The Contemporary Movement aka: The New Prosperity Movement?

This is from 2009, but I think the message the confusion, is very curious and applicable to today. Are we any better 2 years later? Please chime in on the issue.

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Black Women, The Black Church & The Black Community

Within ethnic and urban communities, the atmosphere of crime and violence has caused many to question and reevaluate the condition of the family and the church. Within the black community in particular there has been recent special attention and focus upon the disparity that exists in the statistical makeup of the modern black family as opposed to it's white or non-ethnic counterpart.

The general assertion of most modern approaches is that crime and violence is escalating and has escalated because of the absence of black men within the community. There are many social pressures that has feed into this understanding. For example, statistics say that black men are still 6.35 times more likely to be in prison than their white counterparts(1) but have improved since claiming that there were more black men in jail than in college(2, 3). In addition, there is yet employment and economic disparity between Black males and their White male counterparts.

The modern black church in America (churches that have traditionally served the needs of the African-American community, individual and family, even through the "Jim Crow" era) consists predominately of women. Not surprisingly, due to multiple social realities, this is also a reflection of the cultural and social makeup of many modern urban and ethnic communities. Because of this, many claim that the absence of the black male has contributed to and even been the cause of the disparity that is being witnessed and moral and social decay that we have both observed and experienced at street level.

Black Women Aren't The Problem

Is there another more elusive and ominous problem that has occurred and been revealed within Black America, or is what we are witnessing simply an anomaly?

I pose that the problems facing the Black community and family are problems that have more to do with moral strength and substance emanating from the church, than it has to do with the consistency or makeup of the family, who lives in the neighborhood, or the absence of any particular family member. 

Pictured: Latricia Ryan of Flint, MI and 9 of her 10 children in 2008.

Now, don't get me wrong, I believe that strong, healthy families, with an active and present father, can be the strength of the community and the church, but beyond absent individuals, there are right moral choices, decisions and a God who can more than make up for any deficit that anyone has.

Grandparents and foster-parents are raising successful children. Single men and women are doing the same. Certainly, I believe God's intention is for a family to be a family consisting of many parts and each part in it's place, however families have been raised successfully before by single woman and will continue to be successfully done in the future. What is the church making of its opportunity to reach and teach this generation and how is the church supporting the community? Are we bringing our young black mothers and fathers to right and morally correct decisions, or are we serving our own needs with an each for himself mentality? In other words, a body occupying a position or place WILL NOT stop some of the ridiculous decision making that we are seeing and have seen from many of our ethnic and Black communities.

There are some fathers that are in the home which are functional alcoholics or addicts, that do not contribute to the moral growth or benefit of the family. Simply occupying a position won't cut the muster, male or female. However, being what God has called one to be will satisfy all needs and create resounding strength.

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The Black Church Is Dead ~ A Response To Eddie Glaude Jr. Ph.D.

The Needs Of The Black Community

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The Needs Of The Black Church

In an article entitled 'The Black Church Is Dead', Dr. Eddie Glaude Jr., the William S. Tod Professor of Religion and chair of the Center for African American Studies at Princeton University, proclaimed that the black church, although yet well attended, has lost it's ability to speak to and shape the social and moral conscious of the community in which it has primarily and traditionally existed. Dr. Glaude Jr. suggested, in part, that this mortification is due to the increasing sophistication and mobility of individuals within the church's traditional target audience and the lack of what he calls the church's prophetic vision for the community.

The church must admit that it is competing for the time and the attention of its target audience like never before. There are various sources of information and those sources have their own vision and agenda for the community and sometimes special interests which cannot be overlooked. I would like to point out however, that if the influence of the black church is dead, that death has occurred because of what the church has both allowed, promoted and refused to commit itself to.

Interestingly, before the most recent economic recession took hold, many churches were expanding and experiencing almost unprecedented growth in both attendance and profitability. At the same time the community was suffering from a seeming total breakdown of the economic welfare of both individuals and families within the proximal locations in which many churches existed. The black community faced and yet faces record unemployment, increased violence and violent activities within many neighborhoods. There was and yet is a failed educational process leading to the under-education of our children, a broken penile system leading to higher than normal incarceration rates in many traditionally black communities where these churches operate.

