Dark
Light

Suggestions

I Won’t Say Amen: Three Black Christian Clichés That Must Go

December 15, 2024
4 mins read

By Marcus T. McCullough + Lawrence Ware | with thanks to NewBlackMan (in Exile)

Tuesday, August 25, 2015.

In a Black Christian worship experience, you are both expected and encouraged to engage in dialogue. To generate a desired response, the speaker will at times use certain catch phrases to fan the flames of worship. So popular are some of these dialogical exchanges that a Mad Libs-like paragraph was circulated by email giving many Black Church-goers laughs because a number of them could easily fill in the blanks with sayings they’ve heard since their youth.

One such phrase is “Let the church say amen.” Often said by a minister with leadership authority, the anticipated response from the congregation is “amen”—meant to demonstrate understanding and/or agreement. Often, this phrase may follow an important announcement, gentle chiding, or even a joke.

This saying and its expected response are so familiar that even if a churchgoer hears something with which they strongly agree outside of the context of a church, they may unconsciously give the response. The phrase and response is, in this sense, a marker of cultural unity and identity. One often doesn’t even consider to what they are assenting. The response pours out unconsciously and swiftly.

Unfortunately, over-familiarity with this dialogic expectation can be theologically dangerous. The elicitation of “amen” can lead congregants into agreeing with statements and ideas that are problematic. People are often unaware of the problematic nature of these popular phrases, and ultimately assent is granted with no conscious or moral consideration of what is actually being said. This is both disturbing and ironic, particularly since Jesus states in Luke 10: 27 that people should love God with their heart, soul and mind (NRSV). That is, we are to be thoughtful about our worship.

Some of the Black Church faithful, however, are concerned about the propensity to say amen to statements undeserving of such assent and choose to be more critical in the context of worship. We authors are two such persons, and that is why we have written this piece.
It is our intention to examine a few of these popular phrases and articulate why they are dangerous. We do so with the aim of fostering a more critical and authentic Christianity amongst those who belong to Black churches. There are many sayings in the Black-American Christian tradition that need to be reconsidered before an “amen” is given, and the following three must go.

“When the praises go up, blessings come down.”
This phrase is often used to elicit an exuberant response from people in a congregation. If a minister finds him or herself unable to get a hallelujah from a room full of sleepy congregants, he or she might utter this phrase to bribe them into participation. The only problem is that it is dangerous theologically and socially.

This phrase turns the Divine into an ATM machine. It paints God as a being hungry for empty compliments and willing to pay for adoration. That’s not how God works. Psalm 19: 1 reports, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork” (NRSV). We should see praise as an honor, not as a down payment on a new house.

Further, this phrase has dangerous socioeconomic implications. Does this mean that those who are impoverished are in that condition because they have not sufficiently praised God? Does it mean that the wealthy are all living righteously? Of course not. This cliché has to go.

“Favor ain’t fair.”
This is the kind of statement one may make after getting a job for which many have applied. It’s a statement that communicates the inability to influence divine grace. Yet, it also declares that while one cannot persuade the divine to extend grace, the speaker just happens to be the recipient of an incredible amount. Put bluntly: it’s a humble brag.

It’s similar to how one may get on social media and say, “Let me brag on God,” and then just brag on themselves. Usually the statements end with an obligatory “Ain’t God good?” or “You can’t tell me God isn’t real.” These statements aren’t fooling anyone. They imply that God isn’t good unless you have a large bank account or that one would have legitimate cause to doubt the existence of God were it not for the new car in the driveway.
The phrase “favor ain’t fair” is reminiscent of the song I’m Walking in Authority. When Donnie McClurkin says, “I’m walking in prosperity, living life the way it’s meant to be,” I wonder if he realizes this statement would not apply to Jesus. The same is true of “favor ain’t fair.” There are no set of circumstances that would lead the first century Jew we know as Jesus to look around and say anything resembling a humble brag. If he wouldn’t do it, then neither should we.

