Prominent Memphis Area Pastor Resigns

[NotforSale]

First and foremost; Scripture reveals that great men can and do fail. In fact, we hold in our hand a Bible written by men who did atrocious things, including murder and adultery. Those who might gloat or embellish Bro. Blacks sin better beware. I have witnessed with my own eyes the stumbling that follows when people are drawn into the crowd of pointing fingers at others who sin.

I’ve been in the UPCI for 33 years, and have been a pastor for 17 years. People need to understand, the stress we deal with is beyond any profession that most individuals have ever done. Words can’t describe the heartache, sleepless nights, constant criticism, demands 24 hours a day, remaining constant when everything is falling apart, working with no pay, and dealing with rejection when people leave who have been greatly invested in by a pastor.

Bro. Black is not immune to any of these, and I’m positive that stress and demand are equated into the recipe of his bad choices. This is like what happened to Bro. McCary, but thank God there was no suicide.

One of our greatest flaws as an Organization is the emotional expectation of preachers and the laity. If we aren’t “Feeling Good”, running the aisles, then God must be on vacation. So we turn the volume up, signal the drummer for a bigger beat, scream louder into the microphone, all to wake our Savior who’s in the back of the boat, asleep during the storm.

God is in everything except, “The Still Small Voice!” We dance and sing like David, while we kill Uriah and sleep with his wife. The contrast here is horrific, but true. When my first pastor fell into adultery, losing his entire church and marriage, I realized that God is not in the song, the beat, the volume, or even in holy dress. Our church was deemed as being extremely spiritual, but was the exact opposite because of our “Back Door” approach to God’s mercy and forgiveness.

Performance based Faith always leads to disaster because we’re never good enough. This wears down even the best, and when the dust settles and the mask is removed, the true ugliness of who we really are is revealed, and Calvary becomes what Jesus Christ intended it to be. There is none good, no not one.