Resist We Much

My annual False Teacher Of The Year award is coming up soon and to be honest, there's plenty of candidates out there. The problem is that although a plethora of new false teachers are clamoring for recognition, there appears to be a wealth of old names putting themselves in the running for this prestigious award. We had thought that these graybeards had retired from the limelight and were quietly praying for redemption or making their livings saying things like "you want fries with that?"

It breaks my heart that people I know who are good Christians are falling to the spell of smooth talking "prosperity pimps", pulpit "Weinsteins", and teachers of the word of "If It Feels Good Do It". False teachers are nothing new, Paul warned us about them two millenia ago:

28 "Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. 29 "I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. 31 "Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears. (Acts 20:28-31)

And then there's Al Sharpton. "Reverend" Sharpton has always been on the periphery of bad news but there is one question about Al Sharpton that always bothers me: "Just what exactly is the "Reverend" Al Sharpton a revered for?" (I know that ending a sentence with a preposition is wrong, but sometimes you just have to do it)

Alfred Charles Sharpton Jr. was born in Brooklyn NY on October 3, 1954 and he claims to have delivered his first sermon at the age of four, his sermon was titled "Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled" a sermon he delivered before learning to read or write. By age ten Sharpton was "ordained" by Pentecostal minister Bishop F.D. Washington - a man with no training or education himself. After Bishop Washington's death in the late 1980s, Sharpton became a Baptist. He was re-baptized as a member of the Bethany Baptist Church in 1994 by the Reverend William Augustus Jones and became a Baptist minister. 

As for education, "Reverend" Al attended and graduated from Samuel J. Tilden High School in Brooklyn, but dropped out of Brooklyn College in 1975 failing to complete two years. I dropped out of college around the same time so I can't fault him for that, I had dropped out to go on a 20 year world tour with the United States Air Force. "Reverend" Al dropped out to go on tour with James Brown, the Godfather of Parole Soul. While I did return to college to earn my degree Al never did. It is said that "Reverend" Al received an honorary degree from A.P. Clay Bible College, an educational institution that doesn't seem to exist on the internet.

Education is important to a minister, not only to learn the bible and to read it in its original languages, but also to learn how to counsel, to properly teach ethics and morality, and to write sermons. History is also important so the bible can be taught in historical context. A person can be covered in degrees and still not be a Christian, and a Christian does not need degrees to be a Christian, but to be an effective teacher, you need to know how to be a teacher, something Al never leaned. Al Sharpton didn't need to study history, he has his own version. In 1994 while speaking at Kean College he said:

"White folks was in caves while we was building empires.... We taught philosophy and astrology and mathematics before Socrates and them Greek homos ever got around to it... Do some cracker come and tell you, ‘Well my mother and father blood go back to the Mayflower,’ you better hold your pocket. That ain’t nothing to be proud of, that means their forefathers was crooks." (source)

Seeing that he was addressing a liberal school he probably was not laughed off stage for grammar or racist content. I'm not saying it's impossible for someone to become a minister without education, or to be deemed worthy of ordination at the age of four, but what I am saying is You will know them by their fruits

The "Reverend" Al Sharpton has never professed a testimony of conversion, nor has he ever led a church. He has never written books about the Bible. grace, salvation, forgiveness, repentance, restoration, the Gospel of Jesus Christ and even Jesus Himself. The only subject that the "Reverend" Al Sharpton has written about is "Reverend" Al Sharpton. He's written three auto biographies, the final one uses the title "The Rejected Stone" an embarrassing, horrific piece of outright pride and arrogance using a name used to describe Jesus to describe himself.

Talking about Jesus is something I haven't heard him do, most of his "sermons" (and don't be mistaken they're not sermons, they're homilies) are reserved for the fading away of the civil rights movement and the rise of its inferior successor, the social justice war. When speaking in front of a congregation the exodus of Jews out of Egypt is the forefront of "Reverend" Al's remarks.

As for setting the example for his flock to follow, "Reverend" Al falls a bit short, and we know him by his fruits. Just a quick sampler:

• In 1989, Sharpton was charged with 67 felony counts of tax evasion, larceny and fraud. Whatever deal he made was undisclosed; he was acquitted on all counts and only pled guilty to a misdemeanor for not filing his 1986 state income tax.
• In 2001, he was sentenced to 90 days in jail for trespassing on U.S. Navy property during an alleged "protest" against military training activities in Puerto Rico.
• In 2003, a New York City travel agency sued him for allegedly using fake credit card information.
• In 2004, the Federal Election Commission ordered him to repay $100,000 in public matching funds he received for his 2004 presidential run. In his 2004 presidential campaign, Sharpton traveled extensively and routinely mixed travel for his campaign committee and personal business. He also ended up paying $285,000 in civil penalties.
• In 2008, he was convicted on two counts of disorderly conduct resulting from being arrested for allegedly "protesting." Most protesters had their cases dismissed, Sharpton wanted a trial, he got one, and was found guilty.
• In 2013, while still married to his second wife Kathy Jordan he unashamedly flaunted his 35 year old girlfriend Aisha McShaw in New York City.
• In November 2014, The New York Times exposed his fraudulent life, writing, "As Al Sharpton rose, so did his unpaid taxes." The article lists a rap sheet of unpaid taxes, rent, and other bills, highlighting that Sharpton and his business owe more than $4.5 million in taxes. He refutes their article. 

Do I like the "Reverend" Al Sharpton or his gospel? I don't know him, so I can't answer that part, but as for his Gospel, I don't like at all. The Gospel is Jesus Christ, born sinless, died sinless, and risen from the dead. He was not put here on earth to lead marches against homelessness but to lead us to love the homeless. Nor was he put here to show the difference in race, but in the similarity of our souls. 

Please Al, we're not here to delve in to political battles but to love God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our strength and with all our minds, let's concentrate on that while we love our neighbors. And if you need a little help with Romans 13 just let us know.