Church Refugees: When Real Life Happens.....

Our nation has once again been hit the realities of life and death. 2 Americans were executed by the state and in one case we saw the execution live and up close.

Then we saw five members of the Law enforcement community shot down while working the protest for the 2 Americans executed by the state. That was also captured live on Film This is on par with the Hunger Games. Killing as spectacle and entertainment

I have my own thoughts about this but this isn't what this post is about. I do believe there's much evil in our midst and that it will get worse before it gets better and I can't say that I'm surprised that many of those in the spiritual community either are unconscious or don't want to rile their followers up to the reality of the situation.

The Silence is deafening

This week On Facebook someone wrote on a pastor’s status that you won't address what is going on because your church doesn't teach people how to deal with real life issues. Another friend said she was very disappointed about the silence of black pastors about this.

I am pleased to say that pastor Patrick Kiteley from Shiloh church had some good stuff to say but I'm not surprised. His family was heavily involved in the social justice of the 1960’s and Shiloh is the most multi cultural church I have ever been too. It's not just multi racial. It's multi generational, international, and really a great representation of the body of Christ. If I ever go back to church, it will probably be there.

I also was pleased to see Lisa Bevere make a bold statement on Facebook and she got many of her black followers (including me) giving her respect and thanks for her bold comments. Many of her white followers of course tried to minimize and accuse her of division. As I shared on her status, I've seen some of the most racist behavior in church and it never ceases to amaze me the white Christians who absolutely see nothing wrong with racist attitudes and their lack of compassion towards others. I guess the parable of the Good Samaritan is totally lost on them.

Maybe they are afraid of being criticized but we should consider this quote by Aristotle

I have predicted that in the coming months and years we will most likely see another awakening and revival. People are hopeless and sorry but I don't think Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton are going to bring the hope. President Obama promised hope but that didn't quite work out. The nation is more divided than ever.

I saw a political pundit say this morning on television that spiritual leaders would most likely have to play a bigger role in healing the divisions in our nation. He's right but as we've seen the faithful are leaving churches. The main mission of most churches Is to keep their doors open so I don't think that's where the healing will come from.

If the church wants to BE NOTHING then they shouldn't say anything...not even thoughts and prayers and they should not do anything!

Too much Bureaucracy and not enough real life community

The complaint in church refugees was that there wasn't enough community and too much bureaucracy that got in the way of empowering and helping people along with addressing real life issues.

I thought about the inevitable responses that will happen the first Sunday back after this disgraceful week in our nation

We got to pray

We are in our last days

Jesus is coming soon: morning or night or noon. Many will meet their doom...glad it's not us.

We will pray (and not do anything)

Well the people are sinful and they should come to church if they want to be saved

This is God’s judgment upon America for gays and Beyonce

We will pray and hope it gets better but not do anything because That's God’s job

Let's not focus on this negativity but get your coins ready for pastors appreciation or to go eat chicken in the fellowship hall

We need to pray but we will not do anything

This type of response has been the main complaint of myself and every book I've read. When it comes to facing the ugly realities of life, the church is silent.

The Silence of the Black Church

It's especially disheartening to see the Black church stay silent while it's their young men who are being killed in these streets whether by their own or executed by the state. There's a state of emergency in our community but church had been largely ineffective and irrelevant. There aren't many strong and effective male  leaders in black churches anymore so out young men are missing out on positive role modeling.

Remember we had figures showing that black churches are only 25% men and as the man that was interviewed in quitting church said: There doesn't seem to be any movement to bring them back and the church doesn't seem to care that they aren't there.

I will give it to Bishop TD Jakes. He has been speaking out and even had a special service where he invited police, community members the mayor, and others to speak out.  He encouraged people to write in questions..

A friend of mine posted that the other big name preachers are silent because they don't want their membership to drop and therefore their coins to get messed up. She's right. I know a ministry who posts about all of their designer outfits and food but nary a social justice post. They called it sensationalism but it's because their followers aren't interested in social justice and suffering. Their followers are interested in their glamorous and materialistic lifestyle and that's what they want for themselves.