Pastor Jamal Bryant is once again at the center of a cultural and theological clash. This time after a white preacher accused him of “ethnic idolatry” for comments he made on Martin Luther King Jr. and conservative commentator Charlie Kirk.
The dispute stems from a sermon Pastor Jamal Bryant delivered in September, following Kirk’s untimely and controversial passing.
“I’m concerned about all of these Negro preachers who’ve been, in fact, talking about that this man that was killed was the answer to Christ in the earth. They having moments of silence in Black churches all over the country, over a man that was racist and a white supremacist. How dare you compare him to Martin Luther King? The only thing that Charlie [Kirk] and Martin Luther King got in common is both of them was killed by white men,” Bryant said.
Like anything referencing Kirk, Bryant’s message sparked mixed reactions online leaving conservatives outraged and others applauding in agreement. This sermon also inspired a sermon from Millicent Sedra, who chastised Bryant for invoking race while rejecting comparisons between Kirk and King.
“How dare you compare him to Martin Luther King? The only thing that Charlie Kirk and Martin Luther King got in common is both of them were killed by a white man,” she said quoting Bryant’s words. “Notice how many times he brings up skin color—four times. Jamal, he needs to repent of this ethnic idolatry. You are more concerned with the color of people’s skin than you are with the truth that they speak. You are more loyal to your tribe and your race and your ethnicity than you are to the people of God.”
Going on to condemn the separation she claims Bryant creates by referring to Black churches, Sedra’s passionate sermon equally struck a nerve online for a number of reasons. While Kirk’s death has sparked continuous debates about religion on social media, Sedra’s words reignited a very important conversation about how racism has impacted Black communities’ relationship with the church and religion. In a video Bryant later reposted, a content creator (@ellieunbound) captured the tension clearly:
“It’s fascinating how quickly the word repent comes out when race is brought into the conversation, because it’s not about repentance. It’s about control. It’s about keeping the narrative comfortable. For those who have never had to question it,” the content creator said in the video Bryant reposted, “because when a black pastor speaks to the pain of his community, he’s suddenly betraying God. But when white pastors preach nationalism from the pulpit, it’s just called patriotism. Whiteness gets to be the default. Everything else is labeled tribal. That’s the double standard being exposed here.”
“Thank you @ellieunbound for succinctly expressing my sentiments to the zealously uninformed,” Bryant captioned the post. “Disagreeing with a podcaster doesn’t make you a false prophet and embracing how you were made in the image of God doesn’t make you idolatrous. Freedom of speech shouldn’t be reserved just for people who have always been free. To suggest the creator is colorblind negates his creativity and histories atrocities. Christians need to stop condemning what they don’t comprehend and damming what they disagree with…. Come let us reason together 🙏🏾”
Supporters quickly weighed in under Bryant’s post, echoing his frustrations. “This is brilliant,” one commenter wrote. “Not to mention that, the young lady ‘preaching’ did so with an image of CK behind her while spouting off about idolatry. Irony is dead.”
The back-and-forth highlights a broader divide within American Christianity: one where Black preachers are often told to downplay race, while white preachers who champion nationalism are rarely given the same scrutiny. For Bryant, who has long used his pulpit to challenge racism and hypocrisy, the latest exchange is less about personal attacks and more about exposing that imbalance.
