It must go through the Church

There is a saying, "If you want to do anything in the black community you must go through the church." Black politicians have known this for years - Think Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rev. Al Sharpton- anyway consider the implications of this truism. There are many of them we could refer to, however, the one I want to focus on is Leadership or the direction of the black community. At one time in African-American history the Pastor was the leader of the community because he was one of the few people in an African-American community who could read. By default whether he was educated or not as long as he could read he was 'ordained' a leader of the community; being able to read the pastor was one of the few people in the community who had the ability to deal with the rest of society. Additionally, the pastor had the spiritual influence over the entire community, hence, the origin of the saying -"If you want to do anything in the black community you must go through the church." However, the church still maintains its influence over the community, but the black pastor is no longer considered in the educated elite of the community. The question is...is the condition of our community the direct result of the leadership ability of the pastors within them? Anyhow, the point is, the Black pastor has represented and still represents the leadership lid or limit in the community, or as John Maxwell says he represents how high you can go! (JohnMaxwell.com) So the question is where is your community going? The answer has been what are the limits of your pastor!