Is Faith Only For The Poor?
When you think of Black History Month your mind often turns to tradition.
We as a people have often been defined by our core traditions, be they spiritual, social or mental. One of our traditions is easily sleeping away. It appears that once an African American family acquires “middleclassdom” church involvement dwindles. Take a look at your own church community. You are more likely to see more single struggling mothers than any other group. It appears that the Black middle class is quietly fading away from Faith and church life. There is loss of adult membership, youth participation, trained clergy, theologically alert laity, or commitment from those who attend.
We have become so Americanized that we no longer associate ourselves with the distinct idea of being Christian in any form. We saw a little of this bubble up when President Obama picked his minister to lead his oath. Many people were alarmed at his pick. Even earlier, we saw discussion of his previous pastor.
The entire time I studied religion academically, I can count on my hands how many African Americans were in any of my theology classes. While I was attending college I became aware that many of my fellow black college students were for the most part compulsively antireligious. They do join choirs but not much of anything else. They thought the fact that I followed strict codes boring and at best nonsensical.
While the black denominations do enjoy a large membership, their churches for the most part are growing neither numerically nor theologically. Why? In truth they are middle-class churches. They generally do not reach the masses of working people and underprivileged families who comprise the vast majority of the black population.
It will not do to blame middle-class churches for the crisis, to scold them for having lost their roots and their evangelistic fervor, to say that they have become too fat — too institutional, professional and formal. The trouble with this diagnosis is that ever since Reconstruction black middle-class churches have neither intended nor pretended to be anything other than socialization centers, where charitable activities crowded out prophetic witness and community spirit (as the significant exceptions make perfectly clear).
The influx of blacks into the cities during World War II did not cause a great growth or sharp decline in the black middle-class church. That church is a fixture, the absolute vision of stability and respectability. What is different today is that it is no longer taken for granted as something to join. During the civil rights movement, becoming a church member was the preferred way to gain identification, social status and to forward political action. The civil rights movement opened up new avenues of opportunity for blacks. This definitely resulted in fewer blacks of middle age and even fewer under to 30 feel drawn to the black church as a place of belonging and comfort in the 1970’s. In the 1980’s society where black culture is free to flourish, the church has been edged out of the preferred status.
The black church is relatively immune to social change. This is precisely what makes it special, different from white churches. It is like a tree planted by the waters: it will not be moved. It is this factor that has been its strength, generation after generation, and can be its strong suit in the future. But presently it serves to foster indifference and often discord and hurt feelings among many.
Below is a discussion on “Lexi One on One” about those who may have lost Faith:
It has extended a feeling that when you have money you follow a certain set of rule in your Faith community. You will work for them but not with them. Your heart will bleed for them but not your head or your hands. You will be their advocate but not their friend. You will sponsor them in their cause, but their cause is not your cause anymore. . . because you are middle-class.
In a word, religion for blacks has been practical. Ho do we get past this? We can try the following:
(1) acquire the techniques and use its resources to build up in the homes of its members a sense of the value of knowledge;
(2) develop learning opportunities in the church;
(3) underwrite financially first-class departments of religion in black colleges (or at least in one such college).
The church can enrich its community action program, increase its social activities, make its worship more appealing; but if it does not foster learning in concrete ways, its decline is assured. There is no other way to be and do its truth.
{For more from Oretha Winston follow her on Twitter}
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Comments
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money aint evil, money is NUETRAL.
if you grimey-rich person is more dangerous than a grimey-poor person right????
its like the difference between your local goon robbin people in the hood VERSUS Bernie Madoff stealing millions of dollars
BUT on the other hand with more resources you can help more people
Solomon was ballin, so why I cant ball you feel me???
its the POVERTY-MENTALITY that got people effed up !!!
plus that idea of having to live in Hell NOW and get Heaven when you dead, thats evil to teach people that in my opinion. but to each his own !!
Perhaps faith is not FOR the poor, but being poor makes relying on faith more of a reality. Mo money, mo problems right?- even in the church. God already knew that though that’s why He made that parable about it being easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to pass through the gates of heaven.
As far as education, I believe the church is doing a disservice to its community if there’s no outreach and social activity. Besides the Word, whats drawing people to come…and stay?
SenorCafeDa2nd, “more education, less religion”…
FIRE!
@SenorCafeDa2nd I feel you on that. Notice that the richest people tend not to be very religious (Unless they make their money on religion) If you notice that black people tend to be some of the most religious people in the world, yet we also tend to be some of the poorest, least educated, have the highest rates of AIDS etc. Almost all of those issues can be fixed with education and focus. Notice how China and India go their focus and education together. Yes there are lots of people in those places that are poor. But as more and more people get educated, they pull the poor people up (Another thing Black folk need to learn!) pull the poor up just a little and you eliminate the a lot of the crime, drama and disorder that you find in American ghettos and poor African countries. Ummmmm, Jews, Italians, Irish etc all came through American ghettos, even Latin Americans, yet its mostly black Americans still left in them. Sad.
wow… I was out of church for a number of years and only recently returned to God, so I had no idea about Bishop Pearson changing his beliefs. This is news to me, so I’ll be praying for and with him.
Nevertheless, I don’t believe faith is only for the poor. I know it (poverty) can be a catalyst for faith. I know because I lived it. Relying heavily on God and praying for a better life and for blessings…. Then, once the blessings rolled in, reliance gives way to self-sufficiency. One (seemingly) doesn’t have to rely on the Lord as much as one did when they were poor. The fervent prayers stop, the promises they made to God get broken, and soon the importance of attaining and maintaining the “status quo” is all that matters. But that’s where education comes into play as well, experience being the best teacher. I agree with SenorCafeDa2nd that people need more education and less “religion”. The distinction is between “religion” and faith. We need more faith, less “religion”. When we couple a good education with that faith we can work wonders, because we won’t be standing still doing nothing.
The problem is that there is no secular equivalent where you can get a large number of black people together in one place on a regular basis to network, hang out, form a political agenda, provide positive role models for people who don’t have them, etc. If such a place existed that wasn’t trying to convert people to a certain religion, they would have a huge membership.
For example, I agree with the political and economic positions of the Nation of Islam, but I will never agree with their religious doctrine. There is a church in Cincinnati that is more active in the community than others, which I used to go to when I did go to church, because I agreed with their activism, but it’s still a church, and its main focus is Jesus.
Knowing that Christianity was given to us by the people who enslaved our ancestors makes it hard for me to be devoted in any way, because I always come away from church feeling like the people who go there are still enslaved. Muslims are no better because Islam didn’t start in Africa either. I would probably be more open to practicing a religion and being part of a faith community if I found one whose roots are in Africa.
As people become more educated, they become less poor.
As people become more educated, they rely on their education to carry them through the world rather than their faith.
I think poor people need more education and less religion.
lol
wow that dude pearson really does look like a pimp!!!