As you walked into the worship service, nothing seemed out of place. Although you arrived later than expected, the praise team was still singing. You were excited about this week’s service because Pastor had been out of town at a revival and you knew he would have a word for the congregation.
The choir’s performance was impressive, they sang a few new songs, and you decided to give a little more in the offering today, because you felt the spirit moving. The sermonic soloist began to sing “Teach Me O’ Lord” and once she finished the church immediately commenced to shout, and as the Pastor approached, the congregation called out to him, "Preach Reverend, Preach!"
The atmosphere was set, the people were prepared to hear a message from the Pastor and as you grabbed your bible, you were not expecting this to be “That Sunday" The Pastor politely requested that the congregation be seated and turn their bibles to first Corinthians six, verses nine through ten. The congregation felt the pastor’s seriousness as they opened to the scripture.
"Or do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God."
The Pastor looked up from the scripture and with his baritone voice stated, “ I would like to speak from the subject, Don’t Get it Twisted”. A silence moved across the church because you knew that what would follow would not be the word that everyone had anticipated, but a sermon that would cut at the heart of many people’s existence. The Pastor had chosen this Sunday out of all the Sunday’s to deliver the infamous “That Sunday” sermon.
When I speak of “That Sunday” I am referring to that chosen Sunday when the pastor decides to preach a sermon about the sexual immorality within our society, especially homosexuality. The pastor’s message describes how homosexuality is incompatible with the Christian scripture and in order to be a true Christian, one must deny their sexual identity for their Christian identity.
For the next 30 minutes, the Pastor ranted about perceived wrongdoing amongst his congregation and how their transgressions would ultimately keep them from experiencing the salvation of God. However, the Pastor merely highlighted the various SINS listed in the scripture but once he arrived at homosexuality, he boldly looked out across his congregation and said, “Yes homosexuality is a SIN”. “Despite what you have heard all homosexuals are going to Hell”. The church erupts with "amen’s" and "preach pastor", as he instructs the congregates to go to the book of Leviticus chapter eighteen verse twenty-two:
"You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination”
All around the church, not everyone feels the same way the pastor does. There are congregants who feel embarrassed, who weep quietly because their sexuality they did not chose, and their sexuality they cannot change. While some are celebrating the pastor’s homophobic message others are retreating inside themselves because they have arrived at a place that does not appreciate them the way God created them. This is a reality for many Black Gay Christians. Every Sunday is like playing sermon roulette, wondering whether this be “That Sunday” when the pastor preaches against homosexuality.
“That Sunday” refers to the chosen Sunday when the pastor decides to preach a sermon about the sexual immorality within our society, especially homosexuality. The pastor’s message describes how homosexuality is incompatible with the Christian scripture and in order to be a true Christian, one must deny their sexual identity for their Christian identity
Within in his article, Homophobia, hypermasculinity and the US black church Dr. Elijah Ward a professor at St. Xavier University in Chicago explains within his article that “A palpable silence around homosexuality exists in many black churches”. I disagree that there is a “palpable silence” within the Black Church regarding homosexuality, but the conversation that surround homosexuality is, as the video shows, unhealthy and toxic.
There is nothing more horrific than listening to a toxic conversation, let alone being in a toxic environment. I can remember attending a worship service at a prominent Baptist church in Columbus, Ohio and the pastor condemned gay men and said he was going to kick them out of the church. I was shocked into silence as I watched the congregation clap and jump from their seats.
The minister continued, but I gathered up my belongings because I refused to sit and listen to this homophobic message. However, few black gays are willing to dismiss their church’s stance on homosexuality, a message laced with hate and bigotry. Prejudice is inexcusable and should not be tolerated, but why do so many black gay Christians allow themselves to be belittled?
I posed this question to one of the men at the church when the pastor was preaching about kicking gay men out and he stated
“It’s really not that bad. It’s really only one Sunday Manny and I love my church and I can tolerate that mad man going off on us kids one Sunday. It ain’t that serious for real”
I was not surprised by his response because of what the Black Church represents to so many Black Christians. The Black Church is undeniably one of the first institutions established by free Blacks. The Black Church has served as a cornerstone, it has spearheaded a lot of the social and political movements within the Black community and being a part of the Black Church in most Black communities is synonymous with success. The Black Church has continuously served as a place of comfort and belonging it is the place where many were baptized, met their friends, and where a majority of their family attends.
Within the Black community, the Black church is a family affair. The Black Church is where most of the family’s beliefs and values have been constructed. Therefore, to openly combat the church’s homophobic message would also mean to combat their known family ideology. This would cause immediate outrage from their family and church community and to go against the establishment would ultimately lead to exile.
For example, my friend who is a former youth minister is still rebuilding his life since he left his church. He decided to come out to his family, which led them to call the pastor and his pastor removed him from all of his duties at the church. The church’s stance on homosexuality is clear, that it was a sin and the desire was the result of an unclean spirit. Because of my friend’s courage to combat the stance of the church, he was ostracized from his church and painfully from his family.
Standing against the establishment of the Black Church is almost like standing alone, because there are few Black churches that are open and affirming to members of the GLBTQ community. The few that are open and affirming normally belong to mainstream White denominations because there is no mainstream Black denomination that affirms their gay brothers and lesbian sisters.
The Black Church continues to preach a homophobic message rooted in fundamentalism, the Black Church does not seek to change its message of bigotry and hate but rather control the homosexuals that are engaged within their church and exert a message of heterosexism. These Pastors who preach homophobic messages are not blind to the fact that gays are part of their churches membership. However, their prejudiced message is intended to make the remaining homosexuals submit to a theology of fear, trapping them in the closet. By doing so, the individuals would never relinquish their commitment to the church over their sexual identity.
They will remain choir directors, soloist, musicians, ushers, and ministers because this ill treatment toward their sexuality on “That Sunday” is not worth the risk of losing everything else. This is why the man from the church said,
“It’s really not that bad, it’s really only one Sunday Manny and I love my church and I can tolerate that mad man going off on us kids one Sunday, it ain’t that serious for real” Because despite the Black Church’s injustice toward homosexuals, it still remains a place of community and self-expression of spirituality.
I am not suggesting that Black Gay Christians turn their back on the Church. That is ridiculous, as grandma would say, “never bite the hand of the one who feeds you”. The Black Church is an important institution within our community, it remains an incubator for leadership within the Black community. Therefore, I believe that the Black Church needs to begin to have a healthy conversation around sexuality. This conversation is not just the responsibility of the gay men and lesbian women, but it is the responsibility of the entire village.
In closing, I understand that it is not easy to leave a place that feels like home but home should not be a place that abuses and mistreats you. Jesus’ message was centered on love and not exclusivity and hate. Therefore, even if you are not gay, you know someone who is, possibly your brother, sister, cousin, or best friend, what will you do the next time “That Sunday” arrives?
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