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This effectively freezes the
church to work on protecting its existence, its operations,
theological differences, denominational activities, its rites of
passage and so forth, while the poor get poorer, the educational
system gets worse, and Blacks continue to be at the margins of human
society. Today African-Americans make up 12% of the population and
still have a leading 26% poverty rate.8 That makes no sense to me.
It’s a glaring statistic that reveals a dismal fact: Blacks today
care more about personal success and their individual institutions
than each other.
You are looking through a microscope, focused on preserving
traditions and ideas that keep Blacks in the margins of society. You
must look through a telescope. You must revitalize your theology,
and find the universal God of creation, who is not a God of “crooks
nor creeds” but a God of “human cares and human needs”, as Paul
Dunbar would say. God is calling Black people today to search deep
within their souls to find the conviction to end poverty and
degradation within the African-American community, once and for all.
Open your eyes and see the “ethnic cleansing” (racism) taking place.
Look at Africa where men, women and children are being annihilated
from a disease called AIDS, that is the result of man’s inhumanity
to man. Look at poverty in India; look at the arrogance of those in
power and their political decisions regarding the Middle East and
parts of Asia. Then realize that the same system that creates
oppression there is suppressing many American Blacks, who are
effectively segmented, neutralized and ghettoized to live in poor
conditions, including their homes, neighborhoods and schools. This
leads to poor education, alcoholism and drug addictions, as people
seek to escape their living nightmares; and all of this leads to
more poverty and culminates in “Black on Black” crimes and the
dismantling of the Black race. It is systematic. This is a death
sentence, and is sickening to me because what drives the train is a
greedy out of control nihilistic capitalism. And now, I hear the
talk in the political arena is globalization, which is really a mask
for neo-colonialism, which will continue to infect the world with
one-sided ideology. This poisonous politics is bad for the world,
but for the ancestors of slaves, this venom will lead to the death
many.
Personal responsibility says that you cannot blame anyone but
yourselves. For if the Black Churches of the world were united and
focused in the cause of righteousness, in the spirit of Christ, this
would not be happening! I’m sorely afraid that you have surrendered
social responsibility for capital gains profitability.
But I won’t despair. No. Somehow truth, goodness and mercy shall
prevail. It always has and always will, because God has structured
this universe with natural laws and at its fore are equality and
reciprocity. You can attempt to destroy its principles and it will
rise again. You can reject its premise but it will return unscathed.
You can suppress it, but it will rebound and express its ideals. It
is my belief, that in order to take control of urban communities and
neighborhoods, to eliminate poverty of mind, body and spirit, the
Black Church must become more aware and active in its witness,
assisting disinherited Negroes to get in touch with their past in
light of the present, which will inevitably invigorate the
African-American future for years to come!
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
Solutions
Finally, my fellow scribe and African-American brothers and sisters,
you might ask where do Black people and the Black Church go from
here? This is a good question because it moves one from the
theoretical and cognitive toward the therapeutic and practical. It
moves one from the “megoistic” mentality—me, myself and I, toward
the altruistic mentality fixed on serving others; it moves one
toward sympathy instead of apathy; it moves one toward optimism
instead of pessimism.
First, the disunity in the Negro Church must be eliminated. Black
churches, whether Methodist, Baptist, Catholic, Presbyterian,
Episcopalian, or from the neo-protestant non-denominational
churches, must comprehend that the plight of struggling Negroes is
every Black church’s problem. Therefore, what is needed is an
ecumenical movement that has civic, social and spiritual
significance. Civically, preachers must show “holy boldness” in the
face of the oppressor—the systems and philosophies that perpetuate
greed, violence and chaos. This means that preachers and lay people
must speak against those ever-present nihilistic “isms” like racism,
sexism, classism and yes, an out of control capitalism. The church
must learn how to continue to be profitable without losing its
“prophet-ability.” A Theologian said once regarding the Black Church
that some churches are vogue on the outside and vague on the inside.
Let that not be your church today! Black Church leaders and laity
cannot sell their souls to money and power, building up monuments
and treasures of nothingness, but must take up the way of Jesus
Christ, which calls you to reach out to the “least of these” and to
speak against those who abuse their authority. This is where true
treasure is found!
Second, socially, the Black Church must combine its forces. In my
day I was taught, “each one, teach one.” This is a good philosophy.
