Sis/Sibling You Better Preach a WORD

Or, IDGAF.

I try to make it my business to not stay in white people’s business. TRY is the key word. Every so often someone does something ridiculous that gets my attention and suddenly I’m offering a word. This is where we are today.

Saddleback church is a smooth 20 miles from my home. We’ve visited it a few times. It’s bigger than a college campus and significantly larger than the town I grew up in. It’s a Ron Burgundy “I’m a big deal” kind of church. It had the capacity to make a big statement with appointing women in leadership positions. HAD is the key word. Instead of focusing on the dynamic leadership that all those white women bring to their big-mac-mega-church we had to watch one white man plead his case to a group of white men in a denomination whose financial stability (and theology) was founded on the enslavers whip.

ICK.

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I’m off put by all of this. I also have to remember that I hail from three different faith backgrounds: the Catholic Church, the Black Missionary Baptist church, and Transformation Ministries (which was created when a bunch of homophobic peoples decided to divorce from the I’m-not-sure-if-it’s-100%-affirming American Baptist church). I saw women as guest speakers in the pulpit but never once did I see a woman preach from there. I know that women (and children) were preyed on by male leaders in these congregation. I know women that fled abusive marriages to the pastors who shepherd the churches. I’ve seen what the work of bad shepherds can do and I know the generational harm it can cause. And while there are “good guys” in the church, I struggle to see them as protagonists. Knowing they committed to addressing the issues with silent prayer instead of shaking a table and protecting the people makes it worse.

Photo by Dave LZ on Unsplash

Back in 2021, when I signed my contract with The Bindery Agency, my literary agent asked me if I considered myself a Christian writer. It went kind of like this…

Me: Yeah, I don’t know about that one.
Her: Really? It seems like you are.
Me: *disassociates because I’m triggered*

I still struggle with associating myself as a Christian writer because the Baptismal waters are too murky to wade in. I barely identify as a Christian because too many people are wilin’ out in these streets. But deep within me, there is a voice (I call her my ancestral church mother) telling me this: just because someone is actin a fool in public doesn’t mean you get permission to ignore what good you can do in this world