From Preacher to Theologian

For the readers that do not know my religious backstory, I grew up under the teachings of the Churches of Christ in Pulaski, TN. I was baptized into Christ at the Taylor St. Church of Christ’s 1988 Summer Gospel Meeting. Bro. John Henry Clay preached the sermon on that pivotal Friday Night in June. I remember being met at the front of the church building by my father (Robert, Sr.) and Bro. James Albert Bell (our preacher). I remember Bro. Terry S. Gordon baptizing my 7yr old body. From that day forward (27 years), I dedicated myself to learning about the way the Churches of Christ operated. It became my life. I was focused on saving the souls of everyone that would listen. 

The “Church of Christ” way was the only way I knew for the first (34) years of my life. I was going to be a Gospel Preacher. I wanted to be like the preachers I had been around since I was a little boy. I didn’t know it at the time but things started to change in 2009 when I started interacting with preachers outside the Church of Christ and when I entered the world of online ministry through the N.U.V.I.S.I.O.N Ministries Facebook Page.  

God was preparing me for my current ministry while I was deeply entrenched in the ministry of my youth. It was around this time that I started seeing discrepancies from what I was learning from the pulpit, literature and curriculum versus what I was experiencing in real life ministry.  

Going to Seminary in 2014, was the best educational experience I could ever have. I entered my MDiv program with the intent of becoming a better preacher. I couldn’t fathom what was about to happen. I remember writing a paper in my Introduction to the New Testament Class. One of the resources I used for this paper was a Study Bible. I will never forget the words of my professor. He essentially told me that I was in school to become a scholar not just to be better church member. So, using a Study Bible in an MDiv class was unacceptable because I was learning how to study the Bible for myself. I share this story to let you know about the mindset shift that had to happen for me. I knew that when I received that degree, I was no longer just a preacher. I also share this not as a statement of arrogance but I do share it to let you know that even though I preach from time to time, I see the world through different lenses not just from a preaching standpoint. 

It really bothers me when I see preachers posturing and pretending to be theologians while denying our importance to the local congregation. I am of the thought process that the preacher and the theologian need each other. However, I have met many preachers who refuse to listen to the counsel of theologians who are ready, willing and able to help. I presented a paper on this during the 2019 Christian Scholars Conference that I plan to publish as an ebook. 

I have noticed several preachers over the years that preach a gospel of Christian Nationalism. This propaganda has been presented to church members through pulpits, literature (books, pamphlets & magazines), podcasts, classrooms (church & schools), media (radio, podcasts, blogs, websites, TV stations, and on-demand videos). I know because I have seen the preceding with my eyes. Any preacher who is immersed in this ideology or seeking to fit into certain cliques may or may not realize the dangerous road they are leading the people of God down. Homiletitians are specially trained in rhetoric. They are religious public speakers. It is a beautiful craft. But without the proper accountability, the craft of preaching can represent what the Apostle Paul stated about becoming a “sounding brass or tinkling cymbal”. A dishonest person can use rhetoric to enhance a their own or a group’s agenda to control people and make money off their oppressed state. 

I have been writing about Christian Nationalism for years. So, I know the signs. I wrote a Facebook post back in 2019 that did not get noticed by some until 2021. It offended some so much that people who normally didn’t converse with me thought I owed them an explanation. Others contacted leaders in the academy to attempt to question my teaching ability and to attempt to take money out of my pocket. The post was about the dangers of Christian Nationalism. I dealt with the threat to the power of the trinity of evil (the ideology of Whiteness, the American Empire and the American Church). That post ruffled a lot of feathers because some people do not want to talk about how the American Church has sided with the American Empire on several occasions throughout this country’s history. It has used the ideology of Whiteness to tell others the false narrative of who belongs and who does not belong in this country, in the church, and in their cliques.  

For years, preachers have fallen into this web of deception, fear mongering, oppression and control. These teachings are against the teachings of the Melanated Palestinian Rabbi from the ghettos of Nazareth. It really bothers me when I see the people I love in the Black Church of Christ being indoctrinated with harmful ideologies and oppressive theological practices because their leaders have aligned themselves with power structures that are funded by the ideology of Whiteness and the politics of the American Empire. 

I offer you the opportunity to learn for yourself and to challenge the rhetoric that is fed to you daily through social media and week to week through these pulpits. You have the opportunity to tap into the information that I am providing through videos, podcasts, and blog posts. I implore you to liberate your mind from a form of theology that has enslaved minds and bodies and that participates in anti-Blackness, the oppression of women, non-Americans, non-Christians and non heterosexual people.