Dr. Charles W. Ferguson

Normally, I would get up in the morning and begin to ruminate over a million thoughts that were produced on the previous day. By my very nature, I am a thinker. I think about everything. Yet, I woke up from a dream that was just ridiculous, scary, and unreal. What could possibly have me so messed up that I thought it was real?

So, the dream had me in a pretty prominent church with a pretty prominent pastor. It must have been some type of special worship service or something else going on. Well apparently one the ministers on staff or something else was asked to pray for the service. Rather than begin the pray over the service, this minister decided to air grievances about my past. Mind you it was nothing salacious. The person had beef with my existence. The service began getting out of control.

I leaned over to the pastor and said, I rather be effective for the Kingdom than a distraction to the people. I got up and left. While being berated about what I used to be as a person, I walked out and left it all behind. Before I walked out the door, the pastor tapped my shoulder and said, Where are you going? Don’t leave. I said to him, You don’t need me here. Then a solution came from his mouth. You are going to fulfill your purpose. Go to the studio. It is still going down. You are necessary for this season. Flaws and all. 

After that dream, I would normally have satisfaction about the outcome. However, I woke with my heart racing. The outcome didn’t strike fear. The issues did not cause me distress. I was unsettled because I know people are living in fear of fulfilling their purpose. That fear is fueled by shame and guilt from the public record of their past.

What is more accurate is that a season existed where people would take you to task in public settings like the worship service. Women were disgraced for pregnancies out of wedlock while men got away with no condemnation. People were constantly beaten down for mistakes and trials without any level of grace for their journey. Individuals thought correction through fear would adjust the mentality.

Truthfully, those techniques of fearmongering have never worked truly. People have never learned to grow through guilt and shame. Most people have only become more damaged by the lack of grace and mercy. People have not learn how to process their past to become effective agents of a prosperous future. Therefore, we see more people seeking redemption with no place to go.

During a call this week my doctoral mentor, Dr. Keith Lawrence, made an interesting observation about the handling of the Gospel. He referenced that the Gospel is meant to aid in the liberation of people. Any use of the Gospel for any other reason represents one’s ability to commit an act of spiritual lynching. That concept has been on my mind since Thursday. Maybe that is why the dream was so tragic.

How many lynching have believers been party to witnessing over the years? How many times have we included our ideas and personal views to create people in our image and likeness? How many times did we think about the Lord when we were commitment our own version of witchcraft on the lives of others?

I am convinced that most people who have been in bondage do not know how to lynch and harm others unless one of a few things occur. One, that person learn the methods of lynching from an oppressor. Two, a person learn the methods with the hope of gaining freedom and using them as a defense mechanism. It doesn’t make sense to perpetuate pain if one has truly become free in Christ.

Christ never authorized any acts to be used continue to perpetuate the concept of oppression. Yet, our culture has made it palatable for people of all places and spaces to interpret the sacrifice of Christ as a tool of control. The godfather of Black Liberation Theology, James H. Cone provides great insight into our current condition spiritually and practically.

The cross can heal and hurt; it can be empowering and liberating but also enslaving and oppressive. There is no one way in which the cross can be interpreted. I offer my reflections because I believe that the cross placed alongside the lynching tree can help us to see Jesus in America in a new light, and thereby empower people who claim to take a stand against white supremacy and every kind of injustice. –James H. Cone, The Cross and the Lynching Tree

Though Dr. Cone’s insight directly addressed the struggle between a white supremacist view of the Gospel and the liberation the Jesus provides to the oppressed, we can extract the reality that many people still use elements of supremacy as a weapon and tool in detouring people from an experience of real freedom in God.

We can no longer place ourselves as instruments of continuing the cycle of oppression of the maligned, hurting, and wounded. I cannot live with the idea of people being shamed and discounted without the opportunity to find new ways of growth and freedom. I will not be a party to the constant lynching of people. I am not going to be involved in locking people out from access to the transformative power of God. My purpose is to lead people to Christ and “make disciples”. Nobody wants a carbon copy of me. The world definitely doesn’t need a bastardized copy of inauthentic believer.

I can’t live that dream ever again….

I realize that I am probably the eighteen millionth person on the planet to offer some commentary on the condition of our society in the times of COVID-19 awareness. The spectrum of thought spans social, theological, scientific, and political areas. More people are demonstrating their capacity to address information with and without nuance. Many people have made up in their mind that the moment they are able to get back to connecting with people that they will never take the moment for granted ever again.

Let me begin by saying that I pray that this sentiment is real with the majority of people. I recognize more than ever the challenge of not seeing people that you love and embrace is very difficult. I acknowledge that being in an atmosphere of people that share common bonds and thought provides safety and security to be yourself. However, I am still skeptical of what people might do after weeks of serious isolation. More importantly, I am really thinking about how the composition of the church will be radically changed forever.  

