Let me preface my remarks by saying that as an Evangelical, I have strong views on my Faith and the importance of biblical truths; not only theologically, but as it impacts our daily lives by putting those words into practice. Let me also note that as an Evangelical I have enjoyed, on many occasions the opportunity to participate in the boisterous and passionate services that are the mainstay of many of my black brother's and sister's church services. The church of my childhood regularly participated in and hosted "Community Services" that included multiple Christian denominations and ethnicities. It was a wonderful time of gathering and Christian fellowship. While we have some minor theological differences we are all of one voice when it comes to what C.S. Lewis called that great corridor of Christian belief that is Salvation and Basic Biblical truths: the virgin birth, forgiveness of sins, the resurrection, etc. The individual must then make his choice as to which door he will enter in the corridor. The problem in the Church arises when the theologies behind the doors do not match the basic tenants of the corridor. Church goers are admittedly drawn to a church and theology that fits his ideas and character, sometimes to a fault when it is ‘what we want to hear’, but may be in conflict with those truths.

Within this framework I am deeply disturbed by the words and actions of Rev. Wright; so much so that it pains me to preface his name with the professional salutation of "Rev". But he is apparently a learned individual, who legitimately earned that title, and as such I will, for the moment, begrudge him that respect. When the first videos of Wright surfaced on cable news, my family, my church, and I were shocked and our hearts hurt, as we saw a 'man of the cloth' use profanity in the pulpit, promote conspiratorial political theories, promote division among the races, and distort the Word of God. Adding to this pain, we have heard numerous pundits say that this was typical of black churches and is reflective of "Black Liberation Theology". Really? Do most Black Pastors make fun of (as in his comments at NAACP) and use vulgar terms when talking about (as in speaking about Monica and Bill) white people? No. Not the black churches I know. Not my home town pastors, not Bishop Eddie Long, not T.D. Jakes, Clifton Davis, nor the many black pastors that I enjoy hearing on the Inspiration Channel, TBN, or and other Christian Television stations. When Neil Cavuto asked George Foreman what he would do if Wright were his pastor, Foreman said "I'd eat him!". So I'm not off-based on this. I don't know much about "Black Liberation Theology", but if Wright is it's preeminent defender and teacher, then this theology is wrought with theological illations that are in conflict with Biblical Christian Theology. Christianity sees God's Word of hope not bitterness, of Divine strength not victim-hood, of blessings not curses, and of love not hatred. These theological dichotomies cannot stand. Christ said that a house divided against itself cannot stand, so the Church must find a way to address this issue in the best tradition of Christ's love but yet with a steadfast grip on the truths of God's Word. 

In one of Wright's sermons he uttered that now infamous phrase "...not God bless America, God damn America....." and then goes on to say that it is "in the Bible". No, it's not in the Bible; at least not in this context. It's true that there are places in the Bible where God damns people for their actions. The Greek word Krisis means a separating, sundering, separation; while the Greek word Krima means a decree, judgment or judgments. References to these terms that would be associated with the term condemn which Wright says our word damn comes from, are all speaking about God damning people to eternal separation from Him. Nowhere does God allow even the priests to bring condemnation upon a person or peoples. I understand that Wright may have meant “God damn” versus the guttural expletive “G**d***”, none the less what Wright was doing was encouraging people to damn our country for its 'sins'. This is a classic case of taking one verse out of scripture and using for your own devices. Unfortunately Wright has used this technique as a mainstay of his demagoguery.

Wright has said that this controversy is " ..an attack on the black church launched by people who know nothing about the African-American religious tradition." Through his sermons and his attempt to divert the attack on his statement to the black church as a whole, he is fomenting racial division, not racial healing. In one of His last prayers, Christ prayed for the future Christians of this world that they "...may they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." Is Wright bringing unity? Is he living Christ’s new commandment to "love one another as I have loved you"? I don't feel the love. Look, Christ said that we will be judged in the same way that we judge others. So the way Wright is judging others is scary. To be sure we want our leaders to speak the prophetic (or ‘Biblical’ for lack of a better synonym) Word of God boldly to the nations.

