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The Consequence of Our Ideas: A Liberating Response to Respectability Religion
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| Rev. Dr. Noel P. Simms |
The Consequence of Our Ideas: A Liberating Response to Respectability Religion
By Rev. Dr. Noel P. Simms
“Stop blaming white cops for killing Black kids. Instead, teach your Black children to be obedient toward authority.”
— Phillip Anthony Mitchell
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| Rising Pastor Phillip Anthony Mitchell |
For many of us deeply affected by the history of racialized trauma, this statement does more than offend—it reopens an old wound and reinforces a dangerous theological idea. While it may come from a place of concern, its message aligns with a long-standing narrative that has historically protected power and punished the oppressed.
Obedience to What—and for Whom?
Too often, the call to "be obedient to authority" is rooted in fear, not freedom. It places the burden of survival on the Black child, not on the system that targets them. It tells our children that their dignity is conditional, dependent on their ability to navigate a world built to erase them.
This sentiment echoes a troubling theological legacy: the gospel was twisted to sanctify empire, silence protest, and render the suffering invisible.
Whiteness as Religion
As theologian Dr. Andrew L. Whitehead explains, whiteness has not only shaped theology—it has become theology. Whiteness has functioned as a religion with its moral codes, saints, sacred narratives, and eschatology. From the Doctrine of Discovery to Manifest Destiny, violence against Indigenous, Black, and Brown people was justified through religious language.
White Jesus imagery, colonial liturgies, and respectability preaching all served to reinforce a system where whiteness was divine and ... In this light, asking Black children to "be obedient to authority" becomes a theological act of submission to empire, not a form of spiritual growth.
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1. The Church and the Silence
Many pastors hesitate to challenge these ideologies because sermons on liberation, resistance, or reparative justice don’t sell books or fill pews. The theology of whiteness continues to thrive because it is palatable—it doesn't disrupt systems of privilege. However, the gospel of Jesus was never intended to maintain comfort. It was meant to liberate. (Luke 4:18) Jesus overturned tables, defied religious power structures, and stood with the marginalized. That’s not the Jesus of respectability politics—that’s the Jesus of revolutionary love.
This Is Not a Condemnation—It’s a Conscious Call
Let me be clear: this is not an attack on Phillip Anthony Mitchell or his efforts to preach the gospel of Jesus. I respect any attempt to preach the gospel.
However, we must also challenge the theological frameworks behind the messages we share, especially when they echo the very systems that harm us.
We don’t need our children to shrink to survive. We need systems to change, our theology to evolve, and our churches to remember that silence in the face of oppression is not holiness—it’s complicity.
A New Theology for a New Generation
We are in the midst of what some call a global erasure of Black and Brown life. We cannot afford to keep repeating the worn-out mantras that blame victims and absolve the system. We need a theology that tells the truth, nurtures wholeness, and provides our children with tools not just to survive, but to live freely.
Let’s build that theology together.
Written by Rev. Dr. Noel P. Simms
Pastor | Theologian | Advocate for Healing Justice
Tags: #TheologyOfLiberation #BlackFaith #ChristianNationalism #HealingJustice #WhitenessInTheology #RespectabilityPolitics #PropheticChurch #DecolonizeTheology #TraumaInformedFaith
1 Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church (Brazos Press, 2023).
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