(ThyBlackMan.com) Let me preface this by saying that I am pained by the allegations against Bishop Eddie Long of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church. My prayer is that God would care for the bishop’s family and his church family, Bishop Long’s accusers and their families also. Now that that is out of the way…
You’ve got to put me on a different scale than the little black preacher sitting over there that’s supposed to be just getting by because the people are suffering. –Bishop Eddie Long
Yeah, I am probably one of the many “little black preachers” he was talking about when he said that. So forgive me for not getting all weepy and sorrowful over Bishop Long’s latest woes. Bishop Long has for a very long time been egotistical and self-righteous, which is not uncommon amongst black clergy who have seemingly ascended from the frontlines of grassroots pastoral work.
As a pastor and church leader, I find it difficult to emotionally invest in Bishop Long’s sex life. I don’t find it fascinating or interesting at all because all clergy are human. It’s easy to be hypnotized by the accusations but only 
Bishop Long and the accusers will ever know the truth. So I choose not to invest in something that is largely an irresolvable issue.
What raises my ire are the condescending stereotypes into which Bishop Long and this situation sucks all clergy. From the Saturday Night Live parodies of Jimmy Swaggart and Tammi Faye Bakker, pop culture has always made sport of clergy and religious leaders. Of course they pay us no attention until we have a situation which merits the satire. But I do resent being painted with a broad brush. I, like many other “little black preachers,” have consciously tried to live out a pastoral expression that doesn’t feed into these stereotypes.
The issue with stereotypes is that many times some of the base merits hold some truth. I cringe at the images of the black, gaudy, begging, hyper-sexualized, and pimp-ish black preachers because I know some of them personally.
This summer I attended a local conference with a religious leadership component. I initially didn’t want to go because I knew who was going to be there and to my chagrin I was right. A tall older gentleman in a three piece navy suit with the jacket cut so low you could’ve mistaken it for a Vera Wang top coat, sat down next to me. As I shifted in my seat I looked down and glanced at his shoes which were two toned navy blue and grey gators. I caught a whiff of his Grey Flannel cologne, as he sat down he put his hand over his chest to secure the gold ropes and herring bone gold chains he was wearing, one of which I promise you had a Cadillac emblem on the end of it.
Trying not to make eye contact, I tried to feign interest in the presenter when he leaned over to me and with a graveled voice and asked me “Hey doc, I’m from out of town you know where I can get some good fried chicken from?” The question was reasonable enough, what made it a classical spoof was his teeth was filled with gold fronts.
My point is that, no matter the discourse that surrounds Bishop Long, we are not all ministers who continue to promulgate the stereotypical view of black preachers or the black church. There are educated, thoughtful, humble, and articulate black clergy all across the country who take their ministry seriously. They don’t receive the broader media exposure because they’re simply not as entertaining as the stereotypes we have all come to know.
The solution to overcoming these stereotypes is that each one of us whose life is dedicated to serving our congregation must change his habits. As a friend once told me “if you don’t want to be stereotyped stop acting in stereotypical ways“.
Amen.
Written By Patrick D. Shaffer
