In Defense of Pastor Mark Burns (Sort of)

“Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm” - Psalms 105:15 (KJV)

I grew up in the church. Almost every Sunday during my childhood was spent in church pew. I’ve put several bible verses to memory and Psalms 105:15 was the one I heard repeated anytime someone had less that positive words to say about the pastor of my church. Even when there were allegations that the senior pastor had fathered a child with a church parishioner that wasn’t his wife, Psalms 105:15 protected him from criticism and Proverbs 24:16 offered him immediate forgiveness.

So it is in the black American church. Pastors, Reverends, Bishops and Apostles are all shielded from their less than honorable acts, because black church goers have been taught to have unyielding faith if not in the man, then in the man’s anointing. Many in the black community have a habit of exalting our clergy and showering them with worldly (and quite expensive) gifts. Personally, I don’t take issue with a man of God enjoying the best in life as long as he understands that his favor is directly tied to his character.

In my opinion, this adulation offers some explanation for the misdeeds of Pastor Mark Burns. The founder pastor of Harvest Praise & Worship Center in South Carolina and co-founder and CEO of the NOW Television Network, Pastor Burns has made a significant rise in popularity since Burns and other pastors were invited to meet with Republican Presidential Nominee, Donald Trump in 2015. Since that meeting, Pastor Burns has become a regular talking head for Donald Trump on many cable news networks and even spoke on Trump’s behalf at the 2016 Republic National Convention .

Donning a red, white and blue stripped tie that stretched from one ear to the other, the Evangelical televangelist stirred the crowd especially when he loudly proclaimed, “All Lives Matter !” in a cadence that mimicked the “hooping” that is still heard in many southern, protestant churches. Something about Pastor Burns resonated with the Trump camp. Based on the many photos of Pastor Burns posing with Donald Trump on Burns’ Facebook page, it is without a doubt Burns has been enjoying his time in the spotlight. I can only imagine, for a small town preacher like Burns, he must have felt like he finally arrived. Parting ways with the black community’s allegiance to the Democratic Party , Pastor Burns has been extremely vocal championing the cause of a Trump presidency, even becoming a Trump apologetic when it came to allegations of Donald Trump’s racism.

Of course, what goes up will invariably come screaming back to earth. Pastor Burns’ problems began when he shared a Tweet on his Twitter account of Hillary Clinton in blackface. The pastor was remorseful in the classic, “I’m sorry if you were offended” way that really isn’t an apology at all. This made him even more of a target for social media and it was soon revealed that Pastor Burns wasn’t exactly well acquainted with the truth when it came to his bio. During a CNN interview [confrontation] with anchor, Victor Blackwell, it was revealed that Pastor Burns had padded his resume a bit.

On his now disabled website , Pastor Burns claimed he earned a Bachelor of Science Degree from North Greenville University and the University told CNN he had only attended for one semester. He also claimed to be a member of the predominately black college fraternity, Kappa Alpha Psi - this too was false.

It begged the question, at least to me, why a clergyman would lie about facts that could so easily be verified. My unqualified assumption is that Pastor Mark Burns never thought anyone would check. I believe that Pastor Burns believed he had no reason to worry about scrutiny from his parishioners or his television ministry. Why would anyone who tuned into his show or visited his church dive into the validity of his education or his exploits? He is a pastor and no one in their right mind would question the integrity of a pastor!

In a Facebook post, Pastor Burns asserted that he “overstated” his credentials because he feared his lack of qualifications wouldn’t allow him to be taken “seriously” as a “new pastor.” Rather than take full responsibility for his actions, Pastor Burns went on to play the race card and claim that this revelation of truth was “because I am a black man supporting Donald Trump for President.” No, Pastor Burns it’s because you lied.

Here’s the problem. Once Pastor Burns accepted his assignment as Donald Trump spokesman, he shed both his protective garment of “anointed” and his anonymity. I’m not sure Pastor Burns really understood the gravity of his rising fame. The look of indignation during his CNN interview proved to me that he somehow believed that he was above examination and reproach. His folly was that he believed that his title as a pastor would provide him the same blind following as he ventured into the world of politics. Despite his insistence that he was not a politician, Pastor Burns’ exploitation of the fame that came with being a Trump surrogate put him in the spotlight in a way his televangelism never has.

Unfortunately, Pastor Burns never considered that the Trump Train would not slow down or stop for him. Donald Trump is no stranger to controversy and he seems to brush it off no sooner than he creates it with his bigoted speech and tweets. The Trump political machine has already begun distancing itself from Pastor Burns, insisting that Burns is not a member of the campaign but “just a volunteer.”

I totally understand Pastor Burns. With the immense wealth and influence that this country, especially the black community bestows upon our clergy, it had to be extremely enticing to find himself benefiting from a national platform, even one that is provided by Donald Trump. Religion is a multi-billion dollar industry in this country and despite controversy; it’s hard to knock a minister from his pulpit for very long. However, I think we may have heard the last of Pastor Mark Burns. I have no doubt that he will be heading back to South Carolina, hat in hand, hoping that he hasn’t completely lost all of his following.

Although I don’t agree with his politics, I forgive Pastor Burns. I want to believe that his heart is in the right place; his ambition, on the other hand led him astray. I understand the validity of the warning found in Psalms 105:15. I couldn’t imagine the scrutiny of being a pastor, especially with all the visibility some ministries have garnered. I think it’s important to separate the man from the message – to a certain extent. After all, being a preacher isn’t at all like being Christ. However, I do believe our preachers have an obligation to put forth their greatest effort to be Christ-like.