Jul
29
2010
Reinventing Al Sharpton
Newsweek features a cover story on the Rev. Al Sharpton entitled “The Reinvention of the Reverend Al: From Tawana to Obama, What Sharpton’s Longevity Says About Race in America.”
As the subtitle suggests, the article covers Sharpton’s career from the shiny jumpsuit days of marching and bullhorns to a 100-pound lighter Sharpton donning custom suits and appearing regularly on cable news programs. We see the transition of Sharpton from boy preacher to presidential candidate.
Sharpton himself contends “My mission, my message, and everything else about me is the same as always. The country may have changed, but I haven’t.”
The authors ask whether Sharpton’s role as agitator for racial justice “is still needed in an era when the man atop the national power structure himself is black, and Sharpton now regularly meets with him–issuing not just demands but advice.”
I would heartily answer “Yes!” Both the people of God and the nations who do not know God need a prophet from God. Truth must be spoken to power on behalf of the most powerful Truth himself. But I can’t say that that has been Sharpton’s mission or message. In the entire article, there was no reference to Jesus, the cross, the gospel, judgment or anything remotely Christian except references to Sharpton as a preacher and a Baptist.
The article reveals the fact that “prophetic preaching” itself has been hijacked. Many lay claim to the mantle and call for the prophet’s voice to be heard. But is there a genuine prophet in the land?
I’m certain there is, but they’re not the prophets of CNN or MSNBC, or the liberal and conservative academic “prophets” of a Christless, crossless “faith., compassion-less faith. On August 28th, the anniversary of the historic March on Washington where Dr. King delivered the famous “I Have a Dream” speech, Sharpton is planning another march on Washington. It’s billed as an anti-Glenn Beck “Take Back America” rally. I say let all the social gospel prophets on the left and the right have their bonfires of vanity. What we really need is for the word of God to fall like a hammer, for the Spirit to powerfully enlarge His work of conviction and conversion, and for the people of God to be revived. It’s revival we need, not reinvention.
As for Sharpton’s contribution to the country’s understanding of race, the article fails to answer its own question clearly or compellingly. That, too, is telling. Sharpton’s career, in my opinion, has muddled and confused issues of “race” and racial understanding. It’s fitting that an article examining his career should leave us with questions and uncertainty. It’s what Sharpton has left us. We can do better–especially if we reject the myth of “race” itself.
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