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TechnoratiJakes is one of the nation's most well-known preachers and heads The Potter's House, a predominantly African American megachurch in the Dallas area.
"I don't think there is any such thing, truly, as prosperity gospel," he told Religion & Ethics Newsweekly. "It's just a tag that we put on an extreme point of view."
"I'm not against marching," Jakes continued, "but in the '60s the challenge of the black church was to march. And there are times now perhaps that we may need to march. But there's more facing us than social justice. There's personal responsibility, motivating and equipping people to live the best lives that they can really does help them to live the scriptures and to bring them to life."
Offering one explanation for the rise in the prosperity message in black churches, Michael Eric Dyson, professor at Georgetown University, said it's a way to "justify black upward mobility and middle class existence without feeling guilty."
"The civil rights movement said, 'You are responsible for your brother and sister. You ought to bring them along.' The prosperity gospel says, 'Your brother or sister is responsible for him or herself, and what they should be doing is praying right, so that God can bless them, too,'" Dyson said, according to Religion & Ethics Newsweekly.
Franklin says the achievements of the African American community are losing ground, especially among church leaders who have shifted more focus onto individual achievement.
As the most accomplished generation of black Americans, we could and should do more to renew our villages (African American communities), Franklin said.
That includes helping the poor. According to Franklin, one-fourth of the black community lives in poverty.
While Franklin acknowledges the significant charitable giving and efforts of megachurches and other churches, he said there's still something missing.
It's "the role of the church as a prophetic force in society, amplifying the voice of the poor and the voiceless," he pointed out, "and it's that justice note that's missing in much of the prosperity gospel appeal," he said in the PBS news program.
Christian Post reporter Eric Young in Washington contributed to this report.
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