This week on Preachers of L.A: Ron Gibson prepares for speaking event, but battles with whether he should be true to himself or not, Wayne Chaney seems interested in getting a tattoo despite his wife not liking them, Jay Haizlip gets a new a tattoo, Loretta meets with Myesha and Christy, and Clarence McClendon gives his older son more ministry responsibilities.
Ron Gibson: He goes to the barbershop to get a haircut and chat with some friends about a big event coming up. He will be the keynote speaker at a convention for the church leaders. The leaders are on the general board, which are 12 men selected by their peers. Gibson wants to become a part of the general board, “I’d love to be on the board to help govern and forecast the future of our church.” While discussing the difference in his approach to ministry versus the general board a friend of his asks him, “You don’t think you’re a little too thuggish for them [the general board]?” He knows that he is viewed in a certain light due to his past as a drug dealer, but he refuses to let that stop him.
However, viewers are reminded of Gibson’s past when the discussion steers toward his stance on being armed. He sees nothing wrong with carrying a weapon to do the lord’s work, which isn’t surprising because he ministers to men who either are or have been in gangs. “To do the lord work of saving souls; I gotta make sure mine doesn’t have a pre-mature departure from my body.” While he genuinely wants to be on the general board; he doesn’t want to lose himself in the process, “I can’t dumb down who I am.”
Gibson asks his wife Lavette about what the guys in the barbershop said and how people view him; she is honest with him, “Sometimes don’t talk so much about yourself or what you have accomplished.” She also tells him that he can go overboard at times, “Sometimes you say more than you need to say.” The way she can tell him the truth and he listens speaks volumes to how open they are in their marriage. After the talk, he battles with whether or not he should tone it down some.
The Convention: This is the best part of the episode. He is nervous about speaking and hopes not to put his foot in his mouth, “I’m nervous as can be. These type of settings can make you or break you.” Yet, decides to be true to himself above all else, “They asked for Ron Gibson to preach and that is what they are going to get.” The theme of the speech is to be thankful for those that put obstacles in your life because God is trying to take you through the steps to get you to what he has planned for you. During the speech Bishop Gibson is on a role, being himself but not taking it overboard, until he calls the general board members “haters.”
“I got some haters in this section, I feel them,” he said pointing to where the men were seating. The member’s faces were not amused and tight, while Lavette gasped. She didn’t think he would talk about them not voting for him. Gibson didn’t stop there, he continued, “Didn’t vote for me because I had too much swag.” It appeared Gibson was calling them out for their view of him, but he wasn’t. He admitted that God had to take him through steps before he could become a bishop and that the rejection from those men had a hand in it. God made their “no,” his motivation, “A worse thing a person can tell a guy like me is that I can’t.”
He thanked God for those who told him he couldn’t do it couldn’t be a bishop or anything because he learned something, “I was taught blessings come in ‘can’ not ‘can’t’.” He said that the Lord turned his “misery into a powerful ministry.” The crowd in attendance loved his speech and so did his wife, “He was true to himself and I am proud of him,” Lavette said.
Loretta: She decides to invite Myesha Chaney and Christy Haizlip to her restaurant JJ’s Bistro to talk, “I’ve gotten a chance to meet all the first ladies and I really enjoy their company.” The topic of tattoos comes up and Myesha is not a fan. She sees tattoos as a sin and links the two together, something Christy, who has tattoos, and Loretta do not agree with. “I just feel like as leaders in the Christian community, we have the responsibility to be examples,” Myesha explained. Luckily, the women choose to agree to disagree.
Clarence McClendon: His oldest son, with his wife, Cameron loves music and wants to be a musician. So McClendon decides to let him lead their 2 pm service in music. It appears Clarence and his son is alike in their interests as the episode goes on. McClendon had a similar passion for music, but decided to go into pastoring. McClendon checks up on his sons progress on preparing the music for the 2 pm service every now and then, understanding that it’s a huge responsibility, but telling him, “I’m counting on you son to get this done.”
His son delivers at the 2 pm service by singing an original song he created. The song sounded good and the church enjoyed it. McClendon is proud of his son and the two sit down and talk about Cameron’s desire to become a gospel artist. It seems interesting that McClendon can talk so freely to his son about his love of music, when it’s hinted that he never had that type of conversation with his own father.
He books some studio time for him and his son to work on some songs together. Cameron admits that he doesn’t just write church songs, but love songs as well; he wouldn’t mind pursuing a career in non-secular music. McClendon supports his son wanting to do so, despite his father not supporting him when he wanted to. He feels that God calls his people to minister in different ways and that it is possible for his son to minister while singing non-secular music. With the way gospel music is changing and reaching younger generations, Cameron just might find a niche in gospel if he ever changes his mind.
Wayne Chaney: He is accompanying Jay Haizlip to get a tattoo and is thinking about getting one. He decides to get his wife’s viewpoint on it first. “So what do you think about this tattoo business?” She tells him that she does not believe he should be getting a tattoo at his age and she doesn’t want it on him. The two begin quoting scriptures that reference tattoos and Wayne makes a comparison between tattoos and his wife wearing make-up. Myesha isn’t trying to be difficult, but her answer is no “I don’t want Wayne coming home with a new tattoo.” He still plans on going with Jay to the tattoo place, but he didn’t seem to agree with her response.
I can see why Myesha says no because the type of church Wayne runs appears traditional, remember last episode when they didn’t believe Myesha could be executive pastor because she would be a woman ministering to men, so why he did not think about that is beyond me. I like the fact that Myesha stuck to her convictions no matter how conservative or traditional they may be.
Jay Haizlip: He is getting a tattoo and is super excited about it. The tattoo is not a religious one just a classical artsy type of tattoo. When he and his wife talk, he tells her that Pastor Wayne Chaney will be coming with him along with Ron Gibson to the tattoo parlor. Christy is shocked and tells him about Myesha’s conservative stance on tattoos. Haizlip has a lot of tattoos, so of course he doesn’t think they are sinful. Christy thinks about persuading Myesha to come to the parlor, to change her mind on tattoos.
Haizlip meets up with Brian Welch, a guitarist in the well-known metal band Korn, who is a Christian and has a lot of tattoos. Jay shares Myesha’s viewpoint of tattoos with Bryan and he disagrees; knowing what it’s like to be judged by other Christians due to the tattoos covering his body. Bryan joined Haizlip’s church because he felt welcomed and understood, something he feels tattooed Christians don’t feel in churches with traditional mindsets. Haizlip denounces what he calls “Christians hating Christians,” Christians judging other Christians because of their external appearance. “If I judged people by the way they look, half of my church wouldn’t be in my church.”
Wayne Chaney, Myesha, and Ron Gibson come to see Haizlip get tattooed. Myesha stance doesn’t change, “Tattoos are not for me because they are not for me,” but her coming to the parlor shows that she doesn’t mind stepping out of her conservative beliefs. However, maybe she went to make sure her husband didn’t get a tattoo, who knows.
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