{"id":654001,"date":"2015-01-15T17:15:05","date_gmt":"2015-01-15T17:15:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/?p=654001"},"modified":"2015-11-23T21:25:21","modified_gmt":"2015-11-24T02:25:21","slug":"perry-noble","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/andygill\/perry-noble\/","title":{"rendered":"Mega-Church Pastor that Allegedly said “N-Word”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

The \u201cn-word\u201d is one of the\u00a0<\/em>most divisive and\u00a0emotionally charged words\u00a0within our U.S. context.\u00a0I think social critic Ta-Nehisi Coates sums it up better than most stating\u00a0in The New York Times, \u201cIf you could choose one word to represent the centuries of bondage, the decades of terrorism, the long days of mass rape, the totality of white violence that birthed the black race in America, it would be \u2018n\u2014\u2013.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

Martin Luther starts off the Small Catechism saying, \u201cDear God, what a misery I beheld!\u201d Around 500 years later, I look at our privileged versions of Church and echo similar sentiments.\u00a0It\u2019s bizarre to think that a religion in which\u00a0describes their theological position as Christocentric is known for everything but being\u00a0centered\u00a0<\/em>on Christ. Pastors who sit back and say, \u201cAndy, it\u2019s not\u00a0that\u00a0<\/em>bad\u2026\u201d are 100% correct. It\u2019s not\u00a0that\u00a0<\/em>bad, in fact it\u2019s not bad at all\u2026\u00a0for them<\/strong><\/span>.<\/p>\n

So when a video came out with mega-church pastor Perry Noble seemingly<\/em> saying the n-word in his Christmas Eve Sermon<\/a><\/span>, I didn\u2019t expect much remorse from anyone, especially within predominantly white evangelicalism, including Noble. I want to say that:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. I believe that when Noble says, \u201cThis word was not in his heart\u2026\u201d he\u2019s telling the truth.<\/li>\n
  2. That this was, although understandably\u00a0so, a misinterpretation of what he was actually saying.<\/li>\n
  3. This is not the first offensively racist statement I\u2019ve heard from him on the topic of race [I\u2019ve listened to many of his sermons, and even gone and seen him speak live \u2013 all that to say, this is not<\/span><\/strong> the first racially insensitive statement I\u2019ve heard from him].<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Hearing via Facebook<\/a>,<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>from those who attend the church, that Noble did \u201cin fact\u201d apologize. I was happy to hear this,\u00a0until<\/em> I actually heard his \u201capology.\u201d Which played out more so like a #SorryNotSorry. My first listen to the short clip released by Newspring Church<\/a>, his apology didn\u2019t sit right with me. I think\u00a0Jake Dockter, social activists<\/span><\/a> and Huffington Post contributor<\/span><\/a>, sums it up pretty well in a recent email to me stating:<\/p>\n

    First he mocks those folks online for critiquing.<\/p>\n

    Then, he denies it was \u201cin his heart.\u201d Then he \u201capologizes\u201d and then turns it around in a really underhanded way. \u201cIf you watched that and you felt like thats what I said\u2026\u201d puts it on us rather than on him. then he says, \u201cthats all we are gonna say, we are gonna move on cause we have people to reach for jesus.\u201d as if justice and caring for this is a side issue\u2026 problematic [sic].<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    Before I go on, I want to be clear that this is\u00a0not<\/strong><\/span> me \u201churling insults\u201d let alone \u201ccasting stones\u201d this is me simply calling for accountability. This is larger than this one moment of misunderstanding.\u00a0The Privileged Evangelical\u2019s mega-church pastor, their silence on the issue of racial tension has been deafening<\/strong>. They\u2019ll\u00a0colonize Uganda but not show solidarity in North America<\/a><\/span>.\u00a0Their tactic is evasion and if that doesn\u2019t work they result to a forceful<\/em> abusive means of coercion<\/span>.<\/p>\n