| Jason Kertz 4/26/02 Theology-10 Vernon Johns: Modern Day ProphetVernon Johns is a modern day prophet in many ways. A prophet is defined as one who preaches the word of God to the people. They are usually unlikely heroes because they are just normal people. They challenge and preach about the evils of their community, such as the social injustices and indifference of the people. Prophets also preach about God. However, while preaching these things, they are usually rejected by the people who do not listen to the message that the prophets preach. Their audience grows to dislike them which results in name-calling or even acts of violence, but because the prophets are courageous and determined they keep preaching their message. These characteristics describe Dr. Vernon Johns. First, Vernon Johns is an unlikely hero. As we see in the first and last scenes, he is dressed as a farmer in old, worn down clothes. He hitches a ride in the back of a dirty beat up truck, which is not what you would expect from a prophet. He is just a normal guy with a family living in a regular house and owning an average car. Johns is not some rich handsome man who owns fancy things. He lives like most blacks did in his time. Another characteristic that shows Vernon Johns to be a prophet is that he preached about the social injustices and the indifference of the people. When Deacon Wilkes, Deacon Hill, and Dr. Johns are riding through the poor, rundown neighborhood of the blacks in a fancy new car, Wilkes says that these blacks are not his people. He thinks that because they are poor, he should not worry about them. However, Johns tells him "we are only as great as the least of us," meaning Wilkes should care for the poor. Another instance of Dr. Johns preaching about social injustice is his first sermon. In it, he tells the parable about Lazarus and Dives where Dives, the rich man, goes to hell because he accepted human inequality. Johns is saying that blacks are not being treated as equals by the whites. The whites are accepting the social injustices just like Dives did. Vernon Johns preaches for this to stop and for everyone just to love one another. He is also a modern day prophet because he tells the people of their sins. When he is on the bus with his daughter Baby Dee, he sits down in the "white only" section. The bus driver insists that they move to the back of the bus or else he will not drive anywhere. After a while of sitting in protest, Johns decides to leave. On his way out, he yells at the blacks for not standing up for themselves and not caring whether they are treated as unequals and have to sit in the back. Not caring either way about something is defined as indifference. Vernon Johns also preaches this evil in three of his sermons. In "Creative Homicide," he tells the people to stop standing by and not caring when their friends and family members are being beat up by the cops. They need to stand up for themselves and report these incidents. In "When the Rapist is White," he tells the congregation once again to stand up to the people and to stop accepting the way the whites treat them. Finally, in his last sermon, he states, "It's Safe to Murder Negroes" because blacks are just cowards who stand by and watch the cops kill their fellow blacks. They still do not do anything about it. Obviously, telling the whites and blacks of the sins that they committed made them angry. Like the prophets��� audience, Vernon Johns also spoke to people who rejected him. Deacon Wilkes was against his preachings and so was Deacon Hill at the beginning. The white people, such as Judge Blake, were against him and some whites even threatened to kill him. Even Vernon Johns��� family did not accept what he was saying at first. However, he was courageous and determined to get his point across. So, he kept preaching what he believed. Johns even went so far as to going in a "white only" restaurant to show his message. This is the courage that prophets had. While preaching his message to the people, he uses Scripture, just like the prophets used the word of God. When telling Deacon Wilkes that he should care about the poor blacks, he quotes Scripture saying, "We are only as great as the east of us." In his first sermon, he tells the Dives and Lazarus parable to show how human inequality is a sin. In his last sermon, Dr. Johns tells of the Ten Commandments to show that whites killing blacks is not right. He says, "The Bible does not say, ���Thou shall not kill, unless you are white.���" He uses the Scripture to show to the people that he himself does not just make this stuff up, but that what he preaches is the word of God. Dr. Vernon Johns is a modern day prophet because of the way he lived. He lived a moral life and stood up for what he believed. He preached the sins of the people and told them to change. Although they rejected him, he still had the courage and determination to continue. His life truly exemplifies the life of a modern day prophet. |
