Attention White Evangelicalism! Abortion is Central to Black Theology - Thinking Winsomely

Welcome back to thinking winsomely, a chat TGC podcast.

I have to start this episode with a quick apology. I ask for your forgiveness for the long delay in getting this episode out.

And truth be told, I have just been, well, I've been, I've been grieved. I feel a heavy burden in the past few weeks.

And, and I have to say that I, I find it hard to believe that in 2023 we are still dealing with the scourge of systemic racism in our country.

I, I watch the same images that you did with those, those two black

African -American lawmakers, beautiful black bodies expelled out of the

Tennessee legislature, like as if they were a piece of garbage. I can't believe that we're still dealing with this in 2023.

If only the evangelical church would stand up, maybe we could make a difference.

And so I had to take a brief sabbatical, a couple of weeks off of, of my job just to, just to really get the emotional energy to continue this journey with you.

Brothers and sisters, I am exhausted. I am tired of the scourge of racism and actually racism has inspired this episode today.

Today, I want to talk about code switching because I have seen quite a few fundamentalists talking about these beautiful black brothers, these beautiful black bodies in Christ.

After they were so callously, they were publicly lynched. Let's just call it what it is. It was a public lynching.

When they were removed from their seats of, of the legislature. After they were lynched, they were so courageous and those images,

I just cannot get them out of my mind. They hearkened back to the time of the civil rights movement.

Dear church, will we, this time, join the civil rights movement instead of oppressing it?

And I've seen so many fundamentalists talk about the, the fact that these, these, these beautiful black bodies support abortion.

They support, they support LGBT rights and saying how that's incompatible with Christianity.

Well, I'm here to tell you and to teach you about code switching because code switching is not just about your style of talking or your dialect.

It's also about the belief, the content of your faith itself. So here's the article that I wrote.

As Christians, we are called to love and extend grace to all of our brothers and sisters in Christ, recognizing that we all come from different backgrounds and experiences.

For black Christians, this often means navigating predominantly white theological spaces where the language and cultural references may be unfamiliar.

As a result, black Christians may express their theology in ways that seem unfamiliar or even incorrect to those outside of their cultural context.

This is where the concept of code switching comes in. Code switching is about more than just accents and language.

It's about adapting to different social contexts and adjusting one's speech and behavior and mannerisms to fit into those contexts.

For black Christians, this often means adapting to white theological spaces that may not fully understand or appreciate their unique perspectives and experiences.

When it comes to theological errors, dear Christian, please hear me while I unpack this.

When it comes to theological errors, we must remember that black Christian theology is often deeply rooted in their cultural context.

Just as code switching involves adjusting one's language and behavior to fit into those social contexts, black

Christians may also adjust their theology to fit into predominantly white theological spaces.

This can result in expressions of faith that may seem unfamiliar or even incorrect to those outside of their cultural context.

Instead of correcting or dismissing black Christians for their perceived theological errors perceived, we must extend grace and seek to incorporate their perspective.

This means that recognizing that their theology is often shaped by their unique experiences and cultural backgrounds.

We must actively work to create theological spaces that are welcoming and inclusive of diverse perspectives and cultural backgrounds.

Where individuals can express their faith in a way that is authentic and true to their experiences.

In conclusion, as Christians, we must have grace for black

Christians' theological errors, recognizing that the error is likely in ourselves and our white perspectives.

The theology of black Christians is shaped and molded like a true artisan, a true sculptor of their cultural context.

And their theology is beautiful. Code switching is about more than just accents.

It's about the actual content of theology. We must actively work to create a more inclusive and loving space where individuals can express their faith in a way that is authentic to their true experiences.

Brothers and sisters, I hope you enjoyed that article.

I hope that you hear the heart of what I'm trying to say.

The next time you think to yourself, oh, but that man doesn't even believe in the resurrection.

He prays to Mother God. That's not biblically accurate. The next time you think about that, remember, he's code switching.

He's code switching. This is how blacks understand

God. He's the Mother God. They are the

Mother God. And the Mother God demands, demands for the forgiveness of sins, the shedding of blood.

And they understand abortion as that shedding of blood.

It is integral to their cultural context. Integral. And therefore, as white

Christians, we must resist the urge to correct their theology because their theology is part of the code switching that is part and parcel of their identity as black bodies in Christ.

We dare not rob them of that beautiful chocolate identity. I hope you found that enlightening and helpful and most of all, winsome.

Join me next week for Thinking Winsomely, a