Extremism lacks imagination …

Those of you who know me, know that I always feel as if I am one of the smartest people in any room that I may find myself in … except for when my lil’ sister is in the room, yes my biological sister.

Shante is like 32 I think (if you have more than one kid you’re lucky if you even call the right one the right name at the right time, so you know ages go out the window - I can barely remember mine sometimes). Anyway, she is ADB at NYU and just has a whole host of accolades attached to her name, so it seems while I played Techmo Superbowl in my room on my Nintendo all through high school she was apparently in her room doing homework or something.

And that was way before Madden, that is my adult obsession but Techmo Superbowl was the don dada, that was the first football game that your guys could jump to catch the pass in, had a halftime show, flipped the field at halftime, and a nice little celebration after you won the super bowl … Oh, and most importantly it was the first football game to start keeping stats unheard of in the late 80’s. My team was Houston; back when they had Warren Moon and I used to cheese that fly pattern with Earnest Givens as the “Y” receiver… no one wanted it!

So the other day she responds to the family paradox post and raises all these wonderful questions and uncovers all these wonderful insights, which in turn inspired me to write again on the topic spring boarding off of some of her observations.

Oh, and Google her when you get some time (‘Shante Smalls’ or visit http://www.shanteparadigm.com), she is one of the most talented, intelligent, generous, and well respected people I know and I am so glad that I get the honor of being her big brother …

Shante is a practicing Buddhist, who was raised within the same family environment - that in itself is perceived as a paradox because the Christian tradition believes in homogeneous regeneration. Meaning that if one is raised in a Christian home one should turn into a Christian, I believe this is loosely based on “raise a child in the way he should go and when he is older he will never depart”. I know from my personal home experience that people who believe in the supernatural (atonement, transformation, etc.) can also suffer from a lack of supernatural imagination. “Raising a child in the way…” seems to suffer from an extremely narrow interpretation. Some might say that I suffer from a heretical imagination but we won’t digress there at this time.

How is it that most Christians have better relationships with friends of their choosing than they do with their own family members? We could offer the weak excuses, which usually place the blame at the feet of the “unsaved loved one” or we could question our practices, which have subtly taught us exclusion over the years. Reaching quickly for our “unequally yoked” line of reasoning, or my favorite “when I’m there they all know to watch their language - yada, yada, yada” and in the end that seems more like a barometer on our own spirituality than an true demarcation of whatever positive impact we may or may not have left.

This much I do know. I am the culmination of all my experiences at 36 years of age and that includes all the Evangelism pitfalls I am always railing against, the old school Pentecostalism that boarders on mysticism at times, and the whole Ecumenical exposure throughout my high school years that has truly shaped most of my spirituality. When I tally it all up at the end and watch the witness of my sister’s life I’m hard pressed to believe that this Gospel message is really reduced down to who is wearing what color jersey … not when God’s word tells me that He seems to be concerned with the condition of a person’s heart. Besides, by Christian standards I’m on the outside looking in as well … so who am I to defend the prosecution?

Black Imagination – what’s a nigga to do? Part 3

An interesting imagery submitted into discussion, suggested the word had grown to Pandora like proportions rendering us incapable of ever claiming any ability to reframe or reform the word or its usage. How can a people group compete against a musical genre culture, which purports that it is the voice of that people’s group youth culture? Plainly stated, Urban Black America created Hip-Hop culture to redefine our savage, concrete reality while celebrating the elements of hope oxy-moronically thriving within that bleak existence. Thirty years later it has become the largest revenue grossing music genre in the world as well as the pied piper of African American misconception while simultaneously enticing and seducing an entire generation to eagerly seek the destructive inheritance set aside for those who aspire to become “niggers”.

One of the older brothers stated he believes the word has become so “watered down” that it doesn’t even hold the same significance toward African Americans anymore but instead points more in the direction of a demonic mindset being projected into and onto the lives of this generation of young people. It is almost impossible for me not to interpret his views through the lens of geography; he has lived in New York City for the majority of his life and is a product of the Black Power and Civil Rights Movements. Though I know he empathizes with the views of our Southern brothers, I think it is unconscionable for him to infer that the word “nigger” has lost its ability to puncture the soul of any African American, particularly those who’ve suffered the indignity of repeatedly being called this word to their face, beginning with the vulnerable and formative years of their youth. With all of that being understood, I do believe this brother has uncovered an extremely interesting point.

How are we to view this newest evolutionary twist from the word and its most recent carriers; it now travels through the lips of Chinese, Mexican, Indian, and German youth-just to name a few-as they communicate with one another using the word in terms of inclusion and affection while equally interchangeable with anger and inanimate identifications. Basically they have learned to use the word in the same manner we as African Americans do because we have taught them extremely well. Their tutelage has followed the same trajectory as that of our Puerto Rican brethren whom we share neighborhoods, buildings, and schools with as well as the creation of one of our greatest accomplishment, Hip-Hop Culture.

The one question, which left the majority of my interviewees with some sort of bewilderment, was when I asked them if they could explain why we were the only people group to use a term of destruction as a term of endearment towards one another …

a voice from the under

The subject of finances and spiritual wellness are prevailing conversations within the African American and Latino Church community simply because most of the congregants are economically challenged in some way. Narrowing our ways of seeing God and reducing His capacity to mostly fiduciary, we desperately need to believe in a God that will supply our every financial need because our financial needs are so overwhelming.

