Christian television has reached a new low. Recently, Pastor (Dr.) Jamal Bryant hosted Minister Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam (NOI), on The Word Network. In The Empowerment Encounter show's opening statement, Dr. Bryant stated:
"For the first time in Christian television, I am so honoured, so excited, to have the honourable Min. Louis Farrakhan right in Detroit, Michigan, coming to you! Why is this happening? I want to remind you for those of you who have a misplaced historical perspective, one week before Martin Luther King Jr. walked across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, Malcolm X went to go see him, and was intending to go march with him across the bridge. But, regrettably, before he could do so, he was assassinated. Today we are marching together, Christians and Muslims, understanding that God is getting ready to do something because we've got to change the tide of America."
That same week, I had a conversation with a young, black pastor with a young, black congregation. The concern he expressed to me was that the majority of his congregants consider themselves black before they are Christian.
A couple days later, Malcolm X starring Denzel Washington was on TV. I'd seen the movie once before, but in light of all of the recent police brutality taking place, #BlackLivesMatter, etc. Malcolm X had a very different, foreboding meaning to me. All of these factors coming together gave me serious concern for the direction of black Christians in America.
I've seen--and refused to publish--articles from angry black Christian writers, calling for action from the white church leaders whilst mocking the blacks who attend predominantly white churches. I've seen the ignorance of a young woman in a viral video calling for blacks to withhold their tithes if their pastors are not addressing [black] issues.
This is not of God.
In his unofficial sermon, Farrakhan preached:
[I]f we won't fight to protect our women, we're not worthy of her or of the children that she produces for us. Our role as men is maintainers of our women, providers for our women and children, protectors of our family. Elijah Muhammad said, 'The woman is the earth out of which you produce your crop.'
What farmer would put a seed in the ground, and not make a move to protect the crop that's coming. You kill the bugs, you kill the enemy that will eat your fruit or your tree or your crop. You kill the animal that will kill your herd. But you say, 'I forgive' for the killer of our women and children. I think we need serious reconstruction of our thought processes.
And I want to say to pastors you must man-up and stop preaching a doctrine that makes you a better slave! Stop it! And don't put your cowardice on Jesus Christ. You misunderstand Him totally." (Farrakhan)
On Christian television, Farrakhan promoted a false prophet and false Gospel, discredited the true Gospel, and made a thinly veiled call for black men to kill anyone they consider a threat to themselves or their families! And all this to the praise of Dr. Bryant and the audience!
Over the decades, Farrakhan has cleaned up and adjusted his language so it is more acceptable to Latino, female, and even the poor white audiences. Whites, mind you, who Farrakhan and his predecessor, Elijah Muhammad, once proclaimed as "devils."
It is absolutely the job of the Church of the Living God to stand up and oppose injustice. Dr. King said, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." The Prophet Isaiah proclaimed, "Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, To undo the heavy burdens, To let the oppressed go free, And that you break every yoke?" (Isa. 58:6). The spiritually violent do indeed advance the Kingdom of God on earth by force (Matt. 11:12). Black Christians--and all those opposed to injustice--have a right to be upset. But it is not spiritual maturity to leave a church or the Church simply because the pastor isn't preaching what you think they should.
In his brand new book Good or God? John Bevere addresses how God showed him that it is generally the good side of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil that draws us; not the bad side. In the same way, my fear is that many a black Christians, especially black men, will be drawn to the NOI because of the dignity and pride in blackness it offers, whilst overlooking the poison of hatred and murder that inevitably comes with all branches of Islam, traditional or otherwise.
God does not call us to be black or white; He does not call us to be rich or poor; He does not call us to be male or female; neither does He call us to be Republican, Democrat, or Independent. God calls us to be sons and citizens of the Kingdom of God (Col. 3:28, Gal. 3:11, Matt. 6:33).
The Apostle Paul warned us of the spiritual seductions of the Last Days. "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables" (II Tim. 4:3-4).
We must all be on our guard against the many "fables" seeking to infiltrate and draw us away from the true Church. We must hold fast to the truth and not be swayed by feelings and circumstances. Our earthly circumstances are temporal; God's Word is eternal.
For more on the Nation of Islam and the testimony of Pastor A.R. Bernard who is a former member of the NOI, see Cults, New Religious Movements, and Your Family by Richard Abanes.
Desiree M. Mondesir is an author, blogpreneur and freelancer who is called to challenge the toxic mindsets of individuals. She's the author ofThe Origin of Demons, Deborah: The Ultimate Jezebel-Preventative, and Faith and the Imagination Vol. II. Feel free to visit her website, Facebook, and Twitter @DesireeMondesir.
