{"id":3195,"date":"2007-04-16T20:15:09","date_gmt":"2007-04-16T20:15:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/?p=3195"},"modified":"2010-12-09T16:47:32","modified_gmt":"2010-12-09T16:47:32","slug":"5521","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2007\/04\/16\/5521\/","title":{"rendered":"Students Exhorted to Help Reform Societal Views"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Stan Friedman<\/p>\n

CHICAGO, IL (April 16, 2007) \u2013 Pastor and author Efrem Smith already had planned to speak on the church\u2019s call to promote racial, gender, and class justice when he addressed students during a chapel service at North Park University on Wednesday. The words that led to the firing of radio disc jockey Don Imus highlighted the need for the message.
\n
\nImus\u2019 words are a symptom of an entire society that has not lived biblically, said Smith, including the hip-hop culture, corporate offices, the dance floor, and even sanctuaries. \u201cWe must admit that we have a long way to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Smith\"Smith is the pastor of Sanctuary Covenant Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the urban ministry director of Minnesota Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He also was a featured speaker during CHIC 2006, where he told 6,000 students, \u201cYou have a destiny that must be fulfilled. You are not too young to do justice. You are not too young to turn this world upside down for God.\u201d To read that previously published article, see Not Too Young for God<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Smith preached from Matthew 21-28, in which a Canaanite woman asks Jesus to heal her daughter, and Jesus initially appears to reject her request based on ethnicity. Jesus replied to her request by saying he only had been sent \u201cto the lost sheep of Israel,\u201d adding, \u201cIt is not right to take the children\u2019s bread and toss it to the dogs.\u201d<\/p>\n

The use of \u201cdogs\u201d in that culture was a demeaning term, said Smith, co-author of The Hip-Hop Church: Connecting With the Movement Shaping Our Culture<\/a> and author of Raising Up Young Heroes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Smith suggested the passage in Matthew has to be considered in the context of all the times Jesus reached out to women, other ethnic groups and the poor. When he spoke to the Canaanite woman, Jesus was simply bringing to light the prejudices of the culture so that the attitudes could be overcome.<\/p>\n

The church, he said, should be at the forefront of transforming harmful views in society. The church has failed many times, Smith believes, but he declared, \u201cWe can be right when it comes to race, gender, and class,\u201d adding, \u201cWe must admit that we have a way to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith exhorted the students to act with hope, stating, \u201cI still believe Jesus changes and redeems people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Each of the students, he said, \u201ccan bring dignity when people are put down.\u201d If that is to happen, every person must first examine their own hearts, Smith continued, adding his own heart needs continued change.<\/p>\n

Speaking of women, Smith said one cannot merely look at them as objects, as society continues to suggest. \u201cI have to honor them as God\u2019s daughters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith said many people of all races, gender and class are responsible for promoting harmful stereotypes, including the hip-hop culture. He drew particular attention to (rappers) Jay-Z and 50-cent, stating they are just as responsible for demeaning language as was Imus. He also was critical of Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson in their call for Imus\u2019 resignation despite troubling questions about their own personal lives and conduct.<\/p>\n

In the end, he said, the responsibility for change lies with everyone.<\/p>\n

Report This Post<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CHICAGO, IL (April 16, 2007) \u2013 Pastor and author Efrem Smith already had planned to speak on the church\u2019s call to promote racial, gender, and class justice when he addressed students during a chapel service at North Park University on Wednesday. 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