“The Bible says…”
The Bible rightfully holds a significant position in the life of the Black Church. Historically, Black-American Christians have cherished the scriptures for their messages of divine liberation, justice, and instruction on how to treat one another. Many Black Christians hold that the Bible is the Word of God, given to human beings from Heaven to guide lives and provide the message about salvation. As such, quotes from scripture carry a weight rivaled by no other source, literary or beyond. To say “the Bible says,” then, is to address something important by appealing to God-given words.
Danger lurks, however, behind the use of these three words. Oftentimes, no citation is coupled with the phrase, thus denying a hearer the opportunity to not only read the scripture for his or herself, but also to read the scripture in its broader context. Further, the phrase “the Bible says” robs the scriptures of their multivocal beauty by treating the Good Book as univocal, despite the fact that the name “bible” is derived from the Greek pairing ta biblia, meaning “the books.” If you are unwilling to do the work required to cite the text holistically, then leave the biblical pontificating alone.
This is not an exhaustive list. There is more to come. But the next time you say ‘Amen,’ make sure it is something to which you agree.

+++
Marcus T. McCullough holds degrees in religion, divinity, and sacred theology from Morehouse College, Harvard Divinity School, and Boston University School of Theology, respectively. He is an ordained AME minister and hospital chaplain. His hometown is Seattle, WA.

Lawrence Ware is a professor of philosophy and diversity coordinator for Oklahoma State University’s Ethics Center. A frequent contributor to the publication The Democratic Left and contributing editor of the progressive publication RS: The Religious Left, he has also been a commentator on race for the HuffPost Live, CNN, and NPR.

I Won’t Say Amen: Three Black Christian Clichés That Must Go

Post Views: 1,326

SholaAdenekan

242 Comments

  3. Its superb as your other content : D, regards for putting up. „The present is the necessary product of all the past, the necessary cause of all the future.” by Robert Green Ingersoll.

    Reply

  5. I’m still learning from you, as I’m trying to reach my goals. I definitely love reading all that is written on your blog.Keep the tips coming. I loved it!

    Reply

  14. Howdy! I could have sworn Iíve been to this blog before but after going through many of the articles I realized itís new to me. Anyways, Iím definitely delighted I discovered it and Iíll be bookmarking it and checking back frequently!

    Reply

  18. Great post. I was checking continuously this blog and I am inspired! Extremely helpful info particularly the final part 🙂 I handle such information a lot. I was seeking this certain info for a long time. Thanks and good luck.

    Reply

  21. Hmm is anyone else having problems with the pictures on this blog loading?I’m trying to find out if its a problem on my end or if it’s theblog. Any feed-back would be greatly appreciated.

    Reply

  22. Generally I do not read post on blogs, but I wish to say that this write-up very forced me to try and do so! Your writing style has been amazed me. Thanks, very nice article.

    Reply

  25. You could certainly see your enthusiasm in the work you write. The sector hopes for even more passionate writers like you who aren’t afraid to mention how they believe. At all times go after your heart.

    Reply

  26. Hi my friend! I want to say that this article is awesome, great written and include approximately all significant infos. I’d like to look more posts like this .

    Reply

  30. Thanks for finally writing about > القوات التركية تجدد قصفها مناطق ريف حلب بسوريا – ستراتيجيانيوز brain function

    Reply

  33. It is appropriate time to make some plans for the future and it’s time to be happy. I have read this post and if I could I desire to suggest you some interesting things or tips. Perhaps you could write next articles referring to this article. I desire to read more things about it!

    Reply

  34. I think that is one of the such a lot important information for me. And i am satisfied studying your article. However should remark on some general things, The website style is ideal, the articles is really excellent : D. Excellent job, cheers

    Reply

  37. Appreciating the persistence you put into your blog and detailed information you present. It’s good to come across a blog every once in a while that isn’t the same old rehashed information. Fantastic read! I’ve bookmarked your site and I’m adding your RSS feeds to my Google account.

