News and Announcements

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A few weeks ago, I was looking at a photo spread of President Obama.  One picture caught my eye:  President Obama and Reggie Love were coaching a basketball game at his daughter’s school (when the regular coach was away).  I realized that this president places an emphasis on the fact that he is a member of the First Family, not just the leader of the free world – but a father, a husband, a member of a family.  It’s great to see that we truly have a “family” in the White House – we see them taking vacations, getting ice cream, playing with their dog, shopping at Target.  No matter what is happening, they remain committed to each other and to the country – as a family.  We find leadership – not just on policy – but by example on family issues.  The first organization unit in the bible was the family – before kingdoms, estates, and empires, there was a family that came together and made a village to raise healthy children of God.

When Dr. King revealed to the world his vision of a “Beloved Community,” he really made it clear that he never intended that by creating a Beloved Community we leave the village behind.  When Dr. King was talking about loving one another, he was talking about “agape love” – the kind of love that covers us even when we leave the village behind. Agape love covers every person around us.  As African Americans, in part, our societal norms were formed in the village, by people who came together to attack the racial disparities as a village. It was never intended that we would leave the village behind.

But as we have moved in our development from being “Colored” “Negro” “Black” or some other characterization, we have lost our sense of “village” and we have become SELF-ABSORBED INDIVIDUALS.  We now live in a system of “Generation Me,” with people who have never lived under circumstances that required us to put others before self.  Promoting “self interest” has replaced any obligation to patriotism or social justice.  Some people grew up in neighborhoods where people looked just like them, where they never had opportunities denied because of how they looked.  There is even an expectation that material success is within easy reach, and gimmicks that encourage people to cut ties and “go for self.”

We live in a society that celebrates when people get ruthlessly independent. Despite all that is respectable, being a reality TV star is now an acceptable lifestyle.  “Let me be an apprentice and sell-out out my team.” It’s all about “what can I do for ME.” We don’t care about the community helping each other – it’s all about “Generation Me.” Even ads in the military which, at one point, focused on an example of “teamwork” have begun to advertise to new recruits “If you join today, you can be an ARMY OF ONE.”  Even the military is starting to sell you on the idea that “it’s all about YOU.”

Jesus summarized that we are to “Love the Lord with all our might, and to love our neighbors as ourselves.”  But what WE remember is what George Benson said and Whitney Houston popularized:  “The greatest love of all is learning how to love YOURSELF.”  This is what is causing people to leave the village.

I remember watching “Roots,” when Kunte Kinte encountered the slave traders who were trying to capitalize on his pride so they could lure him out of his village.  I remember watching and saying “No, no, don’t go out there!”   If you leave the village, you become vulnerable; you are isolated; they are going to take you away, make you obey, if you leave the village.

So why are we all caught up in leaving the village?  Why are we all caught up in “me, myself, and I” – going for self?  Where is the loyalty in professional sports? Athletes just hop around from team to team.  There is no loyalty around our jobs – employees are just commodities to be dismissed in order to satisfy “the bottom line.”  There is less concern about people because “it’s all about ME.”

Now days, people often find themselves getting frustrated and discouraged. They want things to happen “right now” – they use it as an excuse to walk away from the village – “You don’t like ‘my idea,’ ‘my proposal,’ ‘my direction for the ministry,’ I’m gone.”  At the noonday service this week, I spoke about how the enemy is prowling around, looking for people who have fallen prey to impatience, to greed, to selfishness.  But the bible makes it clear that we are part of the VILLAGE. We have to find a way to stay committed to the village.  We are stronger when we are together than when we are apart.  Outside the protective umbrella of the village, the world is much colder. Trayvon Martin was walking, and because of what he had on, walking outside of the protection of his village, Skittles in hand, it was perceived that he was a threat.  Journalists keep saying that we live in a “post-racial” society, but clearly, we do not.

In the scripture, the people are experiencing problems that made them want to leave the village. At first, they shared what they had; no one went without; they sold their property and gave it to the church. Everyone lived a good and plentiful life. This is a good scripture for us because we can see that even the very first church was having problems, was dealing with people grumbling about things like the distribution of food to widows.

