The goal of this book is to raise the consciousness of the state of being of the institutional church, and the importance of mobilizing the Christian church as a family preparation center for daily Christian living. For the African-American church, this means that the social and spiritual welfare of the congregation must be open for change. Serious attention needs to be given to providing adequate teaching and training on survival skills as well as spiritual empowerment. It is my desire that this book will aid all churches on how to have a dynamic, productive ministry beyond morning worship. The research in this book is not a model for African-American churches only, nor is it the norm for all churches in general. The book is in no way a thesis on all the problems and answers that the church must address in the 21st century, but it does offer some thought provoking ideas and some realities that we as a Christian community must confront and address.
The Importance of Mobilizing the Christian Church as a Family Preparation Center for Daily Christian Living
By Kenneth J. TateAuthorHouse
Copyright © 2009 Rev. Dr. Kenneth J. Tate
All right reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4490-0563-4Contents
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS................................................................................................................................viiABSTRACT.......................................................................................................................................ixI. INTRODUCTIONI.............................................................................................................................1II. THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN FAMILY HISTORY.......................................................................................................11III. TEACHING CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES TO COUPLES CONCERNING FAMILY LIFE...........................................................................45IV. TEACHING CHRISTIAN RESPONSIBILITIES TO FAMILIES AND HOW TO DEVELOP LONG RANGE GOALS FOR THEIR CHILDREN AND THEMSELVES.....................89V. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS............................................................................................................109APPENDIX A.....................................................................................................................................113APPENDIX B.....................................................................................................................................115APPENDIX C.....................................................................................................................................124SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY..........................................................................................................................131
Chapter One
INTRODUCTION
I want to say from the beginning that there is no such thing as a White church, nor a Black church in the teaching of Scripture. However, there are cultural differences, social behaviors, and historical conditioning of the mind that has caused chaos among races, religions, and churches.
I was born in Washington, DC on May 12, 1958. We moved to Jefferson, South Carolina to live with my grandparents when I was two years old. My father was a common laborer with only a fifth grade education and my mother, who had completed high school decided to divorce my father when I was only six years old and moved back to Washington, DC. My grandmother was left with the task of raising two young children and having to nurture a broken hearted son who's wife had divorced him after four years of marriage. I have often asked myself the question, how could my mother just walk away from our family like that? Why did God allow this to happen? However, I have learned to forgive and appreciate having a mother even if she was not a part of my childhood.
We lived in a run-down country house about sixty miles from the nearest major city. My father was self-employed and my grandfather was a country preacher. My grandmother was the musician in the several local churches that my grandfather pastored. My younger brother died suddenly at the age of five from asthma and respiratory infection. His death made a lasting impression on me for many years. I could not understand why God allowed my brother to die at such a young age. I will never forget that day, I was at school when I learned that my brother had died. Mr. Tim McDarous, my homeroom teacher came to my second period class to take me home. He told me to get my books and any other stuff that I had and come with him. The very moment I looked into Mr. McDarous' eyes I could see that something serious had happened. The Lord begins His work in different ways with different people. I have no doubt that on that morning, He began a work of grace in me. Even though, I scarcely had any knowledge of who God truly was, that day was the turning point in my life.
I finished high school at the age of seventeen, and joined the U.S. Army. I had resolved to change my lifestyle and to become the best soldier in the entire army, but the moment I entered my first two-day leave after boot-camp all my resolutions disappeared. I resumed my loose living even though I did not enjoy it, deep in my heart I longed to renounce this wretched life of partying, drinking, and chasing girls. I had sense enough to see that one day it would ruin me completely, but I felt no real remorse and cared nothing about what I was doing to myself. Working out, playing baseball, and indulging in sinful practices were my favorite pastimes. Despite my sinful lifestyle and cold heart, God had mercy on me. I seldom went to church after I left home. In short, I didn't have the foggiest idea of what it meant to be a Christian, to be born-again, to really be saved, to know what God was like. After getting out of the army, I finally obtained the desire of my heart. I had married a young girl by the name of Teresa Hough, whom I've loved from the first day I laid my eyes on her. During the course of our engagement, I made a promise to God that I would become a better person, thinking that somehow by getting married this would reform me. But after three years, I forgot about every promise I had made to God and I was as bad as before. I thank God that He made good on His promises. He promised to never leave me alone. He promised to be faithful even when I'm not faithful. He promised to be a friend that will stick closer than a brother. He promised to be the way, truth, and the life, God keeps His promises! One Friday night in an old country church some fifteen years ago God made good on His promises. God saved my soul and changed my life. Jesus Christ made a difference in my life. Christ not only saved me, He changed me, and then He called me to share with the world what great things He has done. It was only after the Lord saved me that I began to see and understand the potential and the challenge facing the African-American church.