    Reply

  38. Hello I am so delighted I found your blog page, I really found you by mistake, while I was searching on Askjeeve for something else, Anyways I am here now and would just like to say cheers for a marvelous post and a all round interesting blog (I also love the theme/design), I don’t have time to go through it all at the minute but I have book-marked it and also included your RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be back to read a lot more, Please do keep up the fantastic work.

    Reply

  39. I’m not sure exactly why but this website is loading very slow for me. Is anyone else having this issue or is it a problem on my end? I’ll check back later on and see if the problem still exists.

    Reply

  42. I wanted to send you that very little remark so as to say thank you as before considering the superb secrets you have provided in this article. It’s really unbelievably open-handed with you to supply publicly just what some people could possibly have offered for sale as an ebook to make some dough for themselves, especially considering the fact that you could possibly have tried it in the event you considered necessary. Those tips in addition worked like the fantastic way to be certain that other people have a similar keenness the same as mine to see good deal more in terms of this condition. I’m certain there are many more fun moments up front for people who looked at your website.

    Reply

  44. Hi would you mind letting me know which hosting company you’re working with? I’ve loaded your blog in 3 completely different internet browsers and I must say this blog loads a lot quicker then most. Can you suggest a good internet hosting provider at a reasonable price? Thanks a lot, I appreciate it!

    Reply

  48. Write more, thats all I have to say. Literally, it seems as though you relied on the video to make your point. You obviously know what youre talking about, why waste your intelligence on just posting videos to your site when you could be giving us something enlightening to read?

    Reply

  55. ramolik[…]Wonderful story, reckoned we could combine a few unrelated information, nevertheless actually really worth taking a search, whoa did one particular understand about Mid East has got additional problerms at the same time […]

    Reply

  59. Hello there, just turned into alert to your blog via Google, and found that it’s truly informative. I am going to be careful for brussels. I’ll appreciate for those who continue this in future. Numerous other folks shall be benefited from your writing. Cheers!

    Reply

  72. We used to work together clindamycin lotion for acne scars “I think that what they describe happening in Chicago is probably pretty typical for urban environments, especially in lower socioeconomic areas,” Gracy said

    Reply

  76. Aw, this was an exceptionally nice post. Taking a few minutes and actual effort to generate a very good articleÖ but what can I sayÖ I put things off a whole lot and don’t manage to get anything done.

    Reply

  79. I blog often and I genuinely appreciate your content. This great article has truly peaked my interest. I am going to book mark your blog and keep checking for new information about once a week. I opted in for your Feed as well.

    Reply

  81. When I originally commented I clicked the « Notify me when new comments are added » checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get four emails with the same comment. Is there any way you can remove people from that service? Thanks!

    Reply

  83. I get pleasure from, result in I found just what I used to be taking a look for. You have ended my four day lengthy hunt! God Bless you man. Have a great day. Bye

    Reply

  87. Wow that was unusual. I just wrote an incredibly long comment but after I clicked submit my comment didn’t show up. Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Anyways, just wanted to say excellent blog!

    Reply

  88. I blog frequently and I genuinely thank you for your information. This great article has really peaked my interest. I will book mark your blog and keep checking for new details about once per week. I subscribed to your Feed as well.

    Reply

  89. I’m training to be an engineer propranolol treatment of ptsd Sensors recognize the passengers’ hands and offer them user interfaces within convenient reach that present appropriate operating options for each particular situation

    Reply

  90. Very efficiently written story. It will be beneficial to anyone who utilizes it, as well as yours truly :). Keep up the good work – for sure i will check out more posts.

    Reply

  109. I’d like to thank you for the efforts you’ve put in writing this blog. I’m hoping to view the same high-grade content by you in the future as well. In fact, your creative writing abilities has inspired me to get my own blog now 😉

    Reply

  113. It’s truly a great and useful piece of info. I’m happy that you simply shared this useful information with us. Please stay us up to date like this. Thank you for sharing.

