Sacred vs. Secular Debate: Attacking the gworls—Bey, Cardi, Meg, Nicki and their fans— is not the answer, babe.
By Patricia Easton // Entertainment // EEW Magazine Online
The secular versus Christian debate (EEW Magazine)
If you think listening and dancing to artists like Beyoncé, Cardi B, Megan Thee Stallion, and Nicki Minaj will send you straight to hell with gasoline drawls on, then honey don’t listen.
But attacking then condemning the artists and their legions of fans to the lake that burns with fire and brimstone is not the answer, babe.
Last month, popular gospel preacher and singer, Juanita Bynum, 63, learned this the embarrassing way. She went viral for telling Christians they could not be saved and listen to secular music. But then, her self-righteous high horse quickly came tumbling down after Internet users did what they do best and pulled receipts of Bynum herself dancing to Mary J. Blige’s “Just Fine.”
Juanita Bynum called out for dancing to Mary J. Blige after condemning Christians for indulging in secular music (EEW)
In case you’re wondering, no, that is not a gospel song.
Bynum was then roundly condemned and called a hypocrite for judging others in defiance of Matthew 7:5 that condemns trying to get the speck out of other folks’ eye with a big old log hanging out of yours.
“I don’t justify that,” said Bynum in a follow-up sermon explaining her contradictory actions while also pointing out her view that “the words” to Blige’s song “are not sinful and they’re not provocative.”
Bynum also said the video of her getting her groove on to the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul “was three years ago. I’m not the same person I was, because we all got sloppy, and then we got sloppier—some of us—when the pandemic came. But I had an encounter with God.”
Apparently, during her transformational time spent with the Lord, Bynum underwent a rebirth of sorts. “When I laid in His presence and He visited me, I got up different. I got up saying, ‘Lord save me again. God deliver me again. God baptize me again,’” she exclaimed.
Though Bynum caught the most flak for her highly publicized statements trashing secular music, she is not the only one that went on a rampage.
Church of God in Christ Bishop, Patrick Wooten, also managed to grab headlines for slamming Beyoncé during a sermon, calling her music “trash.”
Bishop Patrick Wooten called Bey’s music “trash” and suggested she had sold her soul to Satan. (EEW Magazine)
He suggested that the 28-time Grammy winner sold her soul to the devil when criticizing her single “Church Girl,” from her seventh studio album, Renaissance. The fact that the controversial tune samples the gospel song, “Center of Thy Will,” penned by Elbernita “Twinkie” Clark and performed by iconic gospel group, The Clark Sisters, touched off a firestorm.
“When you sell your soul to the devil, you get the short end of the stick because you’re not going to live but so long, and when you leave here, where you’re going, you’re going to be there forever. It’s not a good deal,” Wooten said of Beyoncé , condemning the globally revered performer to hell.
But one of the Clark Sisters’ group members, Dorinda Clark-Cole, came to the Destiny’s Child alum’s defense during her own sermon, saying, “All right, now. Y’all leave Beyoncé alone. Leave her alone.”
While the ongoing sacred versus secular debate will likely continue until Jesus returns, that doesn’t mean it is healthy or constructive. Demonizing those that don’t live out their faith in the way that you do and suggesting that righteousness is obtained by keeping rules and regulations runs counter to Scripture.
The perfection of Christ—and not the perfect adherence to the law by the mere mortals that attempt to serve Him— is what secures salvation. At least that is what true Christian doctrine teaches.
In light of this fact, what message do we send to the world—and those in the church with differing ideas and viewpoints—when we divide God’s children based on works? How can we spread a message of love, grace, and atonement when we are obsessed with legalistic debates concerning whose actions are most pleasing to the Lord?
It is an easy trap to fall into, but that does not make it right or acceptable.
Matthew 7:1-3 MSG says it best: “Don't pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults - unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It's easy to see a smudge on your neighbor's face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own.”
It is most important to focus on your own soul and actions while spreading love to others. Leave the judging up to God.