Bringing the Black Church Back into Balance
5 observations plus 5 counterbalancing measures
TIME STAMPS
Intro 00:00; Preface 00:16; Observation #1 03:52; Observation #2 06:12; Observation #3 08:30; Observation #4 09:55; Observation #5 11:15 Wrap-up 14:35
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Because I showed interest in Cassie’s lawsuit against Diddy, the algorithm decided to send me more content related to the lawsuit’s fallout. And shockingly that content implicated Bishop TD Jakes and that caught my attention. From there the algorithm decided to show me more content about the black church and I must say that I am dismayed at how the church teeters more and more out of balance.
Though I haven’t been affiliated with a specific church in quite some time, make no mistake about it, my personal history is steeped in the church. Of course most of the churches I have been a member of have been predominantly black.
Though I must say that the church-at-large has had an indelible impact on how I live out my faith today. But that’s a story for another day.
My father is a minister and bishop. He was my pastor for the better part of my growing up. Thankfully, he prioritized his family. So I know him more as Dad than Bishop. For better and for worse, I’ve seen what goes on behind the scenes. Most of what I witnessed has been above board, so I know that it is possible for church leaders to operate with integrity. I’ve also witnessed scenarios and overheard conversations that were very unsettling to me and unbecoming of any one, let alone a leader of the church.
During my church hay day, megachurches began taking off. The pastors of these churches seemed to have something that everybody wanted to be a part of or at least bear witness to. The prosperity doctrine became wide spread within the church. More and more ministers became millionaires. Church security apparatus gave a sense of importance and bravado. The role of armor bearer became more trendy furthering the perception of how great the man/woman of God was.
I believe that my generation, GenX, wanted to usher in a more cool vibe with going to church. And I’d say we were successful in doing so. The dress code changed; the music changed; who we collaborated with changed. More and more gospel songs were played on secular radio stations.
I also happened to notice the clinginess and neediness of many church members. I don’t say this to talk down about them; but it became apparent to me how, in the wrong situation, they could easily become prey. I saw people’s vulnerability and that taught me two key things:
People are not to be toyed with and we really should not place any man or woman on a pedestal, as we are guaranteed to be let down.
The downfall of a man like Bishop Jakes would send shock waves throughout the church, and not just the black church. A downfall like that would undoubtedly rattle many people’s faith. By the way, I really, really do not want the reporting about him to be true. Not because I’m a loyal follower, but because watching anyone fall from grace is extremely painful to see. I’m also not naive to think that even the “greatest” among us couldn’t fall because of their own wrongdoing. So keep that in mind as you listen to my perspective.
So from the perch that I sit on, having been immersed in the church from a young child to the better part of my adulthood and from the perspective of having stepped away from it, I have made many, many observations. I’d like to share with you FIVE observations that may explain how the church as gotten out of balance and I’d also like to suggest FIVE ways to remedy or counter balance these issues.
One key observation is that people fall from grace because they’ve become arrogant in their greatness. They believe their great stature and achievements counterbalances or evens out any wrongdoing. As I said in a previous post:
The good in you, even the greatness in you, doesn’t absolve you of the bad. It’s not basic arithmetic. Even if you are forgiven by God, you cannot avoid accountability for any harm you have caused. You may go to heaven, but your remaining time on earth involves grappling with your misdeeds.
Another reason people become arrogant in their greatness is that they managed to become great alongside contending with their demons. They assume that if they became great with that devil on their back, then that devil must not be too bad. They forget that it’s God’s grace in their gifting that brings about any level of success.
What is also true, at the same time, is that people can experience worldly success through cutting corners and manipulating their way to the top. We all know of people who ain’t right that are riding high on success because they cheated and disingenuously made their way to the top. Church leaders are not exempt from this behavior. They could have manipulated their way to the top and because they made it to the top, they mistakenly consider their success to be a God thing. In any case, God may indeed bless us with tremendous success. But our character is what sustains it and our lack of character is what causes us to lose it.
The counterbalance for this arrogance is humility. Not humility as in false modesty. But humility as the definition I heard from Pastor Rick Warren, humility is not a downplaying of our strengths, it is an understanding of our weaknesses.
For example, there is a shadow side to our strengths. Individuals that have risen through the ranks and have amassed a larger following have to be comfortable with being the center of attention in order to be effective in their roles. The shadow side to that is becoming so used to being the center of attention that you erroneously are conditioned to expect everything to be about you. A little bit of humility can go a long way in keeping those shadows in check.
My second observation is church leaders embrace the world’s standards of fun and success. We see this a lot in media and entertainment. And because much of the giftings within the church fall under the umbrella of artistry, it’s very easy to cozy up to what the world of art does.
A very recent viral example of this is Pastor William Murphy’s New Year’s Eve service. Now I don’t know the exact reason why he chose to turn his sanctuary into a club scene. I honestly don’t care to know. But I can fathom a few reasons. Most people want to be somewhere lit and turn up to ring in the new year. Pastors want people to attend the church’s NYE service. Ministers want the church to be somewhere people, especially young people, like to go. So if the standard is to be lit, he probably thought he had to compete with the club. As such he seemingly embraced the standard to be more lit.
