|
Some unforeseen last
minute interruptions caused me to arrive late to church
services on Sunday. During the drive in to my church, I
passed by many high-profile churches and noticed that their
parking lots were not as full as they have been in the past.
Is black religious
attendance down because of the moral failings of its
leaders?
The high-profile arrests
and criminal charges of two local black pastors for alleged
sex crimes has been used by some to attempt to delegitimize
all black religious leadership. Sadly, however, the black
church (and comprehensive church for that matter) is not a
stranger to the bad judgments, evil or moral and ethical
lapses of its leaders.
For certain, millennials,
unlike their parents and grandparents, are abandoning the
“Old Ship of Zion” in droves. Many attribute this mass
exodus to the church’s devolution from “a resource to
address the relevant day-to-day social and economic
problems” to “a space for entertainment or escapism.”
Paradoxically, the
transformation of the church from an institution of
education and empowerment into centers of drama and
entertainment has kept some churches full with activity and
bustling with excitement.
The truth is that we too
often focus on issues of black leadership without also
simultaneously shining a spotlight on the problems of black
followership. Since leadership does not exist without
followers, my assertion is that you cannot talk about
leadership ethics without discussing the ethics and
responsibility of followers.
The ethics of church
followers:
I am all in for the
distinctive cultural praise and worship style of the black
church. It is essential.
Yet, our
sometimes-misplaced need for drama and entertainment can
become what scholar Jean Lipman-Blumen calls, an
“intoxicating component in the leader-follower connection.”
This need is sometimes
manifested when church followers are attracted by the charm
and magnetism of a charismatic “inviter-in-chief” to the
intoxicating aura of the “latest new religious happening.”
Or when followers flock to
various religious entertainment centers, having been seduced
by possibilities of elevated status, increased self-esteem
or high profile staff positions, power and even income that
has been elusive to them in previous more mundane
appointments.
Lipman-Blumen suggests
that “intoxicated” followers, including the religious, can
often find themselves in the clutches of entertaining
leaders with destructive behaviors and dysfunctional
personal qualities that “poison” the individuals, families,
communities and churches they lead.
The danger to intoxicated
followers, Lipman-Blumen writes, is of “waking up only to
find that you have been charmed then manipulated and left in
a worse condition than when you started.”
Be sober:
Our reverence for the
black church and its leaders should not cause us to sleep on
the problems inside the church. There are certain
requirements for followers in the black church.
-
BEWARE when leaders demand followers to do the entire heavy
lifting and require immense personal sacrifices to keep the
party going.
-
STOP rationalizing leaders’ toxic behaviors and start
listening to the voices inside that instinctively tell us
when something is not right. Often leaders don’t have to
keep us in line because we control ourselves by pretending
we didn’t see the toxic behavior coming.
-
DO YOUR HOMEWORK. Investigate the history of those you
follow. Did they leave a trail of toxic waste from place to
place in their previous leadership positions?
If we fail, it’s not
merely on the leader; the consequences also fall on the
followers, whose ethical responsibility requires them to
remain vigilant and sober.
Contact Rev. Donald Perryman, D.Min, at
drdlperryman@centerofhopebaptist.org
|