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An Interview With The Pastor

Recently one of our regular commenters Enochwalked, asked me some rather profound questions. As I was in the process of answering, the Lord said make this a main post so that the church can see. I hope you enjoy this and your comments are more than welcome. Thank you Elder for posing these serious and timely questions.

Enochwalked: What is your "holy opinion" on this article? The Washington Post Condition Of The Black Family.

Pastor Burnett: Well brother, there is a lot that could be said, but I would first say that the breakdown of the black family should not solely be laid at the feet of the black family. What the article didn't address is Johnson's welfare program which was fashioned to give broken families and single mothers incentives for children and conversely for failure of the family. I mean anytime you tell a family they can have so much money permanently (until the child is 18) if they have a child and no father is in the home, what do you expect to see?

Then she didn't mention the failed "War On Drugs" which was a way to get the black youth both under control and off the streets leaving our neighborhoods to slick undercover pimps, bullys and available preachers.

Then she failed to mention the failure of the educational system, during the same period of time, in adjusting and finding ways to educate black youth against the backdrop of their changing culture.

This is what I call the "perfect storm" against the black family and it had all the tools and power that it was designed to have. Why do you think mandatory minimum sentencing still exists even though MOST law enforcement officials know the disparity and problems that it creates? This stuff was designed to do what it did and our families suffer as a result of over 30 years of failed policies and plans and the weak backbone of a extremely weak church who though that it could shout and dance itself through every problem that it experienced...That is and was the problem. Total failure to connect, adapt, change, move and become the clarion institution that would set the pace for change instead of merely responding to others as they make changes.

Where is the black church? Are we in front of issues? Some are. I certainly try to be in my community, but all too often we are second responders IF we respond at all.

So far as unemployment was concerned, one of the major culprit's has been governmental policy. You see in major industrial cities across America, factories got up and got out because it was cheaper to do business elsewhere. This was why some of our black men and families, who were factory workers were devastated and cities began to change. We sill see the effects of this today in places like Detroit, LA, and New York.

So yes the statistics are devastating and very revealing but I believe they are highly incomplete.

Enochwalked: Is SIN the major reason that we have lost the black family--husband and wife structure? We have more prosperity today but we have raised children who are reprobates and do not know the LORD!

Pastor Burnett: Brother sin is the major reason, but as I said there is enough sin in places that caused sin in the streets that we see today. I'm trying to say this, we see the symptoms of the sins that were either placed upon our communities or that our communities chose.

Example, Hip-Hop (which I will be doing a full series on in a very short period of time)arose during the same time period that the black family broke down. Why was it so appealing to the masses of youth? It became the father than many youth never knew. It became the mother that many youth were not familiar with. It was the place, to express, communicate and sound off because people weren't being listened to. It developed it's own culture and part of that culture was to teach and reteach and because converted Muslims saw it as a way to gain an audience the message became mixed with Islam, resurrected Egyptology, Human deism and other ideologies right under our nose.

Some churches simply said turn the music off, while others told the participants and hip-hop aspirants to simply send them a tithe check, but they did not battle the "spirit" within the music or deal with the message itself. We failed to teach and train or even accept young unwed mothers and young men wanting to be gangsta's until it was almost too late to redeem them and their children were too old.

So yes, sin is at the root, but the church and establishment will not escape the judgement of God for their dereliction of duty to defend the weak and poor.

Enochwalked: Who or what failed to bring the Black Family to the conditions we have today ([do] you see this problem in both Black Christians and Black unbelievers)?

Pastor Burnett: Church leadership failed to adequately respond through the development of a message. I'm not talking about a "ministry". Some churches have over 200 ministries for everything and everybody in the church. I'm takling about a general direction and prescribed path for the people, neighborhoods and community to follow.

