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(Editor´s note: This is part three of an article calling for heartfelt repentance from religion and true revival in the Lord´s churches!)
I have not in anyway sought to impugn the motives and labor of the true, God sent freedom fighting preachers of our people known and unknown. Men black and white owe a deep debt of gratitude to those genuine black preachers during and since slavery who were even martyred calling on our nation to fulfill it´s biblically based ideals of justice and righteousness in dealing with blacks and other minorities. Juneteenth is a good time to thank God for and remember these great men.
It is my firm conviction that those godly preachers never intended to convey the idea that the sins of responsible white men against blacks should somehow cause God to look the other way on or excuse our own! Freedom fighting preachers blinded by the darkness of religion and self-aggrandizement have in fact, fostered this very idea whether intentionally or not by focusing almost exclusively on white America´s sins against blacks. White sin guilt does not create black innocence!
A true revival of hearts will cause responsible freedom fighting black preachers to repent from the sins of portraying God as One that shows partiality (Romans 2:1-11) and creating the delusion of black American innocence! When God judges, all sinners stand guilty before Him (Romans 3:9-20, 23)! Truly, God did not deal with us as our ancestor´s sins deserved (Psalm 107:10-16)! The preacher representing the God of the Bible then, who will stand to call the deeds of white racism sin, must also call the evil acts of blacks sin and that without offering justifications that excuse.
In creating the delusion that somehow blacks are completely innocent victims, guilty black preachers are doing more harm to our people than any purposeful act of miseducation by whites since slavery. How? They are sending folk to Hell! The delusion of black innocence creates a false sense of entitlement even to sin because "God is on our side" as the victimized oppressed! There is, therefore, in this worldview, no sin guilt, righteous temporal or eternal consequences for the black innocent since God relates and sympathizes.
The result is that immorality of every kind is found raging not only among the people, but often the preachers championing their cause! Our men fill more prisons than colleges. Our women have more abortions than any other racial group.1 Surely, violence is sport and human life cheap among our young people, today. Sin of sins, when they murder each other, most are given the burial send off of a Christian martyr! So, now with the comforting assurances of cultural Christianity and religion, black innocence reaches right into the midst of Heaven--not (Ezekiel 18:1-24; Matthew 7:13-29; Galatians 5:19-21, 6:7-8)!
With great mercy, the Lord Jesus calls for all of those that have truly met Him but have been spiritually deadened by the practice of religion to repent! Only He has the authority to call off the demonic assault now destroying our people through spiritual confusion, mental, emotional and physical afflictions, addictions as well as violence. This multi-prong assault was invited by sin in and outside of the churches. However, the churches have the greater guilt before the Lord since we supposedly know better, understanding something about who He is (John 1:1-18, 12:34-36, 44-50, 14:6-11)!
A true revival of hearts will cause the leaders and people of black churches that are guilty to repent from religion that has led us away from the commandments, priorities and activities of biblical Christianity. In our historic striving to be culturally distinct from our white brothers, self-governed and proud, we have allowed Satan (the ultimate beneficiary of our spiritual harlotry) to take us down the same path that put ancient Judaism in the bull´s eye of God´s wrath (Matthew 23:37-39; Luke 21:20-24)! Religion, beloved, was their downfall!
But now as those who would be raised up again from the dead by the reviving work of the Holy Spirit, let us with renewed minds shift our thinking and with renewed hearts change our attitudes. In all faith, let us dare to believe again that nothing is impossible to our God! Rather than flesh driven, let us be Spirit-led and empowered! Let us emerge from the reinforced bunker of self-absorption and isolation to join with sister churches from every nation to finish our Lord´s "Great Commission" beginning, but by no means ending in our own community.
This will require that we abandon frivolous, self-serving religious activities to embrace ministry driven outreach that impacts our hurting community for good. Instead of annual day events for fellowship, our churches would now spend more time, money and effort doing the work of ministry in cooperative ventures. Pastors, that will mean repentance from having to be "in charge," possessing a title or needing your name on the project out of unbridled ego.
Instead, as the Bible teaches, we would allow the gifts, calling and unique ministries the Holy Spirit has given each one of us (Romans 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11) to determine who does what not only among the pastors, but our associates and people too! Believe it or not, the Lord actually knows how to operate a church and laid out His plans quite plainly in His Word (see for example Ephesians 4:7-16)!
1 "Abortion Number For African-Americans Rising," Life In Oregon, April-June 2008 Issue, p. 7.
To Be Concluded Next Issue
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