The Pastor's Love Offering
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Eddie Long
I bet you thought I was going to let this pass didn’t you…
Last week Eddie Long pumped the brakes on his sex scandal
that rocked the Black Church and sparked discussion, criticism, ridicule and
just about every other emotion you can get when a man of the cloth is accused
of such things. He’s maintained his innocence since the story broke, famously
proclaimed to be David in this battle against the Goliath and kept preaching
to the choir, it was business as usual at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church.
Well, not quite…
It seems like the membership has slipped a little, the
offering has been coming up short, staff was let go and they were a little
short on a bill or two. But he kept pushing on like the great men of the Bible
and even planned to expand his ministry to a satellite church in Birmingham.
This was all previous to the settlement reached two weeks ago with the young
men that accused the Bishop of sexual misconduct. In the ensuing weeks, he’s
lost an associate pastor, more members and the criticism has ramped up again in
the media and in the community.
What happened to vigorously defending yourself? What happened
to the determination of David? David had a slingshot, not millions to resign
on, like $15 of them to make something go away. I’ve read where folks have said
that the settlement wasn’t an admission of guilt, but more of a cost to get
past this scandal. I don’t know about you, but if Truth is on my side, I want
my day in court so it can be heard. But in the words of that great Ghetto
philosopher Slim Charles, “If it’s a lie, we fight on that lie,” and the fight
in this case ended with $15 million that seems to be keeping everyone involved
quiet.
Everyone involved…not Creflo Dollar.
Dollar, another high-powered preacher has “ordered” all of
Long’s fleeing flock to return to his church and to stand by the embattled
pastor, saying something about a “wreck” and being judgmental and some other
stuff. What? Nigga please! I would’ve been up and out of that church the day I
heard a rumor about the preacher and some boys. The problem isn’t the
homosexuality, it’s the hypocrisy and the infidelity, his wife is rumored to
have stepped off too. Will Creflo command her return too?
I don’t know about you, but I tend to hold pastors,
preachers, reverends, ministers to a certain standard. I know they are simply
man and woman, but I trust in their commitment to faith and their ability to
lead me in the Word. As a member of the church, I expect more of the pastor
than I do a deacon, a teacher, a politician or a janitor, because he has
pledged to teach the Word of God and be not worldly in his ways. Maybe I’m
asking too much, maybe the departing members of New Birth expected too much, or
maybe Creflo Dollar’s requirements for virtue and piety have been skewed by his
gospel of prosperity?
Yeah, I went there!
It’s one thing to know that your hard earned money is
fueling the jet or paying the note on that Bentley, but now you’re paying his
hush money? I think that’s where people drew the line, they wanted to stand by
him and prayed the allegations were false, but when word of the settlement hit,
that means there’s an element of truth in somebody’s lies and that’s a little
too much for most people to continue
to support. That is, until the tearful confession of some indiscretion, the plea for forgiveness and the prayer for help through
his tough time. It’s gonna come, we’ve seen this movie before; defiant in the
face of accusation, unbowed by criticism, but sobbing under the light of the
truth.
Somewhere in all of this the lives of four young men have
been potentially irreparably damaged and there’s a woman living with the pain
of learning that her husband may have been unfaithful by using his position and
the Word of God. I’m sorry Mr. Dollar, but that’s enough for me, him, her, him
and her with the big hat to step off.
If not...let this be the reason!
If not...let this be the reason!
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