The
gospel that we preach is amazing in its power, brilliant in its proclamation,
and powerful in its articulation. I believe that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is
transformative. Whenever a preacher stands behind the sacred desk they are occupying
Holy ground. That ground was occupied by our ancestors. Because of their sacrifice there must be a
regard and reverence in the declaration of the Good news. we must preach with honor and dignity; last sunday at Empowerment Temple AME church this was not the case.
I am
severely disappointed in the actions of someone i have looked up to in ministry Dr. Jamal Bryant. And yes i listened to the whole message and the entire message was problematic but below is horrific.
In a sermon that was delivered”
I'm My
Enemies Worst Nightmare"
Dr. Bryant articulates venomous,
dangerous and misogynistic rhetoric declaring; “these hoes aint loyal"...
My friend who exactly are these people that you are declaring as hoes? There are
NO hoes in the house of God. If you ascribe to traditional atonement narratives;
have we not all been enemies to God, only through the love of Jesus become his friend? Are we not new creatures in Christ? Last time i made it to “the
meeting” didn't we agree that Chris Brown might not be the
best authority on the treatment of women?
Let
me take a step back.... what we say from the pulpit matters. Preachers frame how we see God from pulpit. Being
tasked with this awesome responsibility, how can any preacher fix his or her
mouth to call God's Children outside their identity from the sacred desk? It
speaks to a perversion that has taken hold in preached ministry that sullies the
Gospel. How audacious do we have to be to use such cruel language in
order to get our ontological rocks off? To relieve our anxiety in
life we have abandoned preaching the words of life and affirmation resorting
to a trite message of emotional exploitation. If you believe that lives are
held in the balance than preach like it matters stop throwing ideological
chicken feed at the feet of your people.
We
have done market research on our members to discover ways in which we can frame
messages that will make them go nuts for 35 minutes and send them back to live
in hell for six days. You are exegetically pimping when you know that the majority
of your congregation is single but you are ok with exploiting them emotionally. It's a pure spectacle preaching for shock
and awe value. Where is the redeeming word of God that quickens the soul in the midst of this fleshly preaching?
It is not
only troubling that Dr.Bryant mustered the gall to use
such hurtful language but he knew aforetime that he was going to use
questionable language and knowing this he prepared the "old
saints" for vocal violence that he levied. The truth of the matter is when
you use language like that you are declaring how you really feel about the
women who make up the majority of your congregation. When you use
hurtful, shameful language you are talking about your mother, your sister; your little girls who
will one day be women.
There is a
duality of standards at play, you were not talking about men, you were directing
our vitriol towards women. You were exploiting an insecurity that
exists in the hearts of the hearers. Talking to sisters who have for a
myriad of reasons been abandoned, discarded, abused and you toyed with their
emotions for a cheap praise break. Believe it or not a man cannot be
stolen he must choose to leave. And if that man chooses to leave that
choice is his and his alone. The creation of this salacious "loose
woman" trope to be the reason that relationships don't work
out is abhorrent.
This trope
is a greater extension of purity subjugation that is
used as a tool of oppression to women but male counterparts are not held
to the same standard. Where is the call for male virtue? Where is the rancor
for male purity? It’s all fun and games till we are all held to the same set of ethical and emotional standards.
But what’s
really making my stomach turn is the reaction of the congregants. Did y’all
actually rejoice when your pastor used abusive language? Did you actually
celebrate when your leader diminished the humanity of women from the pulpit? Did
y’all really do this ?
Have
you all been so conditioned to the reality of trite preaching that you actually
believe that his communication was salvific? So to the point that you
would actually leave your seats and encourage him to exploit you. That’s what
you did you encouraged his exploitation. The response of the congregation
made it horrifically aware that this communication was not only common in this house but it
is welcomed. Your congregation should be ashamed. My heart breaks for us when
this is the nomenclature of the House of God.
My
gaze shifts to the brokenness in this brother to believe that he
has to use such vile language in a sermon to make a point. This reflects
an immaturity and insecurity in the preparedness of God's word. My
grandmother would say he is preaching out of the flesh. In his words i felt: anger,
hate, and despair. Those horrible words were laced with the spirit of revenge and vengeance.
Revenge comes from a place of depravity and inequality. My friend who really
hurt you? Whoever it was the pulpit is not the place for your therapy.
For my
brothers and sisters who have donned the cape for Pastor Bryant; wrestle with
the idea that he could be wrong. Could it be possible that he was in error and
he should be held accountable for that error? And if in fact he was wrong in
using such putrid language it would make sense to repent. Ops... i forgot we don't repent anymore in church. Heck we don't repent anymore in life.
Daddy said if you are going to stand strong when you are
right, then stand humble when you are wrong. My friend you have done
neither. You were wrong to say it and you're hiding behind flawed ideology for
defense is wrong. Apologize, because we all are works in progress everybody is
working on something. Apologize because we must teach grace under fire. Apologize because you need the forgiveness of your church community.
But instead you add insult to injury when you try to defend the
indefensible. And for the love of God stop defending misogyny. Stop
saying you love the sisters but call them outside their names in effect you are
twisting the knife and pouring salt on the wound. The problem is you know this;
you know Don Imus called our sisters out of their names. You know the rappers
belittle our sisters and terrorize the love in our communities. You know our
sisters need the love and yet you settle for tasteless expressions.
Our
duty is to speak life and on this regard we have
been derelict in our duty. Brothers and sisters let us reason
together on this matter that we have the capacity to speak the best into our
brothers and sisters let us refrain from the language of abuse All manner of
abuse: misogynistic , homophobic and racist language. There is NO room in the Kingdom of God for abusive language. We experience
enough poison in the secular we do not need our experience
tainted in the spiritual with the venom of the profane.
To
the readers who know Dr. Bryant personally; help him, correct him (in love), and
reprove him. Love is not true without justice and accountability. If you are
content to allow this form of language to persist in the pulpit it will become
the death nail of exegetical relevance. Holy boldness is not
emotional battery.
