Cheap grace: preaching and church politics

Christian Century, Nov 5, 1997 by Riggins R. Earl, Jr.

Why did you all vote to forgive Henry Lyons?" was the first question I faced after returning from the September meeting of the National Baptist Convention, U.S.A., Inc. But the more troubling subsequent question was: "How could you all vote to keep him in office in the face of such charges?" These were the same questions that were troubling me, so much so that I left Denver with a mile-deep depression, not sure how to make sense of what had happened. And they have bothered others as well. The convention's actions have been a major source of concern within the black community, from barber and beauty shops to corporation office suites.

Lyons's supporters left Denver believing that they had defended God's honor by forgiving and retaining the embattled president of the 8.2-million-member denomination. They repeatedly invoked Jesus' admonition to forgive our brothers as many as 70 times seven. Another scriptural passage they offered was, "Let those who are without sin cast the first stone."

The controversy about Lyons centered on issues of financial accountability--issues that were publicly broached when reports surfaced about his relationship with Bernice Edwards, a church official with whom he reportedly bought a $700,000 house and other luxury items, and about various other financial irregularities. Prior to the convention a number of pastors were calling for Lyons to step down and were asking the denomination to institute new measures to ensure responsible handling of its financial affairs. But the church's executive board quickly exonerated Lyons, a decision that was ratified by the 1,200 delegates.

To understand the actions of the convention it helps to consider five elements in the life of the NBCUSA: 1) its political tradition, 2) the role of preaching, 3) the absence of professional ethics, 4) its political use of forgiveness and 5) its exploitation of women.

The convention has a dark history of politics. Political infighting and self-serving opportunism have often seemed more central to the convention than serving God. The primary source of its questionable politics continues to be the status and behavior of the convention president. Perhaps nothing better reveals the trophy this office has become than the millions of dollars spent on the president's election.

The late James Washington, a black church historian, once characterized the convention as a "frustrated fellowship." (Washington's sadly neglected work constitutes a rare critical interpretation of black Baptist history.) Given the value placed on the denomination's highest office, it's not surprising that the autocratic role of the convention president is one key source of the frustration Washington wrote about. For 50 years convention leaders have fostered the idea that the president is bigger than life and beyond reproach. Many followers of the president firmly believe that they are to "touch not the Lord's anointed."

The president is the only person who is elected to any convention office, consequently his voice has a unique--if not an exclusive--authority in the convention. He not only freely chooses the members of his cabinet but directs the use of convention money without any checks and balances. He and his political allies are allowed to handle the money without submitting records of how the funds are used. Progressive-minded laypeople in the NBC do not tolerate that kind of unchecked power over funds in the local church; in convention affairs, however, traditional practice is more powerful than constitutional safeguards.

Lyons was the protege of the previous president, Joseph H. Jackson, who held office for more than 30 years and who personified an ethos of autocratic leadership and power. Physical fighting and even, on one occasion, a killing earned NBCUSA pastors in the early 1960s the reputation of being anointed hoodlums. Word circulated at the recent Denver meeting that a large number of pastors had appealed to the black mayor for permits to carry their guns.

Decades of authoritarian rule in the NBC have accustomed its members to the power politics of its leaders. But the president's position is also enhanced by his control of the convention's pulpit. Frequently NBC presidents use their role as high-profile preacher to further their political ambitions and maintain office.

Traditionally, the president's sermon is the high point of the annual convention. Conventioneers prepare for it like football fanatics preparing for the Super Bowl. Though the event takes place in the afternoon, women dress up for the event in their most formal attire. The intensity of the sermon depends on the volatility of the convention's politics. Intense political infighting is to the president's preaching moment what the fermentation process is to good wine.

Jackson used his preaching gifts for self-aggrandizement and to maintain tight control over the convention. This native of Rudyard, Mississippi, was an overpowering voice in the denomination. Referred to by some of his followers as "preaching Black Jack," Jackson would preach his followers into a frenzy. His supporters would often brag that "Jackson preached US crazy!"