| David Venker 4/25/01 Theology Vernon Johns: Modern Day ProphetProphets are people whom God called to speak His word to the people. That was their purpose in the Bible and still is their purpose today. The prophets challenged the evils in society, emphasized growth, and were spokespersons for the future. They did not predict the future, but instead they saw consequences for certain actions and potential good as well. God communicated with the prophets in three ways: the Law (Ten Commandments), events of history, and visions. The lives of prophets in the Bible were lonely, had disappointment, and, at one time or another, consisted of suffering and persecution. Dr. Vernon Johns is an example of a modern day prophet. He fit the characteristics and role of Biblical prophets, his lifestyle was that of a prophet, and he clearly passed the test of a true prophet. Dr. Vernon Johns spoke the word of God to the people of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. He spoke out against evils in society, emphasized growth, and was a spokesperson for the future. The evils Dr. Johns preached against were similar to messages of many Old Testament prophets. They were primarily social injustice and religious formalism. In the very beginning of "The Road to Freedom: The Vernon Johns Story," Deacon Wilkes was bragging about his upscale congregation when he noticed some poor African Americans. As Dr. Johns was looking at the people, the Deacon quickly made the point that they were not a part of the congregation to which he was referring. Dr. Johns immediately responded, quoting scripture and saying, "We are only as great as the least of us." Deacon Wilkes acknowledged the comment with an "Amen." This exchange illustrates the religious formalism present in a man who was insulted and could not understand scripture enough to realize that he was being criticized. Later, Dr. Johns spoke out against religious formalism exclaiming, "They (the people of the congregation) are a bunch of educated fools . . . It (Church) is a fashion show!" In his first sermon, he preaches against social injustice in society. He told the story of Lazarus and Dives and preached about how Dives was condemned for his acceptance of human inequality. This sermon had a dual meaning. The first was obviously to help the poor and not ignore them. The other meaning, which Vernon really fights for later, was to not accept the persecution of Negroes by the whitepeople. Through other sermons in which he showed an intolerance of persecution, Dr. Johns proved his quote: "I am a boat rocker." Just like other prophets, he spoke out against evils in society and was not afraid to cause controversy because it was all the word of God. The life of a prophet was a hard and lonely one. There are many instances in the video in which Dr. Johns is shown to live just that type of life. Dr. Johns must have been lonely before he came to Montgomery because he was on his own without any family and he was rejected by his previous parish. Even when with his family, Vernon lost support from his oldest daughter Little Dee and his wife Toni. He was persecuted by the board of deacons, most of whom were against keeping him as the pastor. Just like biblical prophets, he had nobody for support with the exception of Deacon Hill who took a while to show his support. When he came to Montgomery, he carried only one small bag of belongings, suggesting that he lived a life not consisting of material things. His disappointment toward the congregation is evident when, in a sermon, he says, ". . . I'm ashamed of what you've become." It seems that he feels his message is not being heard and he is frustrated by that. Most other prophets felt that same disappointment and frustration. Dr. Johns was the conscience of the people, whether they listened to him or not, and his life revolved around that prophetic mission. According to the workbook Hebrew Scriptures: Growing in Faith, there are three different tests a true prophet would pass. They were the following: No true prophets were professional prophets, the trustworthiness of predictions, and the witness of personal life. Dr. Johns passed each of these three tests. Although he asked how much the job of pastor payed, Dr. Johns was not in it for the money. Besides, he was being sarcastic and he was payed to be a preacher, not a prophet. He went above and beyond the call of duty in addition to the fact that he obviously did not care if he kept his job. If he was concerned about a constant salary flow, he would have preached what the people wanted to hear, but he did the exact opposite. The second test, the trustworthiness of predictions, was passed when the people's lack of action about racist violence results in only more violence (for example, the beating that Deacon Hill was involved in the video). The witness of the personal life is the most convincing of these three tests. Dr. Johns truly lives what he preaches. He fights social injustice by refusing to ride buses, going into white only restaurants, and running his own small business. After a sermon in which he encouraged the congregation to become financially independent in order to give them more power, Vernon started his own small market, buying wholesale and selling retail. He preached by example. Dr. Johns passed the test of a true prophet just as the Biblical prophets did. Dr. Vernon Johns was clearly a modern day prophet. Through his characteristics, lifestyle, and passing of the test of a true prophet, it becomes evident that Dr. Johns was called by God to be a prophet and speak His word to the people. |