Dr. J Deotis Roberts says in the summary of his book Roots of a Black Future:
"We have studied the history and sociology of the black family and have allowed our doctrine of the church in the black tradition to emerge out of context. The extended family has been employed as a way of imaging black church. Since our goal has been to make these two primary black institutions mutually supportive, it has been proper to use the family image in reference to a black ecclesiology. Since black families are the source of the black church's life and growth, the measure of its ministry to black families will determine the quality of its own mission."
These words act as a focal point for the aim and direction of this book. Roberts says, "Since black families are the source of the black church's life and growth, the measure of its ministry to black families will determine the quality of its own mission." In these pages, we will attempt to establish what the African-American family has endured, its history, the prevailing mind-set of many black people, and the course of action the church must take cooperatively if the problems facing black America will ever be dissolved.
As one who has pastored for over twenty years, I have watched families struggle with an assortment of devastating and debilitating problems. I have witnessed elderly persons lose all sense of independence because of illness, abandonment, and loneliness. I have witnessed the cries of black children in a racial world. I have experienced in my own personal life the pain, distress, racial prejudice, and the suffering of just having dark skin, the struggle is real! The pain is unavoidable and unmistakable.
This book, of course, is not exhaustive, for who alone can plumb the depths of the eternal Word of God and the cares of the whole world in a single book? But it is hoped that this book is far-reaching enough to move you, and challenge all of us to continue to look for new opportunities that will bring togetherness back to the black race. Therefore, the task before us then is to first discover those principles that God has established for the Christian church. Principles such as, unity, the fruits of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, and faith in God. From that point, we can seek biblical renewal for the African-American family, and encourage personal growth in Jesus Christ. The body of Christ is to build herself up in love so that the unity produced will serve as an example to others, and a bridge to reach this world for the Kingdom.
Under the creative leadership of the Holy Spirit, and using all of the human resources available, we need to develop dynamic millennium churches that are creating contemporary ministries. We must develop strategies that address the problems of urban crime, black on black killing, unemployment, and low or no self-esteem among black people. We must try to understand the cultural effects on lifestyles, personal preferences, and traditions as we seek to revive the black family. We must learn to differentiate between what is a violation of biblical principles, and what is a violation of cultural norms we have come to accept as absolute. The Evangelical movement has neither limitation nor boundaries concerning race or ethnicity, but the reality and the practice of Sunday morning worship is a strong indicator of the division and self-allowance we embrace as Christians. What we have practiced as a Christian community has given the enemy all the tools necessary in order to keep the church from focusing on ways to do ministry. Skin color is not optional, nor is it by choice. We had nothing to do with the race we were born into, but we have everything to do with our attitudes concerning skin color. There is work to be done and the church should be proactive when it comes to the theological teaching of the Bible. One Lord, One Faith, and One Baptism. We are joined together not by skin color, but by the blood of Jesus Christ. In Him we move, in Him we live, and in Him we have our being!
In order to have a better understanding of the dilemma facing African-American churches, lets consider the African-American family history as a point of reference. Most scholars agree that the family unit is the foundation for every social change in life. The family unit make up the church, and the church is an extension of the family enterprise. This is not a play on words, but an example of how the church and families are interdependent. You really can't have one without the other. What affects the family affects the church. Yet, we cannot forget our spiritual blessings. Spiritual blessings are eternal and provide everlasting joy, which sustains us during the most difficult times.
Chapter Two
THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN FAMILY HISTORY
The need for identity and self-esteem in the African-American family
How can the African-American community overcome cultural suffering and diversity without becoming bitter? How can we reflect on our history without becoming militant? Dr. Charles R. Swindle, president of Dallas Theological Seminary says in his book entitled Hope Again:
"We don't look alike." "We don't act alike." "We don't dress alike." We have different tastes in the food we eat, the books we read, the cars we drive, and the music we enjoy. You like opera; I like country. We have dissimilar backgrounds, goals, and motivations. We work at different jobs, and we enjoy different hobbies. You like rock climbing; I like bikes. We ascribe to a variety of philosophies and differ over politics. We have our own unique convictions on child-rearing and education. Our weights vary. Our heights vary. So does the color of our skin. But there is one thing we all have in common, we all know what it means to hurt. Suffering is a universal language."
