My twitter friend @SewIntoHem posted this video the other day. She was considering blogging about it, and after watching it, I was too. We decided to tag team it by posting about it on both our blogs. Check out the twitter convo we had below, and her blog at mouthofbabes.wordpress.com.
Her: What that man said was so powerful, because we often get caught up in what we’re entitled to–especially the black community.
Her: When we finally get our piece of the pie, we think we’ve accomplished something. However, that’s not what matters to God or to people.
Me: i think the first thing about it that was powerful was that he said it in front of a black audience! that #fail, was an ultimate success!
Her: If all you have to show for your life is how rich you were, your legacy means nothing and, most tragically, God will not accept you.
Me: Well, i think the size of some churches that Cone says have “lost their legacy” would suggest it matters to people a lot
Me: but i think that’s part of the deception. we took the easy route by throwin money at ppl, like the devil. instead of showin them a cross
Me: i think part of that fail we should be expecting is that some ppl won’t like the cross, and turn away from the church
Me: but the ultimate success would be seen in those who were drawn and changed by the cross
Me: Cone didnt really elaborate on that whole “fail” idea for the church. what do u think it might be?
Her: That’s very true. A lot of pastors pat themselves on the back for creating Jesus fans, but what we need are Jesus followers.
Her: I think for us it would mean losing the celebrity endorsements, being ridiculed by the general public by being too conservative.
Her: For some churches, it would mean losing the majority of their membership or suffering a hit to their bank accounts.
Me: Yes!
Me: i gotta say, Cone’s words and courage encouraged me deeply in allowing ppl to see my weakness when i present Christ, rather than polished up
Me: i think the ridicule we get nowadays is more bcuz our claims of belief dont match our actions on a wide scale
Me: i think the world would go nuts if we showed the power of God behind the scriptures we quote
Me: How did u find this vid?
Her: Amen! I totally agree & I have no idea lol I was just palling around on Youtube
[a few hours later...lol]
Me: Sorry for the late response. Lol at palling around tho. Pop culture at it’s best. I’m gonna try to make Cone my e-mentor. Need that support
Her: lol there’s another video on there too from the same panel discussion and he went IN!
Me: FYI i found the video of the whole conference on CSPAN’s website. Def plannin to watch/skim thru it ~> http://cs.pn/aKnuCT
Her: Oooh! I wanna watch the whole thing! lol Well, a good chunk of it.
Her: Ummm 4 hrs….maybe not lol
Me: lol right. realizing this all took place in 2003, i really wonder what has taken place since this discussion
Her: Not jack has happened! Just like every other panel discussion, conference, etc., nothing gets solved. It’s probably gotten worse.
Me: yeah. if secret meetings between Black church leaders really started in 2003, we’d start to see the results, at least a little by now
Her: it’s just sad because so many people talk about what needs to be done, but very few people take the time to do it.
Her: That’s why i like what Cone said about loving God w/ ur mind, because so many ppl just go to church just to shout and be entertained.
Her: And when it’s all over, they say “the spirit really moved”. No it didn’t, b/c if it did there would be a genuine transformation in ur life.
Me: i wonder what his church home is like, and who they collaborate with in their city
Me: this dude’s Wiki is something interesting. some real controversy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hal_Cone
Her: Yea, I read that lol I found it interesting…& then I said to myself “Does anything that I’m reading affect what I got from that video?” No
Me: ha, right. it’s funny though how it’s always the slightly extra ministers that speak with the most urgency and boldness
Me: the ones who are most popular seem to have real chill verbage
Her: Yeah, they don’t want to say anything too radical or convicting. It might upset their fans….I mean, members.
Me: yeah. whats crazy is with everything the way it is, this is just what God wanted for this point in history
Me: it really makes me wonder what’s going to happen next to shake things up
Her: i’m excited for God to set the church straight, the process is already beginning
Me: what gives you that impression?
Her: I’ve spent a lot of time around a couple of them & my church is under one of them. They’re part of the problem, so they’re gonna play nice.
Me: really? what exactly do you see progressing with them?
Her: pride and watered-down gospel
Me: hmmm what’s been the congregation’s response to the changes?
Her: People seem to be so caught up on personalities that they never raise questions about the direction the church is headed in.
Me: Word. and THAT is a blog post in itself, so what do u say we wrap this here? this was tight!
Her: Lol Yeah it was, I have enough to write about for a month. I’m glad I watched this.
Me: glad u shared it!