An Open Letter to a Broken Brother

    

      

     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.