What Rev. Wright is right about

The flawed leader's ministry is one infused with truth

As a Christian preacher listening to the controversy over the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., it's somewhat gratifying to be reminded that words matter. Those of us who accept this vocation wouldn't have it any other way. We spend hours agonizing over words every week - words written in the Bible, translated from Hebrew and Greek; words that we parse, translate again, memorize, seek to understand, and ultimately shape into a new word in the sermon. But in recent days, as more and more commentators have dismissed Mr. Wright as the "crazy uncle in the attic," my pleasure has turned to anger and dismay.

Don't get me wrong. I do not agree with Mr. Wright's choice of words in the 30 seconds that have been played again and again on national television. I think his claim that our government created the HIV virus to destroy the black community is irresponsible, and "God damn America" is a terrible sound bite anyway you slice it. Had I been a parishioner in his church, I might well have told him so. Moreover, Mr. Wright's recent comment equating attacks on himself with attacks on "the black church" raises disturbing questions about a man who apparently believes his own substantial ego authorizes him to speak for an entity that is more diverse than ever.

But some of the rhetoric in recent days has turned from a condemnation of these remarks to a condemnation of the prophetic role entrusted to the pulpit, from a critique of Mr. Wright's preaching to a total denunciation of his ministry (and others like it), and from an inquiry into black liberation theology to claims of "reverse racism" and hatred of whites. The change in the conversation confirms exactly the kinds of claims that Mr. Wright has made in the past: that racism still affects every area of our life together and will not be easily overcome with the common white appeal to "stop talking about the past."

Mr. Wright's church has been criticized for being "unashamedly black and unapologetically Christian." In Mr. Wright's church, young black men are mentored by successful black men. They promise to support black families, black institutions and black churches. Ironically, the absence of this kind of moral education aimed at strengthening the black family is the very criticism leveled at "the black community" by some of these same white pundits in the past.