Those within the same faith community who do not suffer from the ravages of under employment and under education seem to attribute their success to God’s favor and blessing over their lives. While it is extremely difficult to argue this thought process, it is juxtaposed to the reality of those without the same benefits but seemingly serving the same God. Therefore to equate God’s blessing with financial wellness is affirming to some and debilitating to others, if for no other reason but that it presents a hazardous question while offering no solid answers.

It is these issues as they relate to financial wellness, which present one of the largest inhibitors to our ability to hear or see the Gospel message with clarity and power. Neither position - those asking for money or those who are asked to provide it - are able to be in agreement, while most of those on the margins of life continue to suffer.

Ironically enough, as we continued to discuss the church’s inability to listen to the voices of the marginalized some within the discussion felt as if they were being pushed off to the margins. It became clear to me that all one needs in order to qualify as a marginalized individual is to simply feel that way. This became the case, as some felt extremely uncomfortable with the direction of the dialogue, seeing it more as an attempt to tear down and indict the Church instead of an objective conversation concerning the perceived blind spots of the Church.

In response to this feeling, those of the marginalized viewpoint began to become vigilant protectors of all things church, conceding nothing - even against certain personal convictions. As this took place the ability to listen to each other began to be replaced with the desire to convert one another, and true to our human blueprint we eventually began retreating from those believed to be in the camp of the opposite point of view.

It was amazing to me as I observed our inability to sit and honor the pain we were witnessing within each other. We were a group that gathered together on some level of commonality, we all at least believed in a theology from below but as we attempted the ministry of coming together our ability to listen to one another began to disintegrate under the weight of our own world-views.

When reflecting on what I saw as I watched Tim during the week I noticed that I had little to no ability to sit in the presence of his pain, no ability to enter into his pain because his pain opened way too many of my own issues. It knocked up against too many of my own “do not enter” areas, so I left him … standing there … alone. Even though he asked me to stand there with him. This is in no way an over dramatic account of the information but more an observation on how I couldn’t do what I feel I am in some ways really called to do.

Look at and understand the pain of others.

I seem to think that I’m able to observe and on some levels understand the utter dysfunctional nature of the Cross - the exceedingly grotesque nature of it all - but as I watched Tim I realized I couldn’t even listen to him. Forget about mustering enough courage to look at him and I get the feeling that most others couldn’t either … not without passing judgment in some manner. When he reached out, I turned my back, and if I could do that with him (a man I have an intense admiration for), I know that I’ve done it with those I work with and believe that I work for.

caste, creaming, and others - pt.1

Structurally speaking, the focus of church youth programming or ministry can become extremely compromised whenever the offspring of the most prominent church attendees are involved.

This is hardly an outrageous phenomenon within the context of adult interaction and youth development as often proven by overzealous parents and your local youth sports league. Growing up playing sports was a wonderful experience that equipped me with all the proper axioms, which now consistently attempt to govern the terms of my everyday life. The coach’s kid was always the star quarterback, pitcher, or point guard; unconsciously living as the vicarious vehicle of lost dreams.

Systematically, church based youth development operates under the same principles - straining to provide an equitable environment for various family representatives while subtly mandated to leapfrog the youth with a “specialized family calling”. Church-based programs seem almost bound by the rules of spiritual succession though it is never spoken but almost certainly implied. I don’t think I have ever met a young person whose family was prominent in church-based ministry that had not heard they were also “called” to follow in those footsteps simply due to the nature of their genetic composition. What I believe develops over time is an absolute genuflection of services and opportunities in the direction of that family member and a freeze out of sorts for those not fortunate enough to bear the family crescent.

I am increasingly disheartened by this system of hierarchical creaming, which attempts to influence outcomes by simply herding young people into predestined slots. Plainly stated, kids whose parents have little or no power always seem to get the proverbial short end of the stick, while those in power continually convince themselves that simply providing the best situation for their own teen will somehow create a spiritual Reaganomics type trickle-down theory.

Confronting issues of entitlement, which are so entrenched within the fabric of church culture, leaves one with little ability to protect the infrastructure of the youth ministry/program from the impending stress fractures. Being an eyewitness to these types of interactions have moved me to believe in, and call for complete reformation in our youth ministry methodology. I fear we have become nothing more than an elaborately adorned Christian version of the Caste system. Seemingly less interested in the possibilities that could reside within a communal vision of redemption for our family systems because of our single-minded focus on the establishment of our own family legacies and transferable titles of nobility.

Before discussing some options that might be considered when trying to reform the current system there is an additional portion I would like to explore. This portion deals with the American Christian family’s inability to embrace, enter into, and develop an understanding concerning human pain and suffering. To completely blame the American family is extremely irresponsible because our present church structure is ill equipped to even attempt a basic conceptualization.

Our ecclesiasticism (or principles of thought) is one that seems to promote a “glory to glory” type of Christian experience leaving those with hardships to wonder if they are lacking in faith, knee deep in sin, or simply cursed. Why does the American church gloss over human pain and suffering as if it were an outdated Old Testament ritual? Where did we acquire the viewpoint that any hardship we encounter must originate out of the sin of the person who is suffering without ever considering issues of systemic corruption? Have we become like the witnesses found in Job’s story that only sought to assign blame as a result of a particular person’s sin?