She held up her hands as if she was trying to hold off the attack that she knew was coming. “I’m not saying he did, I’m just saying we don’t know. And let’s say he didn’t fall to that kind of sexual temptation; we do know he fell to something. That’s biblical. Because every single one of us sins and falls short.”

I let her words settle before I asked, “So are you saying...if Jeremy’s the father of Sharonne’s son, I should forgive him?”

“Well, you’re gonna have to forgive him no matter what. Daddy taught us that. The whole Christian doctrine is built on forgiveness, so I don’t understand folks who go to church every Sunday talking about, ‘you gonna have to give me time to speak to him again after what he did to me’.” Jada sucked her teeth. “I just don’t understand it. Look.” The legs of her chair scraped against the tiles on the kitchen’s floor as she turned her chair to face me. Taking both of my hands into hers, she said, “I just want you to remember that Jeremy is a man who is preaching the word of God. So Satan’s job is to bring Jeremy Williams down. Satan’s job is to kill and destroy this man of God.”

I sighed. “You know, I hate when people bring up Satan. It feels like an excuse. Satan didn’t cheat, Jeremy did.”

“I know that, but hear me out. Now, Jeremy may have allowed the devil in and Jeremy may have cheated, but I just want you to consider this is not just about a man who cheated on his wife. This is about a man of God who is being targeted for destruction.”

I stared at my sister for a moment. We’d all gone through so much being a pastor’s kids. But Jada had gone through the most. Our father had already passed away when Jada came out, but all of us still worshipped at New Faith Missionary Baptist Church, the church that my father had built. But once news of her being gay spread within the church, men and women who’d worked with our parents, men and women who’d watched us grow up, men and women who’d given us hugs every Sunday, gifts at Christmas, and sincere condolences when our father died, shunned Jada. The hate was enough to drive our mother out of D.C. and Jada out of the church forever.

“What?” Jada asked. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

I shrugged. “It’s just that....”

“You’re surprised that I’m dropping all this Christian wisdom?” She grinned.

And I laughed, grateful for the weight she’d taken off this conversation. “Yeah, I’m a little surprised.”