But Wrights presentation is distasteful. Let me quickly relate an old ‘church joke’. A Baptist church (hey, insert your own denomination) was looking for a new pastor. They had two great candidates and asked both the men to give the congregation a sample sermon. The subject? Hell! Yep, and both pastors gave rousing, passionate sermons on the subject. But pastor #1 got the job. Pastor #2 said hey, I did a good job too, why did #1 get the job. Well, they said, you both presented proper theologies on the subject of hell, but while #1 told us that we were all going to hell, he also told us that there was a wonderful solution and we could avoid hell and get to heaven. You also told us we were going to hell, but made us feel like not only were we going to Hell, but we deserved it, and you were glade we were going. It feels like Wright is telling us that we’re all going to hell and we deserve it!

Wright has said of the controversial Nation of Islam leader: “Louis Farrakhan is not my enemy. He did not put me in chains. He did not put me in slavery. And he didn't make me this color. He is one of the most important voices in the 20th and the 21st century, that's what I think about him" and also “..Farrakhan is like EF Hutton, when he speaks, all of Black America listens." God, I pray not. His church also presented Farrakhan with an achievement award. My friends, this man (Farrakhan) is no friend of America and certainly no friend of the Church. We are not to hate, we are to love all with God's love, but for a Christian leader to so embrace someone who is the leader of a religion that is diametrically opposed to the Christian Faith is to deny the words of Christ when he said "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." What say you Rev. Wright? What say you Church? Do we believe Farrakhan teaches a different way to salvation? Christ was un-equivocal – NO!

Wright has said "Jesus said, 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.' You cannot do terrorism on other people and expect it never to come back on you. Those are biblical principles, not Jeremiah Wright bombastic device of principles." Commonly known as the Golden Rule, this comes from Matthew 7 verse 12 : "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." This is one of the most abused verses in the Bible, just as Matthew 7:1 (Do not judge or you too will be judged) has been. It has been used out of context to justify hatred, appeasement, and condemnation of others for years and it is a shame that a supposed theologian like Wright would do the same. The context of this verse (Matthew 7:7-12) is that Christ is talking about the righteousness of the Father and that compared to Him, we would seem evil; making the point that when we respond favorably to requests from those that we love, just imagine how much more He will respond in hearing our prayers. So then, we should respond to everyone with that same level of love, respect and righteousness. Matthew Henry says: "Christ came to teach us, not only what we are to know and believe, but what we are to do; what we are to do, not only toward God, but toward men; not only towards our fellow-disciples, those of our party and persuasion, but towards men in general, all with whom we have to do." Rev. Wright, do not use this verse in it's negative, to try and condemn a person's or a people's actions, there are plenty of other legitimate ways of doing that in scripture. You wouldn’t someone else to use this same verse against you, in the same way you have used it against others, would you? You know, do unto others…

Let me address the previous Wright quote on its premise, that America is somehow so bad that it deserves the Terrorism that has befallen us. Yes, we have had our share of bad behavior and bad decisions. But to have the audacity to say that America is somehow equal with the depravity of Islamo-fascists that have attacked us is to be willfully blind of the generous and selfless policies of the United States for generations. We do not have a policy of hatred and antipathy toward other nations. We have gone beyond rest of the world in our efforts to help other nations that have been devastated by natural disaster, disease, and civil war. We have given millions to Africa in hopes of turning the tide of the AIDS epidemic. When Pakistan suffered earthquakes, American cargo planes were the first to land. When the island nations of the Indian ocean suffered the worst tidal disaster in history, again- we were the first to lend help. We give more money to more nations than any other nation in the world. Even when war is necessary, from WWI to now, we do not leave any nation without significant re-building efforts. Right now our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan are re-building roads, schools, utilities and bringing material necessities to all the peoples of these two nations. Does Al-Queda do this? How about Hamas? Does Hamas go over into Israel and repair damage done to it by its rockets? Did Al-Queda offer help after 911? And America has never deliberately targeted unsuspecting civilians in a pre-emptive strike.

