Are Black Clergy Voting their Values?

By Dr. Eric M. Wallace

Why do Black conservative Clergy, who stand against abortion, and gay rights but for natural marriage and education, continue to support politicians and a political party that work against these issues? Is it a lack of knowledge or a lack of conviction?

In the Old Testament, the priests were responsible for the institution of the religious practices of Israel and instruction in the Torah. However, the priests were often criticized by the prophets when Israel or Judah began to fall away from the teaching of the Torah if they failed to keep festivals, offer the proper sacrifice, or, most importantly, were unable to live as people of the covenant.

When the prophet Hosea mentions in chapter 4:6 that “My people are destroyed for a lack of Knowledge,” the blame ultimately fell on the priests. Chapter 4 verse one states that "there is no faithfulness, or steadfast love and knowledge of God in the land." This is an indictment.
In verse two is the evidence. The prophet states that, "there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed." These actions violate the decalogue—the ten commandments, which explicitly forbids these acts. The people are in a state of apostasy. The result is in verse three, where all of creation, at least in Israel, is affected by their disobedience. The land, the inhabitance, the beast, the birds and the fish are all effected by Israel's lack of faithfulness to the covenant.

When we read verse 6, the prophet announces that “my people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge.” Our as the King James version says, “my people perish for a lack of knowledge.” We love to quote this verse to prove that church is not living up to its calling. However, we leave off the remainder of the verse. God through Hosea calls out the priests. The people lack knowledge “because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.” We leave this unpleasant judgment off. The indictment is not just of the people but of the lack of solid Torah teaching by the priests.

Hosea continues to talk about the increase in sin by the priests v.7, “feeding off the sin of my people.” And They are said to “be greedy for their iniquity” v8.

In verses 10-11, the priests have "forsaken the Lord to cherish whoredom, wine, and new wine.”

In verses 12 -13, the prophet accuses the priest of entertaining other religious practices into the worship of Yahweh, they inquire of a piece of wood (idols) v12 "their walking staffs give them oracles." In verse 13, they sacrifice on top of mountains--indicating the worship of Baal or Asherah, not Yahweh.

The indictment goes on and on, explaining the reason the people aren't worshiping the Lord. The same can be said today. The priest are the pastors who minister the sacraments and teach the word of the Lord. If pastors are not following and teaching the Word of God, how can we expect our congregations to do so? If we are supporting politicians and a party at cross purposes with God's word, how can we expect our communities to be at peace? The Pastors like Bishop Shines are leading the way to call Christians to be members more of the Kingdom of God than a political party. However, when progressives are so far afield from the biblical prescriptions, it's time to reassess whom we support.

Conservative Clergy of Color and Freedom's Journal Institute and other Black conservative organizations are calling the church, in general, and the African American church, in particular, to stand for what we say we believe and actively engage in the political process that represents us. But it is the clergy's job, just like the priests in the Old Testament, to inform the people of what the Lord says and how it relates to our practice—What we believe, how we act, and consequently how we vote our values.

The Last section of verse 14 is very poignant. After listing several sexual sins of their daughters, brides, and men, the prophet says, “and a people without understanding shall come to ruin." Repeating the statement at the beginning of verse 6. The ignorance of the Word of God is leading to their very destruction and the fault lies at the feet of the priests—in our day the pastors. We are Kingdoms in Konflict!

[Editor's note: this commentary is taken from my final thoughts of an interview with Bishop Aubrey Shines on Kingdoms in Konflict]

[Dr. Eric Wallace is an African American scholar and the cofounder of Freedom’s Journal Institute (FJI), an Illinois-based nonprofit organization addressing contemporary social, political, and religious issues on behalf of African Americans. FJI’s mission is to "advance the Kingdom of God through sociopolitical education and engagement rooted in a Biblical Worldview." FJI vigorously challenges liberal ideology with conservative principles, essential to promote and sustain thriving families. He is also the host of FJI's flagship television program "Kingdoms in Konflict: A Matter of Faith, Race, and Public Policy" found on the NRBtv Network and other media platforms.]