Moral Issues And The Black Church: An Interview With Bishop Harry Jackson
I think also the issue of poverty and lifting people out of cyclical patterns of poverty is critical. But studies are showing that fatherlessness and poverty are tied together. So it still comes back to the family, doesn’t it?
Preaching: That is the foundational issue that spreads into these other moral issues.
Jackson: That’s exactly right. So unless we deal with it and take it beyond teaching to discipleship . . .
This Wednesday I will have a class that will take a whole service and have the men break up into groups, share some of their concerns. Then there will be some teaching and some homework assignments for application, in a men-only environment. I want to talk about the concept of fathering and what these guys stumble over. I’ve got to get down to that level and give people some opportunities to get coaching as opposed to counseling.
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Preaching: The church you pastor now is multi-racial, and you’ve pastored at least one other church that is multi-racial; in fact, it was a majority white congregation. What are the differences you find in preaching to a predominantly African-American congregation versus a predominantly white congregation? How does that impact your preaching?
Jackson: I think white teaching and preaching, in terms of culture, is often more left-brained -- more logical, more systematic. Black preaching tends to tell a story and bring people into the emotion of living the experience; as a take away you do get information, but you reach the heart first and then the brain. I would say most white preaching reverses that -- the notable exception would be probably some of your best Southern Baptist preachers who literally in the south blend the two; they take the best of black preaching and white. When I was in upstate New York (at a majority white church), my congregants would say, “Why are you shouting at us?” Well, I didn’t think it was shouting at all; I call this preaching. I found that I needed to be less impassioned and clearer with the take-aways and specific points for my white congregation. In upstate New York I had a blend of professionals and people who were basically out of the welfare world even though they were white. Now I’ve got the same mix in D.C. although they are black, but the cultural dynamic is totally different in terms of the right brain versus left brain.
Preaching: You have said that the church needs to deal with both righteousness and justice. I suspect that in most of our preaching we deal a lot more with righteousness than with justice. What do you suggest to pastors as to how they integrate those justice issues into their preaching? Why is that important?