Thurmond are connected!

The news is reporting that genealogists have traced Sharpton's ancestors all the way back to a slave owned by the Thurmond family. In a very interesting providence of the Lord, Al Sharpton's great-grandfather was a slave owned by Strom Thurmond's great-great-grandfather. Thus, two men who you would have never guessed to be connected in any way actually are. And isn't it interesting that these two men are worlds apart? Or are they?

Thurmond, the beloved Senator from South Carolina, was a staunch segregationist for much of his life. He ran for president in 1948 over the issue of segregation. In this campaign he said, "I wanna tell you, ladies and gentlemen, that there's not enough troops in the army to force the Southern people to break down segregation and admit the nigra race into our theaters, into our swimming pools, into our homes, and into our churches." Racist? Absolutely. It's sad that this man had such disdain for another race of people. This is sin. I must condemn this sin, even though I do respect the overall legacy of Sen. Thurmond.

Sharpton, Civil Rights activist and Pentecostal preacher, is what we would consider the polar opposite of Thurmond. But is that true? Let me give you a few cases from Mr. Sharpton's file. In 1987, a black girl in Wappingers Falls, New York accused six white men of raping her, smearing feces on her, and leaving her in a garbage bag. Enter Sharpton... he hyped up the racial tension of the incident. The final verdict was that this was all a hoax, but Sharpton still refuses to admit this truth. In 1991, a black child was accidentally killed by a car full of Hasidic Jews. Enter Sharpton... he called the Jews "diamond merchants" and said, "If the Jews want to get it on, tell them to pin their yarmulkes back and come over to my house." In 1995, a Jewish landlord in Harlem raised the rent on a black store owner. Enter Sharpton... who said, "We will not stand by and allow them to move this brother so that some white interloper can expand his business."

Now, are these the comments of a man interested in peace between the races? No. Instead, this is a racist man who wants to divide and segregate the races as much as possible.

_

Strom and Al, connected centuries ago by the racist institution of slavery and connected today by their racist, divisive comments.

Maybe these two men have more in common than we thought...