Christian Discipleship in a Black Baptist Church

This chapter is on three critical areas of Christian discipleship that will need to be addressed in a newly established Black Baptist church. It will deal with three pairs of topics. First, in discussing Biblical literacy with an Afrocentric perspective, it will cover issues of a basic understanding of the Bible and of Afrocentric presences in the Bible. Second, in dealing with Christian stewardship in the Black church, it will cover a basic understanding of Christian stewardship, and especially the stewardship of money. Third, in discussing what would be a normative Christian response to social activism, it will look at the Black church's response in the past, in the present, and in the future.

Biblical Literacy with an Afrocentric Perspective

Solid teaching in Bible study is essential for the spiritual health of any Black church. This teaching must be provided by persons with adequate training in both Bible studies and teaching methods. The Bible is in fact not easy to understand in many places and many ways, and it is an insult to the intelligence of adults to pretend otherwise. However, in teaching the Bible one must steer between the Scylla and Charybdis of inappropriate literalism and the kind of skepticism that damages people's faith unnecessarily.

Many Christians believe, of course, in taking the Bible quite literally, but this approach must always be tempered with common sense. When Jesus said, "I am the door," he did not mean

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e willing to support financially. Dr. Walker makes a very strong case for the practice of tithing, as he is well-known for. His book, which is subtitled A Tithing Manual, is used for that very purpose in a great many churches. His own congregation in Harlem reputedly has the highest percentage of tithers (71 percent) among all the African-American Baptist churches. Their experience makes clear that relative poverty need not be a reason why people cannot tithe, although certainly there will always be a few who in fact simply cannot. Jewish and Christian experience alike seems to demonstrate that the discipline of devoting 10 percent of whatever one has to the work of the Lord is salutary beyond measure, calling forth discipleship that people often would not have thought themselves capable of. There are many excellent books that will be resources for stewardship within a newly established African-American church; among these are those by Callahan, Haughey, and Powers. Beyond tithing as an issue of collecting money to be used for Christian purposes are considerations of how these purposes are to be defined and agreed upon. Christ clearly told us to feed the hungry, and we do not seem to be able to multiply fish as efficientl

Category: Philosophy - C