This past weekend I went to church and then after that I decided to stop by the F.O.I "Fruit of Islam" to see exactly what they talk about. I've always had an interest for who I am as a black man other than hearing James Brown tell me "I'm black and I'm proud" or the Black Church telling Me I'm Gods Child and a Descendant of Abraham. I'm not changing my religion but they did have some nice books on who we are. So it brought me to this question, "Are young black men being overlooked in the local church when it comes to their role in society and how to conduct themselves and recognize who they are?"
What responsibility does the church play when it comes to teaching them?
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Excellent topic. As a black woman watching, not able to experience the black male perspective, I would say "Yes, the church ... actually the world is overlooking young black men" and "Yes, the church has responsibility to teach them" ESPECIALLY, since so many are virtually growing up parentless, with Dad's not being around and Mom's working 24/7 to keep them clothed and fed.
I'm going to say yes! I think the black church should put just as much on who we are As black men and not just the "God is Good format and he can do anything"
Also there are not many "Men" and I mean that Loosely in church. There's a lot of "MENS" if you know what I mean. So where do WE go?
Where do you go? I think the church should be going out and finding these young, black men and not wait for them to come to them.
If the church's goal is to bring more souls to Christ they have to go to where the sinners are "per sae"....(we all are sinners). So basically, if change is to happen with these young men the Church has to appeal to them first and go to where they are.
ahahahah mens that was a good one.. Well i think young men need mentor's in the church, it's not enough to just sit under the word and indirectly be told how to conduct yourself. The bible says the old are too teach the young and i truly believe that when young men come into the church, we because we are the church have a responsibility to pair them up with Honest Men, not flaming men that will teach them in a well rounded fashion about who they are not only as Men of God but also about who they are as young black men in general and what their role is in the church, the home, and society in general
Well we keep saying "the church" but WE ARE THE CHURCH SO LET'S NOT FORGET WE ARE TALKING ABOUT OURSELVES, let's take responsibility it's OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO GO AND GET THEM AND NOT SIT BACK AND WAIT ON SOMEONE ELSE TO DO IT
and some of the women that are with good men need to push their men to take an active role, i think that too many people sit and wait for something to happen, like there is this magical remedy to get things done, however God himself commanded us to go out and to bring people in, we can't just sit and wait on the pastor to do it, there is wayy to much finger pointing on who should be doing what, we should all do it that would be the men
but if many of the men in the church do not know who they are as a Black man and where they decent from then how are they going to teach the other young men? How can some young men learn from the elders that are not prospering themselves.
@hindsight that's what I'm saying many of these people in church (us) may not know ourselves how to go about doing this therefore how can I learn from those who do not know?
I think that is where there needs to be more education....Many know the basics of black history about Martin Luther King etcc... but we have to dig deep and truly the only way to do that may very well be to hold classes, it's simple but necessary i think, i don't know any other way
I do think that the church or rather the "Men" in the church that do Know who they are and where they stand as a black man in which some were Kings, some warriors, some are meant to be servants but either way they need to teach the young men who they are and encourage them to be More than just someone that serves the Lord Via the church.
i really don't think it's an impossible task but it may be a hard one because just like you said many don't know. But can't some of our men educate themselves so that they can teach the younger ones? And i guess with that the next question is how do they motivate themselves to do that?
i do agree with that statement focus
it's the same way with the Sistahz in church many believe that coming to church will not only get them closer to God but also a Husband. I mean Many black women should be teach the young women where they stand as Black Strong Women not what the Media makes them out to be "pop lock and drop it"
YES AND THAT IS THE TRUTH BECAUSE THAT IS NOT CUTE. i think many of these kids are brilliant however they have no guidance and the adults in their lives are encouraging them to drop it's like it's hot...come on people, come on..this is making me sad
this is a great topic...
there are many avenues for black men to learn about who they are as black men and individuals...in the home it's the parents/grandparents job to speak into the lives of their young men...tell them their worth and how to hold to the values that they're being taught...and how to stand by their convictions...in the church it's up to the pastor to tell them who they are in christ and where they fit into the body while living here...as a community it takes a village to try to show different venues for black men to get into...ie politics...somewhat the unpopular things or the not so cool things..ya feel me....the way the world is today it truly takes all of these aspects to try to keep our young black men focused and try to make them become successful adult black men....the system loves to see us and as a mother of two young black men ...i'm doing exactly the things that i've spoken about
I suppose it all boils down to guidance, if the church has good leadership, family has great leadership and everyone works at teaching everyone, then WE all know our place in winning souls, teaching a black man his role in family and church and the world as general (Is that too Kumbaya-ish or "We are the world"??) But if it were that easy, this ? wouldn't have come up... Right?
Well you said it there @ babydoll you said Parents meaning more than one and Grand parents. All in all we are back to the whole point that it starts at home but with Both parents because a woman can't teach a Boy to be a Man and especially teaching him where he came from so he knows where he's going.
Man of the Elders themselves don't know who THEY ARE as black men other than they Saved.... Define who YOU are as a Black woman or Man. Man of us including me need to find out who we are and why we act the way we do and it's not because we learned it from Grandma
I meant Many of the Elders
It really does start at home and no a woman can't teach a boy how to be a man, but many of us have no choice.
I think a father is equally important in young girls lives as well. These girls probably wouldn't be running around here half nake and thinking it's cute to have babies if they had good male role models in their lives.
A father is supposed to be the type of man he wants his daughter to be with. If she sees her dad disrespect women or in several unhealthy relationships chances are those are the same types of relationships she will have as an adult.
@ Partcaramel you are right in what you're saying but these men are not kings themselves so how can they teach young princesses/queens how to conduct themselves as one when the Men themselves are lost so many men that are not aware of themselves can't teach if they don't know.
I think I'm going to learn more and teach
there are a lot of churches that have men groups...they try and build each other up through networking, learning the word ect. in the end the "church" can only help those who want to be helped--i don't think they've forgotten them, we sometimes focus on the negative instead of seeing what ministries actually do help young black men and women
@Chantell I see where you're going with that but I'm stating who we are as Black People not who I am as a Black Christian.
How bout you CHANGE YOUR BLOG NOW HAHAHHAHA
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