In the early church, we see that, where there are PEOPLE, there are PROBLEMS.  So we should not be dismayed by the problems. If we think complaints, grumbling, not singing from the same sheet of music means we are outside the will of god – that’s FALSE.  PROBLEMS present us with OPPORTUNITIES to stop as a church and re-evaluate our ministry to see what we need to do. We can’t always be what we used to be; we can’t always do things the way we used to do them.

Even the mundane, routine, issues we deal with are opportunities for us to reach up to the Magnificent to evaluate our ministries, to look at – and to have faith in – each other. The 12 disciples said “If there is a problem, the problem must be US. Maybe things can be done better for the sake of the people; we don’t want to run the people out.  We came to the table, we are not perfect; there are no perfect churches; there are no perfect people. Let’s sit down to see what we can do to make the organization better.”

Where there are people, there are problems; where there is a SAVIOR, there is a SOLUTION.  Let’s bring everyone together.  The early church was dealing with two factions within the church, but they said “Let’s bring everyone together.  Let’s pick who can speak for you, and let’s see about solving the problems.  The tyranny of the “either/or” versus the blessing of the “if/and.”  We don’t want to thrust the outcome upon them. We believe all have a gift to be used for the betterment of the kingdom. But don’t let us come to the table with our gifts grumbling. Understand what we are here for.

At a prayer breakfast last week – Rev. Howard Wesley said church people only want to sing: “I will not be moved.”  But the ministry of the church lets our concerns be heard. Choose the people among you who are full of the spirit of God – not just people who do the work of the church; not just the people who do certain tasks around the church but who are not about the church’s mission.  Choose people to speak on your behalf who are full of the Holy Spirit.  In order for the church to work, everyone has to do their part, but everyone has to stay in their own lane.  We all have different gifts and abilities – that’s why we bring everyone into the fellowship. Where there is a VILLAGE, there is a VICTORY.  In verse 5 of the scripture, the proposal pleased the whole group. Everyone had an opportunity to contribute. The Church continued to be blessed; that’s what keeps people inside the village.

Some years back, when I was pursuing a masters degree at Virginia Union University, I was burnt out. I was an attorney working for the government, I was working to become on the board of examiners for AME church, I was taking 42 young people on mission to South Africa, and at the time I was engaged to be married.  I needed to finish my masters degree in order to be eligible for the board. But my brain was fried.  Get this: just because you are in the will of God doing the work of God doesn’t mean there are not going to be problems.  I almost lost it – I almost just walked away.  I was going to give up on it. I said to myself, I’ll just wait and get my degree in the Fall.  I stopped doing my work.  Then one of my professors came up to me – clearly, this was an HBCU professor, because other professors don’t do what he did.  He grew up in HBCUs; and he understands the village.  He explained that Virginia Union does not award degrees in December, so if I quit, I wouldn’t get my degree until April. Instead of judging me, he said “Let’s talk about how WE are going to work this thing out.”  He took a “me” issue and made it a “we” issue.  In the village, there is a solution; there is a victory. With his help, I finished my degree before the annual conference.

When we step outside the village, we lose the opportunities to receive the blessings.  We go into a “I can do bad by myself” place.  In reality, someone prayed for us; someone worked on our behalf so we could receive the blessings we have today.  In the village were Richard Allen, Denmark Veasey who started the Class Leaders system; Frederick Douglass, the prolific writer and abolitionist; Harriet Tubman; Vashti McKenzie who broke the glass ceiling in the AME pulpit to become the first woman AME bishop.  Dr. Martin Luther King Jr who Marched to Freedom to make a dream come true.  In the village is the first Black man in the White House; in the village is Trayvon Martin; we must go into the village to get kidney for Reverend Marie – whatever we need, we need the power of a village.  Hezekiah Walker sings this song that describes the village:

“I need you, you need me,

We’re all a part of God’s body;

Stand with me, agree with me,

We’re all a part of God’s body.

It is His will that every need be supplied,

You are important to me,

I need you to survive.”

Stay focused on the village, and bells of freedom will ring loudly.  We’re not perfect, but as long as there is a Savior, there we will find a SOLUTION.  None of us can make it on our own. The Savior came here to find solutions; he opened his voice in intercession for us.  He walks with us, he prays for us, he performs miracles for us.  We can’t forsake the things that happened before us.

Whatever we do, let’s make sure we are doing it in the company of the village because no matter where we go, it takes a village. If you don’t have the covering of a village, give the preacher your hand, but give God your heart.