Pastor Keith McQueen, founder of Powerhouse Church in Indianapolis, IN, shared a biting critique of Pastor John Gray on Instagram this week the latter’s participation in a meeting with President Trump at the White House last week.
He wrote:
We don’t hate @realjohngray We love him. However we can’t respect his decision to condone the behavior of an egotistical, misogynistic, narcissistic clown that has turned our country into a circus with his quarrelsome and divisive rants. He has affirmed the behavior of this man by sitting at the table to “discuss” prison reform and urban revitalization with a man that has never cared for urban populations and incites hatred towards minorities that are targeted and often locked up unjustly.
We disagree with him on the behalf of young black men, women, Mexican #immigrants and their children #lgbt people and citizens that prefer a government that isn’t illegally influenced by Russian leaders. The Bible declares in the 1st Psalm to not sit in the seat of the scornful. The Bible declares in Proverbs 14:7 to flee from the company of fools. He took the influence given to him by God and affirmed by his following and sat it in the lap of @realdonaldtrump We don’t hate him.
Hatred is the essence of #45 not the Church. The same Holy Spirit that he claims told him to attend should have opened up his mouth in the same essence that the Holy Spirit spoke through John the Baptist to Herod!
Pastor John Gray responded:
Hello pastor. Sitting at a table is neither affirming, endorsing, agreeing or aligning. If so, Jesus certainly couldn’t have sat with Zacch[a]eus or been in the company of lepers. High Priests couldn’t go near lepers. Jesus made clear that He came eating and drinking and was a friend to sinners, tax collectors and wine bibbers.
Was he aligning or affirming their behavior?
Of course not. And an initial conversation doesn’t portend for what could be produced in the future.
I could never presume to know your calling or assignment since we don’t know each other. But scripture does outline for us what believers should do if they have a disagreement. It starts with a one on one. Then get two or three witnesses and then take it before the church. None of that happened before you posted about a fellow believer who had everything to lose and nothing to gain by being obedient to the God who sent me.
That I didn’t voice the accumulated pain of 400 years of REAL BROKENNESS in our black and brown communities is something I wish I could do. Some moments call for a level of wisdom that my emotions would rather do away with.
McQueen replied:
The difference between Jesus and you sitting with @realdonaldtrump is that Jesus sat with the oppressed and not the oppressor. Jesus confronted the political figures of his day. The process of addressing disagreements between leaders is a process between believers and not preachers to politicians. The book of Jude speaks of those that are divisive and full of dissent and says HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THEM.
John Gray responded:
@pastormcqueen we are believers. I’m not a politician. You’re a man of God. And I understand that we don’t see this moment the same. Continue be great and change lives. Blessings to you and your family.
Numerous other pastors who met with Trump, including Van Moody, Harry Jackson, and Dale Bronner, have defended their decision to attend the talks online or from the pulpit.
–Joshua James
BCNN1 WP 