Churches must teach, train, and educate one another on the history
and future of African-Americans. Then you must work together and buy
up the governmental housing communities and rebuild them as
communities for the poor. Church, take control of educating your
children and youth. Church, buy up the corner stores and get rid of
the liquor stores. Church, buy the shopping centers and get rid of
the businesses that don’t give back to the community. Church, buy up
various properties and build up homes for the underprivileged. Use
your power to make God’s Kingdom, the reign of God, a reality on
earth. This is your call!
But I hear some say, “How is this our call brother Martin, when
Jesus will return one day and change this world. We need to wait on
the Lord and be of good courage…” Your point is heard, but you must
understand that the very thing you wait for is at hand. The Lord has
shared with me that Kingdom of God is inside of you and outside of
you; it is present and it is future; it is literal and metaphorical.
It is not just one thing, but it is many things! The Kingdom of God
represents ALL that is righteous! If you seek first the Kingdom (the
reign) of God and its righteousness all the things you want will be
given to you! You can speed up that day toward the new heavens and
new earth reality!
Thirdly, and lastly, I want you to know that spiritually this is
right. It is right to assist those in need. It is right to teach
others about their past. It is right for God’s Church to lead the
way in the world’s moral arena. Your hardest task will be letting go
of your theological differences, which keeps you separated from each
other. There are hundreds of denominations in your day and each has
a nuance that makes one’s religious affiliation supposedly better
than the next. This is problematic. The Lord has instructed me to
tell you that this is MAN-MADE! You must seek to be GOD-MADE! This
is where true religion is found. True religion is not found in
sacraments. True religion is not found in Christian dogma. True
religion is not found in affirmations of faith. True religion is not
found in special gifts of the spirit. It is not found when you add
names to your membership book. True religion is not found in any of
the schizophrenic complexities of human personality. But true
religion is found when the hearts of men and women are strangely
warmed, causing them to sacrifice their very lives for the cause of
truth and justice! Never forget that.
God has written the Law of Truth upon all of your hearts. When the
God of the Universe breathed life into your bodies, God gave you
free will and the ability to know truth from falsehood. You must
know, very simply, that what builds up humanity and the earth is
righteous but what tears down humanity and the earth is what is
unrighteous. Within the Black Church your denominationalism is extra
destructive because, as Black Americans you already struggle with
your double-consciousness mentality, and when you add sectarian
strife, you effectively create chaos instead of community. You must
all learn to live together as brothers and sisters or you, as a
people, will perish as fools.
And you must not be ashamed to be Black. Many of you have other
histories flowing through your veins in addition to your Black
heritage, but some of you prefer to claim your European, Native
American, Hispanic or Asian histories, ahead of your African
heritage. This is a tragedy. Look in the mirror and see your Black
face; a face that represents hundreds of years of struggle and
victory; a face that looks like someone from the past who suffered
on a slave ship; who suffered on the hot plantation—you are the
benefactor from their pain. They did not die in vain, oh no!! Your
ancestor’s voices are crying out from the earth, sea and sky for all
of God’s children who have African blood in their bodies to wake up
and see the proud tradition you come from. Wake up and see that God
loves your Blackness! God loves you so much that God heard your cry,
and through the willing hands of many good people, freed your
ancestors from the vicious hand of oppression by Colonialists. God
loved you so much that God inspired many martyrs to help you get
your civil rights in later years. Now you are free but you act like
you are a slave. You are free, the chains have been broken, but you
won’t move forward and grasp the vastness of your freedom, which
entails taking control of urban communities for sake of the Gospel!
You are like the elephant that was held captive for many years. He
tugged on his chain daily and could not set himself free. But one
day he tugged and broke the chain. Yet, because his mind was bent on
captivity instead of opportunity, the beast never left the perimeter
to which he was confined. This mighty animal that weighed over a
ton, and even the mighty lion stayed clear from his path, died in
his mental and physical prison. He died with his dream of freedom
still inside. He died bewildered and disillusioned. He died because
his mind was not right. Oh my beautiful Black brothers and sisters,
you are free yet your mind is not right, and so you don’t see the
wholeness of your liberty. Oh my magnificent Black Church, you are
dying in many ways today, because you are not embracing your past
and speaking and doing God’s truth, which will secure the
African-American future for years to come.
As I conclude, the problems in the Black community today are
troubling. But I see a new day when the Black family becomes a
cohesive unit built on the solid rock of our Heavenly Master. I see
the day when drugs won’t decimate your cities. I see the day when
Negroes will not tolerate violence in their neighborhoods. But it is
up to God’s Black Church to correct its present course and move
toward a new day when God reigns with humankind in your minds, souls
and hearts.
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