Social media is buzzing with criticism of gospel music legend Shirley Caesar. Critics are accusing the pastor and singer of defending fellow recording artist Kim Burrell, who has faced heat for speaking out against homosexuality.
Between songs at a recent performance, cell phones captured video of Caesar saying, “You should’ve said something four years ago when our president made that stuff all right.”
Social media users are calling Caesar’s comments offensive, but Pastor Caesar says her words were taken out of context.
Caesar also noted in an interview posted on Facebook that she was not defending Burrell’s comments. In fact, she was questioning their timing.
She said, “What I was saying is, ‘Why now?'”
She went on to say, “That was then, this is now. Time is too short. Eternity is too long. We don’t have time for a bunch of foolishness. It is a trick of the enemy to come and steal and to kill your intention and your influence.”
“I know who I am, and I know I would never say anything to harm anybody,” Caesar added. “The Lord has been too good to me. I just don’t have time for that.”
Prior to the one sentence critics are singling out from Caesar’s message during the recent performance, Caesar also quoted Jeremiah 31:3c, which says, “With lovingkindness I have drawn you.”
With that word, she cautioned pastors on stage and the nearly 4,000 people in the audience to be more forgiving to others.
She said, “I come tonight to tell you that all of us have made a whole lot of mistakes.”
She then posed the thought “If walls could talk, if hotel beds could talk,” they could expose secrets in everyone’s closet.
Her short talk never mentioned Burrell by name. But it did call for love and kindness to be shown by and to all people. {eoa}
Reprinted with permission from CBN.com. Copyright The Christian Broadcasting Network, Inc., All rights reserved.
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