DISAPPEARED

Beware of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. 47 They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely. Luke 24:46-47

DISAPPEARED | Recently I had an opportunity to visit First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens, in Somerset, New Jersey. I am not a member of First Baptist, and only attended the church this particularly Sunday, after learning the first Black President of Princeton Theology Seminary, Reverend Dr. Johnathan Lee Walton, was scheduled to speak. Now I didn’t know Dr. Walton, had never heard him preach, but I was intrigued knowing he was the First Black man to lead such an elite organization. I figured to have obtained such a position, he had to be at the very least an apologist. I love listening to preachers who break down the bible in a way that is easy to understand and was excited to attend the service to hear Dr. Walton.

Before I begin, let me state, for the record, that the pastor of First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens, Reverand Dr. Dante Quick, is a heretic. I say these words in the most respectful way possible. Despite the constant reminder of his many degrees and his insistence that his sexual preference is for women, he supports abortion, affirms homosexual behavior and makes a mockery of scripture—his most recent study of the Book of Revelation is incoherent and lacks foundation. However, I am skilled enough with the Word of God to eat the meat and spit out the bones. So, I didn’t let my opinion of Dr. Quick, deter my visit.

That Sunday morning, Dr. Walton looked the part of an astute preacher, able to deliver a powerful word. As he took his place at the podium, he reminded me of Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr. Walton articulated with gravitas every consonant and clearly annunciated every vowel attesting to his educational prowess. He used that familiar roll in his tongue and just the right jargon as he spoke about the power of institutions, like Princeton Theology Seminary and Morehouse college, those organizations that bring people together. After a lengthy introduction, he finally got to the Word.

His scripture of choice was Luke 4. It is after Jesus had left the wilderness, filled with the Spirit he returned to Nazareth. Awhile later, on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue.

6 [Jesus] stood up to read, 17 and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: 18 The Spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”[f] 20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked. 23 Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’” 24 “Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown. 25 I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. 27 And there were many in Israel with leprosy[g] in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.” All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. 29 They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. 30 But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.

Dr. Walton's topic was entitled, Being Suspicious of Praise Reports. His focus was the crowd, individuals who were amazed at Jesus,

all spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips.

But in almost the same breath, they questioned his authority, “Isn't this Joseph's son?"

While Jesus was in the wilderness, he had been tempted three times by the devil, but according to Dr. Walton, that was not his true temptation. Jesus’ true temptation happened while he attended the synagogue. Walton shouted, to the warm applause of the audience, "He longed for their embrace." At this point. The audience was going wild. They stood with hearty “Amens” and "Praise the Lord" as Dr. Walton expounded on the scripture. I was a bit confused. If Jesus did long for the embrace of the crowd, he knew their hearts and understood the depth of their disbelief.

Luke 4 is about the unbelief of the Nazarene. Yet somehow, Dr. Walton reshapes this narrative to confirm to the narrative perpetrated by the world. As I listened to the words he spoke and the jubilant response Walton received from the crowd at First Baptist Church, I realized just how woke our churches have become.

Walton places Jesus on the cliff. Doesn’t actually matter that Jesus was never on the cliff. Walton stills warns the audience to be leery of the crowd. In one minute, they will praise you and in the next will kill, oppress, and shun you. Although these things maybe true, none of those things happened to Christ in this scripture. Christ walked through the crowd and left them Nazarites in their unbelief. Jesus, who is presumed to be all loving and kind, leaves individuals from his hometown in their sin. President Walton takes liberties with the text and constructs a strawman for the audience.

Like every other Black pastor who believes they can properly exegete the text for us laypeople, he uses three historical individuals to support his narrative. In an attempt at mere perfect symmetry, he selects three diverse individuals and places each one of them on a pretend cliff.

An alarming indicator of his 'wokeness.' His chosen three represent the intersections of religion, gender, and sexual preference. His chosen three were: Elijah Lovejoy, a Quaker journalist; Mrs. Lucretia Mott, a Quaker suffragist; and Bayard Rustin, a Black activist.

Dr. Walton compares the lives of these three individuals to Christ. As if that is possible. He attempts to create a narrative, after being dazzled by the crowd, each one his chosen three was later murdered, oppressed, and shunned by a crowd. He warns the audience that we should be weary of the crowd, as he highlights key points about the lives of his chosen three.

