The Great Value of God’s Image

Fellow Citizens of the Kingdom, we are called to be different than the world. We are to be lights shining in darkness and having a faith or lifestyle that those who are without the light of Christ should desire. Each individual is responsible to live a fruitful life, yet collectively as citizens of a higher calling we can do so with much greater impact through such initiatives as the African American Council; a collaboration of likeminded individuals who desire to see the African Americans as the vanguard of society that they once were and should be, current. This means that our mindsets have to change about how we see each other and the collective. Value must be placed on the worth of each human being, and not on what we think their socio-economic worth is according to societal claims. Let me explain further in the following discourse. Though this is synopsis of the paradigm of worth placement, still it is an explanation of trappings of carnal thinking.

The Greco – Roman Mindset is a derivative of Plato and Aristotle. They advanced human equity and not human equality. Making all humans not created equal but created with a value that is determined by their socio – economic status. This socio – economic status is perpetuated in capitalism. This means that justice is applied based on what you can afford and not based on equal application. If you are not part of the those (generally speaking) who have social influence through the power of economics, then your life is really not valuable. For instance, a mega-star athlete can have hundreds of millions, but he/she still has an owner. They may be able to navigate in favor of the justice system, yet only to the point that those who really have the power (owners) allow them.

On the other hand, the Bible is written from an eastern culture philosophy with a center earth mindset (African Aramaic). In this system all humans are created equally and while all may not have equal status in society, all should be treated equally as humans. Judeo – Christians (and Africans) practiced this type of communalism. So, it’s not socialism or Marxism, but it’s communalism. The “haves” help the “Have nots” in terms of education, employment opportunities, accountability, and social order. An example is the extended family of the neighborhood. If a family is lower income and has working parents that have to work more than one job, then Ms. Maye became Aunt Maye next door because the kids would go across the street with her and her children until the parents came home, or just stayed the night. Black business owners bartered services that they could not readily pay for which helped each business be successful. Service was given with a certain pleasantness because they were serving family, not just making a transaction.

African Americans, and specially the African American Church have to recognize that our

economics is not based on individualism but on communalism. The church was the hub to think strategically and became the epicenter of business owners and educators alike to strategize for the community while the Pastor other spiritual leaders guided the moral compass of the group. This is when the African American community in this country was most successful. The last visual we see of that was in the 90’s when the middle Black class and upper class made an exodus back to the Black Church and the church exploded with growth. What we did not do was plan for systemization of reinvestment through the church to the community.

Conclusion, our roots in ujamaa (familyhood) with the Judeo – Christian paradigm is correct.

This is how we impact the 7 mountains in our community and become a recognizable force

again. Rather than getting caught up in the capitalism – Marxism debate, we center on

communal economics that builds businesses from the moral center of Christ so there is not only self-sufficiency but soul sanctity as well.