Deuteronomy 5:9-10
9 Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me,10 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.
-Holy Bible, KJV
I remember as a small child, I would often absorb as much information as possible, soaking in happenings in my environs like a sponge (As children often do). This included direction and wisdom on spiritual matters. As a disclaimer, my religious background is Baptist and Jehovah’s Witness (A long story that may be explored in another post). As a result, the foundation of a lot of what I understood to be true regarding faith is rooted in these two denominations. One of my defining character attributes, if I can say so myself, is a healthy fear of The Most High, constantly judging myself to meet His approval. A second is an inquisitive nature and the need to question EVERYTHING! (I must admit, I’m a reformed know-it-all, and this quality has both worked for and against me, but I digress..) I’m confident I’m not the only one who feels this way. With all of that out of the way, I only bring that up to give context to what I will say next… I’ve often found established doctrine and practices lacking and still felt lost. For instance, while observing the congregation on any given Sunday when I actually DID attend church, I’d look around as the attendees worked themselves into a fervor and ask myself “Why am I not getting The Holy Ghost? I’m into the message of the sermon and I’m not a horrible person. What am I doing wrong?” Or perhaps I’d be at the Kingdom Hall with other relatives and question the rigidness of those proceedings. The Watchtower Society tends to have a moreso literal interpretation of Scripture, and as I would read Awake or other publications, I would notice glaring discrepancies (of which they are unfortunately notorious for and it may also help if I mention I am a MAJOR history, geography, and social sciences buff, so I often cross reference and compare things). Such things often leave me frustrated and unfulfilled, and continuing my search for real answers.
On the secular history side of things, I would often note that during times of Bondage, the slave population was completely stripped of its identity (Or at least, great confusion was intentionally introduced to subjugate that population and our forefathers did a poor job of communicating our true heritage, perhaps this topic will be explored in another post.) Family names, cultural traditions, everything- gone! And literacy was punishable by death! That means we were unable to read and interpret scripture at this time for ourselves. And only customs and Scriptural passages approved by our enslavers were allowed. Verses would be orally read that supported the desired narrative of our captors, intentionally mis-contextualized like that of the Curse of Ham and “servants(slaves) should obey their masters.” That very mindset continues in the Black Church and mainstream Christianity at large TO THIS VERY DAY! There are even sects of the Hebrew Israelites who stand on street corners in costumed garb, extolling the virtues of their unique interpretation of the Word from megaphones and loudspeaker setups, harassing non-melanated passers-by to the point of tears. And while everyone is undoubtedly entitled to their own opinion and has the right to practice their “faith”, there is only one Truth! I’ve always stated that my people are akin to the Children of Israel, lost in the Wilderness after their Exodus from Egypt. Lost due to their failure to maintain Faith in and abide by the Law of The Most High… And it has led to catastrophic results! Even when our distorted version of faith worked temporarily as our families were intact, values upright, and communities thriving in the face of oppression and adversity, it didn’t take long for all of that to fall by the wayside during the sweeping reforms of the 1960s and the introduction of Luciferian practices under the guise of “Liberalism”. If that faith and those beliefs and traditions were so strong and correct, we would not be in the loathsome, shameful, deplorable, and irreversible predicament we find ourselves in now. The doctrine of the Church seems to change with whatever seems to be politically expedient at any given time, yet the Word those churches are based on NEVER changes- so how is this possible?
Faith is a life-long commitment, and considering we are imperfect and born into sin, knowing nothing, it is incumbent upon each of us to always seek answers beyond the “obvious”. A copy made from a bad copy is ALSO a bad copy, a defective process manufactures a defective finished product. Decisions made from bad intel remain bad decisions. It takes a herculean, pardon me, Samsonian effort to find that correct Path and Walk in Truth. I for one, will accept that challenge and endeavor to continue improving my understanding while applying those lessons to my daily life. Shalom.