We say, "daughter/son, get off the street and stop sellin' drugs." But how much money have we spent to help them stop sellin' drugs? I'm not talking about church welfare. I'm talking about creating and developing life skill sets that will on point teach and train these young men and ladies to be free from what they are doing, that will recreate "life" for them and their community. So that's ministry and service. Not jumping on some stage and saying...SAY YES LAWD! Don't get me wrong, I do that and love to do that in the service, but I also do the other and do that first, even when I'm hoarse.

Then look at this, we've got Grammy winning singers and musicians almost everywhere. I want to see the day, where we take that Grammy winnin' set, set up a stage in the heart of a troubled community on a Saturday morning, take turns singing, preaching and witnessing all day until Saturday night and do it regularly without selling tickets, asking for news coverage or any of the other things that come with celebrity. Just do it to serve God. and DON'T collect an offering....uuuhhhoo...That costs money.....

Where we at? We gotta pay da bills...Nothing wrong with that, but I preach hard right now for free and do sing as the Lord gives me utterance--uuhhmm---But when will we really get serious about taking our resource, whatever that resource is, and placing it into souls? Not when the cameras are rolling, but when the tears are flowing...that's what we need and that's what the community needs to see of us.

Enochwalked: Where has the Black Church been on this in the past 10, 20, 30, 40 years? You have been in this longer than me.

Pastor Burnett: Now I ain't that old my brutha...;) but let me show you what I see...

The church has been intoxicated and enamoured with flesh, popularity, seeking cars, houses, boats, prosperity, conference hoppin', following Pastors who are not doing anything for the community or the church but collecting an offering for themselves, getting mortgages that they couldn't afford and callin' it a blessing, comparing their salvation to others so they could have an excuse for weakness, covering each others sins with money and associations, having illicit affairs, emotional upheavals, and total spiritual inconsistencies.

I'm not through...

As my man Melvin at Pulpit Pimps said (regarding T.D. Jakes) they have been "Repositioning themselves further away from God", calling their sins as though they are not what they are, finding new ways to NOT preach the righteousness and holiness of God, seeking singing contracts, becoming motivational speakers, leaving substantive issues at the door, and trying to be as inclusive as possible as not to offend anyone.

I admit, I had elements of some of those things when I started off on my own. I thought being in the crowed was going to build my 10,000 member church. (FYI- I DO NOT have a 10,000 member church) I came to a resolution and conclusion that ONLY God was in control of his church and HE will build it as HE sees fit, and if I wanted to be a part of HIS plan, then all I had to do was take my place and be fit and ready for the Lord's use. I'm glad I made that decision.

Enochwalked: "Can(men of God like us) we turn this around? We may not see it in our lifetime but with the help of God, maybe in our childrens time. I am 37 with 2 sons ages almost 5 and 3 and another due in the spring. I have accepted the fact that my generation is LOST! I am looking to save my children's generation!"

Pastor Burnett: Brother, like Jimmy V said, "Don't ever give up!" and like James Moore sung, "It ain't over until God says it's over." There is great power in standing in the gap, even if you're just one.

Remember Mary and Martha when Jesus came to them in John 11 what did Martha say?

"21-Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died."

What did Jesus respond?

"23-Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again."

Then Martha does something that many of us do. Put things so far off in the future until we can't hardly see it. She says,

"24-Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day."

She talks about a blessing that is beyond her present ability. She equates the resolution of things with the end of the world, which was representative of the Jewish thought of "The last day".

But what did Jesus respond?

"25-Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: 26-And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?"

He indicated that what she was looking for resided in ONE person, and that person was him. Next thing you know Lazarus was outta that grave and the disciples were taking the "death identity" (grave clothes) off of him.

What am I saying? What we need is in Jesus and what we need is here right now. In order to change the church for us and our children it will take some bold steps taken in the trail of the Master as he guides and leads our steps. It's just gettin good now. The righteous will rise while the sinner is revealed and cast out.

To them that read this, if you're not equipped get the equipment you need, leave small arguments for the small minded and most of all stay tuned and stay on your post wherever you may be.

Blessed!

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