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Tuesday, 17 April 2007 17:47 |
 | | Roland Martin |
CHICAGO ó When did it come to the point that being a Christian meant caring only about two issues ó≠≠ abortion and homosexuality?
Ask the non-religious what being a Christian today means, and based on what they see and read, itís a good bet they will say that followers of Jesus Christ are preoccupied with those two points.
Poverty? Whatever. Homelessness? An afterthought. A widening gap between the haves and have-nots? Immaterial. Divorce? The rate for Christians mirrors the national average, so thatís no big deal.
The point is that being a Christian should be about more than abortion
and homosexuality, and itís high time those not considered a part of
the religious right expose the hypocrisy of our brothers and sisters in
Christianity and take back the faith. And those on the left who believe
they have a ìget-out-of-sin freeî card must not be allowed to justify
their actions.
Many people believe we are engaged in a holy war. And we are. But itís
not with Muslims. The real war ≠≠ó the silent war ≠≠ó is being engaged
in among Christians and thatís what we must be setting our sights on.
As we celebrate Holy Week, our focus is on the death and resurrection
of Jesus Christ. But arenít we also to re-commit ourselves to live more
like Jesus? Did Jesus spend time focusing on all that he didnít like,
or did Jesus raise the consciousness of the people to understand love
and compassion, and teach them about following the will of God?
This is exactly what we tried to achieve with the show I hosted on CNN,
ìWhat Would Jesus Really Do?î It wasnít to keep spinning the same
stuff. It was asking pillars of the faith ≠ó the Rev. Jerry Falwell,
Bishop T.D. Jakes, Pastor Paula White, Rick Warren and several others
ó≠ what the Christian agenda should be about today.
As a layman studying to receive a masterís in Christian communications
and the husband of an ordained minister, I find it troubling to listen
to ìChristian radioî and hear the kind of hate that spews out of the
mouths of my brothers and sisters in the faith.
In fact, Iíve grown tired of people who pimp God. Thatís right, we have
a litany of individuals today who are holy, holy, holy, sing
Hallelujah, talk about how they love the Lord, but when itís time to
walk the walk, somehow the spirit evaporates.
A couple of years ago, I took exception to an e-mail blast from the
Concerned Women for America. They were angry that Democrats were
blocking certain judges put up for the federal bench by President Bush.
They called on Americans to fight Democrats who wanted to keep
Christians off the bench.
So I called and sent an e-mail asking, ìSo, where were you when
President Clinton appointed Christian judges to the bench?î Were they
truly behind Christian judges, or just Republican Christian judges?
Surprise, surprise. They never responded.
An African-American pastor I know in the Midwest was asked by a group
of mostly white clergy to march with them in a pro-life rally. He was
fine with that, but then he asked them if they would work with him to
fight crack houses in predominantly black neighborhoods.
ìThatís really your problem,î he was told.
They saw abortion as a moral imperative, but not a community ravaged by crack.
If abortion and gay marriage are a part of the Christian agenda, I have
no issue with that. Those are moral issues that should be of importance
to people of the faith, but the agenda should be much, much broader.
Iím looking for the day when Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Joyce
Meyer, James Dobson, Tony Perkins, Dr. James Kennedy, Rod Parsley,
President Bushís ìPatriot Pastorsî and Rick Warren will sit at the same
table as Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Cynthia Hale, Eddie L. Long, James
Meek, Fred Price, Emmanuel Cleaver and Floyd Flake to establish a call
to arms on racism, AIDS, police brutality, a national health care
policy and our sorry education system.
If they all say they love and worship one God, one Jesus ≠ó letís see them rally their members behind one agenda.
I stand here today not as a Republican or a liberal. And donít bother
calling me a Democrat or a conservative. I am a man ≠ó an
African-American man ó≠ who has professed that Jesus Christ is Lord,
and thatís who I bow down to.
If you concur, itís time to stop allowing a chosen few to speak for the masses. Quit letting them define the agenda.
So put on the full armor of God, because we have work to do.
ï
Roland S. Martin, editor of The Chicago Defender newspaper, is author of ìSpeak, Brother! A Black Manís View of America.î
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