There are tons of examples of how the church embraces the world’s standards. I could probably write a book about it. The problem is when we become something we are not to achieve something, we have to perpetuate that lie in order to maintain that status. What will Pastor Murphy have to do to keep the young people coming back??
The counterbalance for this erroneous point of view is accepting the church’s true identity and deriving standards to embrace from that identity.
Most of us understand the church’s mission. However, mission and identity are not the same. Mission is about what the church sets out to accomplish; what the church does. Identity is what the church is. Mission is defined using verbs. Identity is defined using nouns and adjectives.
Before moving on, I’d like to take a point of privilege and remind people that the sanctuary in its origin is a holy place. Yes the church is brick and mortar. But it is sacred in its origin. People bend a knee and pray at the altar; people get married at the altar; people often say goodbye to their loved ones at the altar; people come to the sanctuary for comfort and solace; people often accept Christ at the altar. That history should never be lost on us. Take that for what you will.
My third observation is that church leaders often have conflicts of interests. What I mean by that is many ministers and pastors have multiple ambitions. Even if they start out with a singular focus, often with growth and success more ambitions are added. Those other ambitions are not necessarily wrong or bad. The problem comes when those other ambitions begin to collide with pastoral and ministerial obligations, namely providing spiritual care for the people. More often than not the people are the ones shortchanged even if it appears to be victimless or a win-win situation.
The counterbalance for this is to enforce the boundary of not working on any other agenda during the people’s time.
In other words, do not take up time during scheduled services, especially sermon time, to promote what you are doing outside of the church. If you are writing a book, producing a movie, anything that only leads to your singular profit should remain separate from your time with the people. Your congregation may indeed want to support your endeavors. With all the technology that we have, there are a bajillion ways to reach your members outside of official church service hours. The times that you have agreed to serve the people is not the time for you to be self-serving.
My fourth observation is that church leaders lose touch with their members. Many times this is not intentional but a consequence of growth. As membership grows you simply cannot personally meet the needs of every single person or family. Other ministers and church staff now step in to do what you once did. This is no different than any organization. Look at an org chart of a larger company. How many layers are between the top leaders and the people on the ground? Again it’s not intentional but what happens is your perspective broadens. You become more macro and less micro. The shadow side to that is becoming less micro can result in losing sight of the people you once believed you were called to serve.
The counterbalance for this is to prioritize spending time on the ground with the people.
Not just the people you counseled and directly cared for over the years and have essentially become part of your circle. Take appointments with a few new members. Former president, Barack Obama, would have his staff bring him (either daily or weekly) at least five letters written to him as President for him to read and respond to. This kept him in touch with the people and centered him from the lofty heights of the presidency.
My fifth observation is that the church often has an inordinate focus on money. I’m not just referring to the prosperity doctrine. The church has bills to pay. Many churches face budget shortfalls. Church leaders may have honorable intentions in wanting to keep the church operational but their tactical approach can turn out to be quite manipulative. Listen to the rhetoric during offering time. I can’t possibly list out all the questionable things I’ve heard to compel people to give. But I will tell a story of something that I directly experienced that gave me serious pause.
When I was in graduate school, I serendipitously landed a job at my university which led to my tuition being waived. At the time, my pastor was talking about living a supernaturally blessed life. I had personally known the pastor for quite some time. My mentors were actually some of his best friends. They told him to talk to me about this tuition free blessing I received. Well he never asked me about it. What he did do, however and unfortunately, was make up a story that following Sunday at offering time about how God blessed me. I stood in the sanctuary in shock. To make matters worse, he knew he was wrong! He came over to the section where I was, looked at me and said, that’s how it happened, right? All I could respond was something like that.
I was so bothered by that and it made me question what other offering time stories he took creative license with. I was even more outraged because he didn’t have to make up a story. The actual story could stand on its own and be even more powerful because it was true!! He just got impatient. I told my mentors what happened. They went back to him and from there he changed his practice. He asked members to email their testimonies for him to read. Whether or not that was the best correction, I don’t know. But the whole experience made me listen much more intently to what was said across the pulpit, especially during offering time.
The counterbalance for this is to trust God enough to provide what is needed.
If you have to manipulate people to your will, you’re not even giving God a chance to provide. Manipulation is a fear-based approach; not a faith based approach. Another church that I was a member of (actually just prior to my graduate school church) handled offering perfectly in my opinion. Offering plates were not passed. At the conclusion of service, the pastor barely mentioned the offering. He prayed over it and as the ushers dismissed us row by row, we walked down past the altar paid our tithes/offerings. Then walked up the center aisle and out of the building!! As far as I know the church’s budget never suffered. The only thing I do remember was them paying off the mortgage early. God provided.
If ever God’s provision is not enough, then it might be time to reassess the direction you are going in. That may sound awful and devastating. But re-calibrating when necessary really isn’t a bad thing.
Whew! I think this is my longest post to date. And there is much, much, much more that I can share. Please know that I submit these observations humbly for your consideration. Take them for what they are worth to you.
Onward to Harmonious Balance,
Johanna
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