I recently looked at the message I preached Resurrection Sunday last year. I was caught off guard listening to the end of the message. I talked about how the soldiers at Jesus’ tomb had first hand knowledge of the resurrection. However, their opportunity to tell the truth was bought with a price from the government. The final point of the sermon was to remind people not to sell out the Gospel. The challenge to the people was to make certain to spread the Good News by any means. Do not limit your engagement to the church house only. That statement was made one year ago.

One year ago, we did not have a pandemic. One year ago, we were able to see anyone at anytime in any place. One year, twelve months, 365 days ago, life was extremely different. Now, we are under stay at home orders. Today, we must have six feet between strangers and loved ones. Right now, people can not see loved ones in deteriorating conditions. No one is out actively chasing the bag at 2 or 3 jobs. People have no choice 

but to function primary from home. According to many people, the church is closed. 

Hmmmm….the church is closed….maybe……

The overly commercialized church is now closed. The institution that fights over majority group think is on figurative life support. The pursuit of the largest congregation in town has been placed on hold. Now, the church of the Living God can collectively return to its roots. Acts 2:42-47 reminds us of the beginning of the structure of the church. 

42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

The key to the growth and development of the universal church began with the understanding of community. The teachings of the Gospel were definitely the center and heartbeat of the movement. The fellowship was the vehicle that caused the Gospel to have impact, power, and advancement. The moment we began to walk away from the “people business”, we forgot what made the difference. 

Consider for a moment how people began to move away from the necessity of engaging one another. Think about the clique nature that may have taken place in some congregations. Think about how you and I talked about doing certain things for outreach or improving the neighborhood. Think about how many times we have had arguments and disagreements over ministry methods in the name of maintain the status quo. 

Seems a little more frivolous now doesn’t it?

Believe me when I tell you that I am ready for the shout of life. I promise you! I am not going to mind that we are going to have a Hallelujah good time. I bet not hear anyone talk about service was too long. Yet, I want you to know that I can not go back to a church life devoid of the people business. I can not trade a good whoop for a lack of discussion about the poor and the maligned. I will trade in a shouting Sunday morning for a service to the community on a Sunday.

We can never go back to a season of taking anything for granted. Don’t take your pastor for granted. Pray for real. Don’t take your people for granted. Recognize the gifts that they are and pray for them. Don’t take ministry for granted. Service has many layers. Don’t take the Gospel for granted. Know it and tell it. Otherwise, our time away has been in vain. 

Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint,but blessed is he who keeps the law.—Proverbs 29:18, ESV

One of the great pet peeves of my life is finding people who refuse to see beyond their current moment. It becomes a challenge to vision plan, imagine greater, and pursue more when others are constantly speaking of their current condition only. I guess my pet peeve might be somewhat of a character flaw. However, I believe it grants insight into the difference between those who pursue vision and those content with the status quo.

On my social media feed, I came across something that made me laugh and brought a sobering reality to how many organizations and people operate daily. It was a meme of a pastoral search committee. The caption read, “Basically, we’re looking for an innovative pastor with fresh vision who will inspire our church to remain exactly the same.” I laughed really hard because my history with pastoral search committees have looked just like that.

Yet, I had to sit back and consider for a moment. Many groups of people possess this groupthink ideology of remaining the same while appearing to have a vision of going forward. Most people are afraid of forward thinking because it requires admitting that some methods have not worked. Brothers and sisters, this way of thinking and living is not going to elevate our ability to possess greater for our lives, community, and the future.
The scripture that is posted is a simple proverb that suggests that when vision is not giving people become discouraged. Discouragement and status quo living can only be healed by a proactive and intentional vision for the future. The question is how do we get to a greater future?

First and foremost, we must stop hindering ourselves by saying that today is all we have. We must begin to look at our community with different eyes. What does our future look like? How do we envision the community in 20 years? We must have fresh eyes that see the future no only in line with the surrounding trends, but birth innovators that will make our communities trendsetters.

Second, we must embrace visionary and innovative thinkers. We can no longer afford to reject individuals that present and give a fresh perspective on the outlook before us. We cannot say that what has worked is the only method to what shall be a future. If that was the case, we would have no need of innovation. So many people are burst out of our communities who are on the cutting edge of bringing renewal to all areas of life. Yet, they have felt that their abilities are not welcomed. If we do not change our attitudes, we will suffer like other great civilizations and organizations of history.

Third, we must finally admit that our complacency has brought us to this moment. We need to stop blaming everything else as to why we have not gone further. As an African-American man, I am a part of a lineage that has birthed many innovations, businesses, communities, and other trend setting avenues. I cannot except the thought that we lack the ability to do new things. If we have arrived at the moment of discouragement, it begins with us examining how much time and effort we have put in to being disenchanted without being determined. We must stop the cycle of letting others dictate to us what can be and reestablish our call to arms to change our atmosphere for the better.

It is time to heal the disenchantment of those who want more. We must cast the prophetic vision before our people perish.