| Chris Mehan Friday, April 26, 2002 TH100-10 Doctor Vernon Johns: A Modern-Day ProphetDoctor Vernon Johns, a wandering African-American preacher, illustrates many key themes that we saw in the prophets in Judah and Israel. Dr. Vernon Johns faced social injustice, was rejected by most of the people, and he experienced loneliness and humiliation. A key theme that is seen with most prophets throughout history is social injustice. Micah was displeased with how the merchants were cheating the poor and the corruption of government officials. Doctor Vernon Johns fought against social injustice. In 1948 when Isaiah Rollins was shot in the back by a Montgomery police officer while supposedly "resisting arrest," Dr. Johns criticized the African-American congregation at the next sermon, "Creative homicide," for not speaking out against what was being done against them. Johns also cited when Paul Patrick was handcuffed to a tree and beaten. During his "creative homicide" sermon, he told thestory of Moses beating and killing an Egyptian slave owner after Moses had witnessed the slave owner beating a Hebrew slave. The point that Johns was trying to get across to the people was that if they wanted anything to change, they had to do something about it. Johns did something about it by eating in a white restaurant. Johns also faced social injustice when he tried to bring a girl who had been raped to a hospital, but she was refused admittance. Dr. Vernon Johns was rejected by most of the people in Montgomery, Alabama. Deacon Wilkes, the head of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, disagreed with Johns' sermons and even made a motion that Johns be removed from the pulpit. It must have been very hard for Johns to work when he knew that Deacon Wilkes and other members of the board didnot agree with him in what he did. Baby Dee, Johns' oldest daughter even rejects some of what Johns says. She rides the bus to school even though her father had told her not too. She also seems very angry with her father at times. For example, when Johns is in his car late one night, Baby Dee comes in and talks to him. She expresses her fears for dying and when Johns tells her that "it will be all right;" she storms out of the car. Most prophets in the Old Testament were rejected by society and by the people. Dr. Vernon Johns was rejected as well. Most people rejected the way in which Johns taught. Johns described himself as a "boat rocker." Some people thought that this statement and others like it would just get the African American community into trouble. Dr. Vernon Johns experienced loneliness and humiliation throughout his tenure at Dexter Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. Towards the end of his pastor ship, Johns and his family received phone calls threatening to kill Johns. This kind of humiliation was also around, though not in the same fashion, when the prophets of the Old Testament were around. The prophets risked their lives to spread the Word of God. They had to spread the Word whether or not the people wanted to hear it and this put their lives in danger. We often saw Johns alone in his car at night. This showed Johns' loneliness because he did not have anyone to talk to. He also felt very alone in his cause. Deacon Wilkes and the other members of the board, excluding Deacon Hill, did not agree with the waythat Johns was spreading the Word of God. Although what he said was true, the people still did not like it. Johns was alone in his battle for civil rights after the death of Deacon Hill. Until Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. came and stirred up the community to take action, Johns was alone in his fight. He knew that what he was doing was right and needed to be done, but the people did not feel the same way. Dr. Vernon Johns showed that he is a modern-day prophet through social injustice, rejection by most of the people, and the loneliness and humiliation that he experienced. If we want to do the will of God, Vernon Johns would be a good man to follow. Johns told the people everything, whether they wanted to hear it or not. He got God's message across and it was through this that he expressed himself as a modern-day prophet. |