Joseph Parker, a great preacher of some years ago, once said to a group of aspiring young ministers that if we preach to the suffering, preachers will never lack a congregation. There is a broken heart in every pew. If that is true, and I believe that it is, then what can we do to help heal our pass? The black church has so influenced the black family that it is a home for the homeless, and a place of acceptance for those whom the world has rejected. People of all races hurt and suffer, but it seems that black people have had a great deal more. Whatever the relative strengths or weaknesses of the African-America family structure, it must be remembered that black people were forced to face the holocaust of slavery. Slavery systematically attempted to destroy the black family. Throughout the gloomy experience of slavery, families were yanked from the motherland and brought as strangers to America. C. Eric Lincoln, poetically stated, "Slavery was a man getting up for a breath of fresh air and winding up on a boat destined for a new world." Robert C. Williamson, had this to say:
"Once Africans arrived in the New World, every attempt was made to strip them of name, dignity, and culture. Black males were encouraged to be irresponsible breeders who served nothing more than two functions, mating and manual labor. Black females were accosted by masters who forced them to have sex and bear unwanted children make this problem for black women even worse, laws were changed so that the inheritance for all these mulatto children would be traced through the woman's lineage, cutting these children off from access to the master's capital. In the words of Robert C. Williamson, "It is difficult to overestimate the dismal effects of slavery on family life." He further states, "Because of the slave owner's encouragement of high birth rate as a means of increasing wealth, little consideration was given to the family." Occasionally, the offspring of mixed liaisons were given freedom. It is estimated that the few hundreds of free Negroes in 1860 were mulattos." It can never be stressed enough that the huge mulatto population in America is the result of the rape of black women by white masters."
When personal identity and self-esteem is achieved in the black family, the gap of shame, mistreatment, and personal humiliation will be closed. After Emancipation, the situation for the black family did not improve. The ineffectiveness of the Freedman's Bureau according to Wallace C. Smith, The Church in the Life of the Black Family ... insured that the problems begun during slavery would never adequately be dealt with. Economics only worsened the problem. For black males who were trained only in farming and making babies as they found themselves without jobs and the skills necessary to make a honest living. What little work was available was demeaning and menial labor reserved only for maids and house Negroes.
During this period, the desertion rate for black males escalated. The search for personal identity and self-esteem has been the black man's quest for many years. Not knowing how to be a father, provider, and head of household aided to the identity crises that we are facing. Unfortunately, the Bible was also taught by unethical slave masters as the authoritative source for obedience to one's master and acceptance of one's curse, which was marked by one's blackness. For the church to model the freeing power of Jesus Christ, it is necessary to indoctrinate the African-American family with the Scripture. The Bible must be allowed to speak for itself and exegesis such as that which produces the ludicrous interpretations of Ham's curse must be vehemently denied and replaced by a hermeneutic which lets God speak.
The concept of self-image is addressed clearly and authoritatively in (Genesis 1:26-27) by humanity connection to the image of God. In that passage the generic and individual uniqueness of humankind is communicated clearly and precisely. The image is both physical and spiritual expressed collectively. This paradox is simply that we find ourselves a part of the very creation over which we are instructed to have dominion. African-American families can find in the concept of Imago Dei the purest and most ancient Judeo-Christian notion of self-image, a positive image. The potential of this relationship is that in spite of the deprivations of racism, God's image within people of all races has never been tarnished. It speaks of that which was created by God, not white man or red man, nor black man, but just man. This concept is critical, because humankind made in the image of God is made male and female.
There is no black, or white supremacy in God's creation. There are several interpretations of (Genesis 1:26-27} that have been taught during various periods in history. The phrase let us was often thought to refer to God in deliberation with others. Some early Trinitarians believed that God had to seek the advice of others when He decided to make man. Therefore, the concepts of image and likeness were often viewed as reference to body and spirit. Adham was viewed to be a proper name rather than the image of God's creation.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from The Importance of Mobilizing the Christian Church as a Family Preparation Center for Daily Christian Livingby Kenneth J. Tate Copyright © 2009 by Rev. Dr. Kenneth J. Tate. Excerpted by permission.
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