Yet our nation is built on a history of Judeo-Christian values. The evidence is inscribed all over the historic buildings of our nation's capital, and even in the congressional record. When the capital building was first completed in Washington DC, it was used for church services every Sunday. As a nation we always strive to do what is right, and good, and helpful. We don't always succeed. We have had failures to be sure; slavery, abortion, gay marriage, poor schools that foster ignorance and violence, and certainly we have made errors in war time. And we have fought a civil war to correct slavery. But our intention was always good, always to help our people stay free and safe, or rescue a people from tyranny and oppression. To ignore these things are to ignore reality.

My concern is that Rev. Wright is fomenting hatred and distrust. Even his former congregant, Barrack Obama, now says: "His comments were not only divisive and destructive, but I believe that they end up giving comfort to those who prey on hate, and I believe that they do not portray accurately the perspective of the black church." Senator, I pray that they do not. Perhaps I am wrong about this, but the Church seems to be suffering from a lack of real leadership on the national, even world wide stage. Were is the voice in the wilderness crying out "Prepare the way for the Lord"? Were is the Church, to stand up and say this is NOT what Christ has taught us. This is not the Biblical character of a church leader. 1 Corinthians 8:1 "Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up." and 1 Corinthians 13:1 "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal." Rev. Wright is not preaching in love, but division and hatred. Paul said in 1 Timothy 2:8 "I want men everywhere to lift up their holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing". Rev. Wright isn't even meeting the standards of a congregant, much less a leader in the Church. We must be very deliberate and steadfast, for this is the name of Christ that has been blasphemed (Romans 2:24- "God's name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you").

Let me be clear about something. Senator Obama was right in saying that it is time that we, as a nation begin to face the issue of race- fully and unflinchingly in facing the damage it has caused. But also MUST do this in the confidence of the Hope and Love that we have in Jesus Christ. I do not suppose to understand some of the things that my black friends have suffered. But everyone needs to embrace the Christian perspective that we don’t have to understand a situation in order to react compassionately. We also must see that we all suffer; black, white yellow, and blue. In my life have been told that I could not possibly have done something, or even been given the opportunity to do something because I didn't have the intellectual capacity to accomplish it. I have seen and heard of the exact same thing based on race (yes, it does happen). But I ask you, does it matter why we are discriminated against? We were defamed for who we were, one for his skin color , one for different aspects of his appearance/behavoir. It is always wrong, always prejudice, and it always hurts. Suffering, rejection, and prejudice is universal. But our response to it is not.

Christ not only died for the forgiveness of our sins, but he took upon himself those sins, along with pain, suffering - all of it,  throughout history - in a way that we cannot possibly, humanly understand. So when you are in pain, when you are suffering, do not miss the fact that Jesus Christ is right there and he knows EXACTLY how it feels because He experienced that very pain – not just something like it, but your very personal pain – Himself. So do not despair or become bitter in your pain. There is hope, there is reason for joy. This past Easter bishop Eddie Long was prescient and timely in his remarks just before the Sunrise Service: “I want this nation to stay upbeat, and start looking at... there is some good in this, and behind every problem there is a promise, and the promise is bigger than the problem.” Now, there is a message of hope, love and promise! And a number of pastors are beginning to stand up for the name sake of Christ. Juan Williams,  REV Ira Acree, REV Eugene Rivers and REV Levon Yuille have all appeared on Fox News to rebut the theologies of Rev. Wright; so there is the beginning of a backlash in the Christian body.

So I ask the Church- Is Wright our man of God? Is this man the kind of pastor that we as the Body of Christ can look at and say "Yes, he represents us and our faith?". So what about this my brothers and sisters- will the Church stand up with Jeremiah Wright, or will our leaders stand out and say with un-equivocation and courage that this man does not represent Christ, the Church or our beliefs? I pray for strong Christian leaders on the national and world stage that will begin to be the armor bearers of the Christian Faith in this new and ever changing world. I will leave you with the following exhortation from the greatest author of Christian faith in history –Paul, from Romans Chpt. 12:

9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. 20 On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head." 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.