b'REFLECTIONThat Slap: God SaysCall It For What It Was By Sheila Smith ourheavenlyfatherWell,someonesayAmen.Our expectsofyou.DontbrotherDenzelWashingtontalked getmewrong.Noneofabouthavingfaithandexplained F rankly, I am tired of talking about it. But I wantus are perfect and makewhathemeantbyhisstatementto to raise the issue of the elephant in the room formistakes in life. Willduringaleadershipconference what it was when Will Smith slapped Chris RockWhenWillSmithwith Bishop T.D. Jakes.during the Academy Awards event that took placeacceptedhisOscarasThereisasayingwhenthedevil on March 27 in Los Angeles. best actor for his role inignores you, then you know you are Millions of people watching across the country andthe movie King Richarddoingsomethingwrong.Thedevil in other countries viewing this notable ceremonyanddidapologizetogoes,Ohno,leavehimalone.Hes tohonorthebestofthebestinmotionpicturestheAcademy.Iammy favorite.witnessed an assault that took place. overwhelmedbywhatWhenthedevilcomesatyou, Not just an assault, but a Black man returning toGod is calling me to domaybeitsbecauseyouretryingto his seat and continuing to curse out the Black manandbeinthisworld,do something right. And for whatever he just hit in the face. That alone was the saddesthe said. reason, the devil got ahold of him, on parttowitnessofWillsirrational,embarrassingHethensaid"youthat circumstance that night."behavior. havetotakeabuseWellDenzel,Iwillletothers Afterweeksofsilence,ChrisRockhashiredainthisbusinessandinterpret what you were really trying law firm to sue Will Smith for being assaulted andpeopledisrespectingSheila Smith to say. I know what God says.possibly the Academy for negligence security. you. Love will make you do crazy things." CabinetMinisterandSecretaryof From a Christian point of view, I think the wordUnfortunately, Will, I dont think God called youStateforEducationforthegovernmentofthe in Psalm 34:14 clearly states: Turn away from evilto act in a violent manner and go upside someonesUnitedKingdom,NadhimZahawi,anIraqi-born and do good, seek peace and pursue it." head. And for those who defended his actions andBritishpoliticianwaswatchingandevenhadto Proverbs3:31-33furthertellsus:Dontenvysaiditwasabouthimdefendinghiswife.Ionlycomment saying, It was heartbreaking to watch violentpeopleorcopytheirways.Suchwickedlaugh at this and will pray for you because that isthe Oscar Winner Will Smith.people are detestable to the Lord The Lord cursesridiculous. No one assaulted Will Smiths so-calledIt is heartbreaking when you lose control of your the house of the wicked but blesses the home ofentanglement wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. emotionsinthatway,butitsimportantnotto the upright. A joke was made, granite it was a poorly madeallow yourself to cross that line.Now check this out, anger is sin.The issue ofjoke. People assumed Chris Rock new about JadasHefurtherspokeoutsayingthatifhewasa self-controlisthequestionofhowwedealwithhairhealthissue(alopecia).Reportedly,Christeacherthathewoulddiscouragepupilsfrom anger. Violence, tantrums, bitterness, resentmentclaims to have not been aware of her condition andcopying the actions of the Oscar winner. When it and hostility are all sinful responses to anger. saw her shaved bald head and made a referencecomesdowntoit,otherBlackChristianleaders Therefore, let me go to 2 Timothy 3:1-5 that says:to her being in the next GI Jane movie like actresshave commented on how this incident played out in In the last days will come times of difficulty. ForDemiMoorehadashavedheadintheoriginalbeing a letdown for the Black community.people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud,movie. Rev. Jeff Moore, former San Jose/Silicon Valley arrogant,abusive,disobedienttotheirparents,Bottomline,JadawasnotphysicallyattackedNAACP President and civil rights activist said, It ungrateful,unholy,heartless,unappeasable,and even laughed herself at first before rolling herwas such a letdown for us as black men, he told slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving,eyes. Remember words do not hurt you. Only youralocaltelevisionstationaftertheOscarawards treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, loversfeelings get hurt. incident. I would have hoped that if anything he of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having theOkay, so Will Smith says in the aftermath of thewould have walked up and maybe said, Hey man, appearance of godliness, but denying its power stormthatwasbrewinghowDenzelWashingtonjust apologize to my wife. But to go to violence was Thatsapowerfulwordthatcantbedeniediftold him that at his highest moment, be careful.not the answer.you are a believer in Jesus Christ and live by whatThat is when the devil comes for you. Rev.KevinC.Peterson,founderoftheNew Coalition and teaches at the Center for Collaborative LeadershipattheUniversityofBostontolda Boston-affiliatedtelevisionstationhewastotally disappointed.Hesayshe,Publiclyisencouragingtheblack communitynottoengageinthetypeofviolence that they witnessed, and that we would do better. Deeplydisappointedthattwoblackmenwere Okay, so Will Smith says in the aftermath of the stormengaged in this exchange before a global audience.Headdedhowthiswasdefinitelyateachable that was brewing how Denzel Washington told himmomentinhighlightingtherealityofblack-on-black crime.that at his highest moment, be careful. That is whenMika Edmondson, a young black pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church in Nashville, Tenn., weighed the devil comes for you. Well, someone say Amen. OurinonhisopinionthatWillwhoassaultedChris Rock was comforted afterwards like it was an act brother Denzel Washington talked about having faithof love. We have to demoralize violence as a response to and explained what he meant by his statement to Willfeeling disrespected, he tweeted. whathewanted. MostimportantlyaskJesus during a leadership conference with Bishop T.D. Jakes. We must prioritize standing up for black women in ways that center and empower black womenWell, there you have it. Had Will been sincerely sorry for what he did, he would have called Chris Rock back on stage and apologized right then and Continued on Page 1610 MAY 2022 BOCNEWS.com'