The Other Joseph Civil Rights and Christian Responsibility

In the Superman comics of my day, there was a dimension into which the superhero would enter in which everything was in reverse order. That is, right was left, up was down and even right was wrong. Sometimes when I consider the persistent pursuit of our civil rights as Americans of African descent, I perceive we have moved into such a dimension.

Many of us who claim Christ have supplanted our Christian Responsibility as we pursue almost exclusively our Civil Rights. This is a disordered dimension, an upside down universe and it is having dire consequences on us in our homeland America and our motherland Africa. W.E.B. Dubois wrote about the ‘Talented Tenth’. This group of Americas of African descent were to be the salvation of the negro race.

As Dubois puts it, “The Negro Race, like all races is going to be saved by its exceptional men. He went on to write “…we come to the present day of cowardice and vacillation, of strident wide-voiced wrong and faint hearted compromise; of double-faced dallying with Truth and Right…,The Talented Tenth rises and pulls all that are worth saving up to their vantage ground…,the two historic mistakes which have hindered progress were the thinking first that no more could ever rise save the few already risen, or second that it would better the unrisen to pull the risen down.” Many of us have risen above the horror of bad statistics about black American men. However, somehow we have gotten the notion that we are amongst those worth saving. We are in that present day state of cowardice and vacillation of which Dubois speaks. Few black men who have ‘made it’ remain behind, or return to visit the ‘unrisen’ as Dubois would call them. We either ignore or forget the strivings which it took to put us into the Talented Tenth.

We assume all too wrongly that it is our privilege because of some saving grace about ourselves, and neglect that Joseph of the Old Testament was chosen by God because…, well just because God wanted to choose him. There was no merit on Joseph’s part, just God’s grace. Paul also commented that “I am what I am by God’s grace” 1 Corinthians 15:10 It would appear that the Talented Tenth may be dwindling to numbers well below 10%.

Black men in America and around the globe are an endangered species. Life expectancy in at least 5 sub-Saharan African countries is dropping to the third and fourth decades for men and women according to World Health Organization statistics. A report by Jonathan Tilove of Newhouse News Service of May, 2005 is very revealing and frightening. According to Tilove, “There are almost 2 million more black adult women than men in the United States, stark testimony to how often black men die before their time…,with almost an additional million black men in prison or the military, the reality often is of an even greater imbalance: a gap of 2.8 million, or 26 percent, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures for 2002. The comparable disparity for whites was 8 percent. This statistic measures the often fatal cost of being a black man in the United States and conveys how black families are being hit by the violence and disease that leave them without brothers, fathers, husbands, and sons. And because the number of black males plummets as they move from their teens to their 20s, the gap appears suddenly.”

I believe these statistics are a direct consequence of our decisions with regard to our homeland and our motherland. We pity the man who will not take care of his momma! The Bible says that the man who will not provide for his home is worse than an infidel. An infidel deserves the Father’s wrath. I believe we are experiencing that in our homeland and watching it continue in our motherland. Black Americans have a commanding presence on the world scene for their accomplishments in civil rights, sports, entertainment.

This presence has great potential to help lift themselves as well as those of African descent to great levels of economic and social gain. It would appear that we who have ‘made it’, have considered ourselves ‘worth saving’ when one looks at how we share with those who have less. This is more stark when compared with what we do in world wide missions, particularly Africa, the ‘motherland’.

There are about 45,000 missionaries from north America alone, and fewer than 300 of these are of African American descent. That is less than 0.8%. That means there are a whole lot of white and other ethnic Americans serving around the world, particularly in Africa, with very little assistance of those who claim African heritage. The most pressing thing presented to Joseph of the Old Testament as a minister in Pharoah’s cabinet was the welfare of his brothers. It made Joseph cry as recorded in the Bible (Genesis 45:1-3). He did not consider himself privileged just for the sake of privilege. Joseph recognized that God had placed him in a particular position for a particular reason. That was to be to the salvation of his brethren in hard times. However, even though Joseph cried, he distributed food!

Dr. Martin Luther King stated in his famous oratory entitled ‘A knock at Midnight’; “our churches often have more religion in their hands and feet than in their hearts and head.” We often equate someone’s sincerity in the Lord as evidenced by their falling over in fits and shouts and tears. If the hungry and homeless could be fed on the tears, and sweat of the typical black church in America on Sunday morning, the mission of bringing Christ to the nations would have been completed long ago. Emotional outpouring and promises will not put bring water to thirsty people, immunize children, clothe naked families or feed the starving. Even though Joseph cried, he distributed food.

We have forgotten the legacy of giving and we represent the “other Joseph” as I alluded to in the parallel universe of Superman. The other Joseph is the one who thinks he has no obligation to serve, give or even learn of the welfare of his brothers. As long as Pharoah and his court were pleased with his service, this other Joseph was a happy man in this other dimension. We somehow believe that we are not meant to reach back, look back, give back or go back to help our brothers. So we spend what we have ‘in Egypt’ believing that our access to excess is success.

Jim Sutherland put together these statistics about Black Churches in America; The typical African American church budget would read something like this; as taken from a survey of over 100 black churches in the southern United States. Church ministry to itself; building and maintenance 65% Emergency fund 26%; Funds going outside of the church 5%; of this, 4.2% for denominational expenses; UNCF 0.4%; Classic home missions 0%; Global Missions 5%. The total budget was $120,000 with a membership of 100-200 members. There is more money spent on the men’s breakfasts and women’s auxiliaries in the typical black church than is spent on the primary call of going into all of the world to win souls for the kingdom.

The AME (African American Episcopal) church reported on its 8,000 congregations with 3.5 million members. As of 1993 the total overseas ministry income was 250 thousand dollars. This represents seven cents per member per year or approximately $31.25 per church per year. The NBC (National Baptist Church) USA in 1992 was giving 51 cents per church member per year and when the cost of inflation is added in as a factor, this represents a 22 percent decline over 41 years from 1951. It is obvious that we as black people have put our money where our hearts are. The average amount spent on entertainment by black people as recorded by the US Department of Commerce is $772, yearly, per consumer. whereas we spend a total of 22 cents per year in missions as a people of Christ. Just where are our hearts and where are our treasures? So what is the bottom line here? Are we really ignoring our brothers and pursuing civil rights while neglecting Christian responsibilities? I believe we are. I believe the pursuit of what is due us, the reparations, the equal rights and just reward are valid and legitimate pursuits.

However, if these are carried out to the exclusion of our Christian responsibilities, we find ourselves in this parallel dimension of ignoring the hungry while fighting obesity. We flush our toilets with cleaner water than people drink. We feel we deserve more because we have been deprived of so much in the land of plenty. We ignore the masses who would gladly be the Lazarus under our tables, letting the dogs lick their wounds as we drop them crumbs. What will it be?

Shall we continue to pursue our civil rights with even greater vigor, or would Christ be more served and we see a better yield in our own community pursuing Christian responsibility? You choose which Joseph to model before your churches. I believe our God has called us to pursue His agenda and not ours.