Elijh Lovejoy had been a Quaker journalist, who aggressively published articles that opposed slavery. He was later murdered by a crowd in 1837. Ms. Lucretia Mott was a feisty Quaker woman, an abolitionist, preacher and advocate for women’s right to vote. While Lovejoy's story at least supports Dr. Walton's premise (he was murdered by a crowd), Mrs. Mott's story is much more ambiguous. She may not have been allowed in certain circles, but there was no crowd and no cliff. Mrs. Mott seemed to have lived a relatively happy life and passed away peacefully at the age of seventy-five (according to Wikipedia).

Walton, like a magician mixes truth and lies to support a narrative that Jesus was a merciful prophet that had been morally challenged. Like the devil in the wilderness, Walton tests Jesus’ humanity. He contends there are many out here that ignore Jesus’ human nature, and only see him as a “Superman” figure. Playing to the adoration of the crowd, Walton says, 'Many affirm Jesus’ divinity, but we don't want to discuss the implications of his humanity.' Like the crowd, we question Christ's authority.

Our narrow perception of Christ as a Superman is being inverted in this scripture. Instead of us seeing the Anointed One, Dr. Walton points us to be what he believed to be Christ’s temptation. Jesus sought the applause of men but was disappointed. Without further explanation, Walton shifts his focus to shine a light on the last of his chosen three: Bayard Rustin, the long-suffering Black gay activist.

In today’s woke culture, the church, or so-called followers of Christ teaches us that salvation is about being merciful and accepting, empathetic to the struggles of others. Every person has the right to live as they so choose. To behave in any other way is to be part of a judgmental crowd. To build on this narrative, Walton presents the crowd with a fantasy. Dr. Walton does what Storm Thurmond, accused the Washington Post of doing back in 1963. A few weeks before the March on Washington, The Post ran an article that painted a picture of Rustin as an upstanding, respectable man leading the Civil Rights Movement. That all seemed to be true, until Storm Thurmond pulled back the curtain to reveal the true character of Rustin.

Rustin had been a long-time advocate of Civil Rights. He organized Freedom Rides and participated in Bus Boycotts and, according to many, he had been the mastermind behind the 1963 Voting Rights: March on Washington. Rustin had been a teacher of non-violence and a close confidant of Dr. Martin L. King Jr. Yet he had been shunned by the crowd when the world discovered the man dubbed, “Mr. March on Washington,” was gay.

This whitewashed narrative is similarly told by the world. Individuals like President Barak Obama, Gavin Newsome and the soon to be released Netflix movie, entitled Rustin perpetuates this lie. Walton has no qualms grasping this worldly narrative and presenting it as revelation of scripture. His pointed is centered on affirmation—his motivation was to silence Christians who believe a homosexual lifestyle is sin. If you believed that then you are part of the crowd.

In Luke Chapter 4, after being tempted by the devil in the wilderness, Jesus returns to his hometown filled with the Spirit. He is the Anointed One—the Messiah. However, the crowd does not believe in Him. He is the Truth standing in the flesh, and they ask, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” The crowd lacked faith. A great number of social justice advocates today present this narrative of Jesus as a social reformer without recognizing that Jesus is the Anointed One. Setting the captives free means setting men and women who believe in Him free from the bondage of sin. Due to their unbelief, they don't see the Truth.

“Truly I tell you...no prophet is accepted in his hometown.” Luke 4:24

Ironically, this is the same place where we find Dr. Walton. Yet he would never imagine himself to be part of the crowd. The crowd was part of the elite. They were the ones who sat in the synagogue. They had studied the laws and the prophets but didn't recognize the Truth.

In Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech, he longs for a world where his children will one day be judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. Jesus, when looking at the crowd, rebuked them not for who they were (Israelites) but because of the condition of their hearts. Yet, Dr. Walton inverts this and places our Civil Rights, religious, and political leaders in a crowd. To shouts of "Amen," Walton asks the audience to consider Rustin's race and disregard his sin. Walton purposely leaves out key components of Rustin's story to support his false narrative. He omits any details of Rustin's 3-year prison sentence because he refused to sign up for the draft. This omission is egregious enough. There were plenty African Americans that refused to sign up for the draft. Yet, they call themselves American Citizens. Walton also left out any details concerning Rustin’s 60-day jail sentence. He never mentioned Rustin at the age of 43 was caught in a parking lot practicing sodomy with two boys in their early twenties. These facts were exposed in 1963 by Strom Thurmond on the Senate Floor and are recorded in congressional documents. Perhaps it was these revelations that caused King and other civil rights leaders to have concerns regarding Rustin’s behavior.