    Reply

  124. Aw, this was a very nice post. Spending some timeand actual effort to make a really good article… but what can I say…I hesitate a lot and never seem to get nearly anything done.Also visit my blog Keto Total BHB Review

    Reply

  126. A motivating discussion is worth comment. There’s no doubt that that you need to publish more on this issue, it might not be a taboo subject but generally folks don’t speak about these topics. To the next! All the best!!

    Reply

  128. Woah! I’m really digging the template/theme of this website. It’s simple, yet effective. A lot of times it’s challenging to get that “perfect balance” between user friendliness and visual appearance. I must say that you’ve done a great job with this. In addition, the blog loads extremely fast for me on Chrome. Superb Blog!

    Reply

  129. Hey there! This post couldn’t be written any better! Reading through this post reminds me of my old room mate! He always kept chatting about this. I will forward this page to him. Pretty sure he will have a good read. Thanks for sharing!

    Reply

  131. My programmer is trying to persuade me to move to .net from PHP. I have always disliked the idea because of the expenses. But he’s tryiong none the less. I’ve been using Movable-type on a variety of websites for about a year and am worried about switching to another platform. I have heard good things about blogengine.net. Is there a way I can transfer all my wordpress posts into it? Any kind of help would be really appreciated!

    Reply

  132. When I initially commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get several emails with the same comment. Is there any way you can remove people from that service? Thanks!

    Reply

  133. Hey there this is somewhat of off topic but I was wondering if blogs use WYSIWYG editors or if you have to manually code with HTML. I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding knowledge so I wanted to get guidance from someone with experience. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

    Reply

  134. I’m really enjoying the theme/design of your web site. Do you ever run into any web browser compatibility issues? A number of my blog visitors have complained about my site not operating correctly in Explorer but looks great in Chrome. Do you have any recommendations to help fix this issue?

    Reply

  135. Good day! This is my first visit to your blog! We are a team of volunteers and starting a new project in a community in the same niche. Your blog provided us valuable information to work on. You have done a extraordinary job!

    Reply

  147. Thanks for your post. I’d really like to say that the price of car insurance varies greatly from one policy to another, mainly because there are so many different issues which bring about the overall cost. For instance, the brand name of the car will have a tremendous bearing on the fee. A reliable aged family car or truck will have a less expensive premium compared to a flashy sports car.

    Reply

  155. Thanks for every other excellent article. The place else may anybody get that kind of information in such a perfect approach of writing? I have a presentation subsequent week, and I’m at the search for such info.

    Reply

  173. A fascinating discussion is worth comment. I think that you ought to publish more about this issue, it might not be a taboo matter but typically folks don’t talk about such topics. To the next! Many thanks!!

    Reply

  187. You can certainly see your expertise in the work you write. The world hopes for even more passionate writers like you who aren’t afraid to say how they believe. Always go after your heart.

    Reply

  192. Amazing! This blog looks exactly like my old one! It’s on a completely different topic but it has pretty much the same layout and design. Outstanding choice of colors!

    Reply

  197. We are searching for experienced people that are interested in from working their home on a part-time basis. If you want to earn $500 a day, and you don’t mind writing some short opinions up, this is the perfect opportunity for you!

    Reply

  201. An intriguing discussion is definitely worth comment. I do think that you ought to publish more on this topic, it may not be a taboo subject but generally folks don’t speak about these topics. To the next! Kind regards!!

    Reply

  214. I just like the helpful info you supply in your articles. I’ll bookmark your blog and take a look at once more right here regularly. I am relatively certain I will be informed many new stuff proper here! Good luck for the next!

    Reply

  228. What’s Taking place i am new to this, I stumbled upon this I’ve found It absolutely helpful and it has aidedme out loads. I am hoping to contribute & assistother users like its helped me. Good job.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Previous Story

“I am too blessed to be stressed”: Three (More) Black Christian Clichés That Must Go

Next Story

#SayHerName: Resisting Police Brutality Against Black Women

Latest from Blog