If Rustin had been silenced by a crowd, it had nothing to do with his sexual preference and everything to do with his character. When a 40-year-old man is caught having sex in a parking lot, that is no trivial matter. If Donald Trump had been caught having sex with two women in their twenties in a parking lot, the media would have gone on a blitz. I guarantee you the word 'rape' would have been tossed around. Such behavior from a Civil Rights Leader, marching with religious leaders for the rights of Black Americans, was detestable. Rustin lacked self-control. That was his character. His behavior was akin to a pedophile. Rustin’s affinity for young men continued throughout his life, and at the age of 67, he adopted his 28-year-old lover as his son.

If Rustin was on any cliff, Jesus would have called for him to repent. Yet, Dr. Walton implies that Jesus would not have questioned this man’s character. Instead, he suggests that Jesus would have been all-accepting and all-inclusive. Dr. Walton separates himself from the crowd. He is not the type to judge. Blinded, Walton fails to see himself as part of the crowd. Just as the religious leaders questioned Christ’s authority (not his identity)—so to today, the crowd questions Jesus's authority.

'Isn’t this Joseph’s son?'

The point the crowd was making, was that Jesus was nothing short of a man, subject to the same proclivities as you and me. Today's woke crowd asks an equally disturbing question: 'Is sin—sin?' Jesus rebuked the crowd who questioned God with contempt and disbelief. But according to Walton, the heroes are those who ignore behavior, and the villains are those who have the audacity to judge a man’s character.

Verse 25: "I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah's time when the sky was shut for three and a half years, and there was a severe famine throughout the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian."

Jesus pointed out to the crowd that in the days of Elijah, when there was a famine, those among the house of Israel were not fed; only a widow from Zarephath. He reminds the crowd that during the days of the prophet Elisha, only Naaman, the commander of the Syrian army, was healed of leprosy, though many in Israel were sick with the same condition. Why weren’t the Israelites freed from the Paings of hungry or freed from the bondage of sickness and death? It was because of their sin. Jesus is the bread life; he came to heal the infirmities of those who believe. Jesus is making the point, as the Messiah, he came to set believers free from sin and the bondage that enslaves them to death. This is the Good News. And he was not just sent to the Jews. His ministry extended to the world (i.e., the widow of Zarephath; and Naaman the enemy to Israel). Believers must repent. Yet, Dr. Walton takes this scripture that reveals the authority of the Anointed One and tries to fit it into a twisted narrative.

Unfortunately, the foundation of Dr. Walton’s point crumbles if we had the opportunity to consider another anecdotal story from the pages of history. Consider James Baldwin. He was well-respected by the Black Community. He marched in Washington. He served his country. He had not been shunned by Civil Rights Leaders. He had not been silenced. During the 1963 March on Washington, Baldwin shook hands with many leaders, black and white.

There is a difference between Rustin and Baldwin. It had to do with moral character. Baldwin had his struggles—but his level of self-respect, respect for God and the Civil Rights community was unparalleled. His struggle between truth and righteousness was real. It didn’t boil down to his sexual preference. You feel Baldwin’s pain and the burden he carried in his book, “Go tell it on the Mountain,” and other writings. Yet he was never so low down as to be caught having sex in a parking lot with men—not even once.

Had Dr. Walton wanted the audience to think objectively surly he would have presented the entire truth about Rustin. But Truth doesn’t actually matter to the crowds that men like Walton dwell among. Clearly, the First Baptist crowd didn’t see themselves as judgmental believers—they fell for the narrative. The problem is not the sinner. The problem is those that point out sin, “let him without sin cast the first stone.” Men like Dr. King, and Thurgood Marshall and Storm Thurmond, represented the crowd that shunned the sinner.

How dare these civil rights leaders question Rustin’s sin! The First Baptist audience, stood with applause. They didn’t care that the narrative didn’t align with the Word of God. They felt good about removing themselves from the crowd. They shout, praises to the Lord. Jesus came to set the captive free, to set the oppressed free, as if Jesus never called for men and women to repent from their sin. Without repentance there is no salvation—there is only death.

The problem with Walton’s narrative is it doesn’t call for men to repent, by the authority of Jesus. Jesus walked away from the crowd in Nazareth understanding they were enslaved by their own disbelief. Unbelief leads to death—and Jesus walked away understanding many in that crowd would die from their sins. How evident this narrative becomes when you examine Rustin’s life. Here is the final ending of this story—Walton conveniently left out. Rustin died childless. Later in life he gave up the fight for Civil Rights, in his speech from 1986, Rustin contended the black man was no longer oppressed, “The new nigger in America was the gay-black man.” when Rustin died, he lifts his entire legacy (material) in the hands of the white man he had married. If his story hadn’t been dug up by the likes of President Obama, Gavin Newsome, Netflix and Dr. Walton, it would have disappeared—and clearly it should have.