Who We Are |
In an interview with Associated Press, Johnson explained that after Sunday Best, she fell into a life of drinking, partying, and fornication that many felt was unbefitting of her status as a leader in the church and on the gospel music scene. But after having found herself "delivered" from alcoholism, she routinely recounts this testimony at her public performances now. At her performance of BET's annual Celebration of Gospel in 2012, Johnson performed "Jesus," the song for which she won a Grammy Award for "Best Gospel Contemporary Christian Music Performance" with a noticeable bulge in her midsection. Rumors quickly began to speculate on social media that an unmarried Johnson was pregnant with her fourth child. After publicly confirming the rumors, Johnson received widespread criticism from the black church and black gospel communities. Despite having many of her confirmed bookings cancelled, Johnson continued to minister around the country throughout her pregnancy out of wedlock. In 2013, Johnson was featured on gospel musician Isaac Carree's single, "Blessin' in Your Lesson," in which she testified that it was the pregnancy that forced her to stop drinking for good, equating what many saw as a disgrace as a blessing from God that saved her life.
In 2015, Johnson began filming with "Preachers of Atlanta," a reality show that chronicles the lives 5 Atlanta-based preachers live within ministry. Despite the show's focus on liberal theologies--all of the preachers have, at some point on the show, expressed disdain for the impractical and oppressive regimes of contemporary American churches--Johnson has been a standout in her non-traditional techniques of ministering and pastoring. For starters, she is a woman and pastor; women's leadership is still incredibly controversial in the Church of God in Christ denomination in which she was raised. Johnson does not believe in the traditional liturgical techniques of the black church or formal attire. She has also been known to pass out cigarettes and condoms to people in the inner city neighborhoods of Atlanta. This move has been quite controversial among her fellow preacher friends on the reality show. According to Le'Andria, if people are going to smoke or have sex anyway, you might as well "meet them where they are" to minister the gospel of Jesus; her peers mostly see the actions as abetting sinful behaviors in the name of Jesus. In the middle of the show's taping, Le'Andria was the subject of even more controversy about her appearance in a live video broadcast on the streaming app Periscope during Labor Day weekend in 2015. On the broadcast, Johnson could be seen visibly inebriated singing along to Beyonce's "Drunk in Love." She admits, after her son asks her what she has been drinking, that she is drinking Patron. When people start to send in live, negative comments about the broadcast, Johnson remarks, "we have been controlled by this religious beast all of our lives. At the end of the day, there are real people out here with real issues, living in a real world and serving a real God." "God forgives me and allows me to be forgiven 70 times 7. His grace is sufficient and is enough for me… Which means, ‘Let the party begin!’" As the negative comments continue to roll in, Johnson becomes irritable, accusing those criticizing her of trying to "crucify" her, finally remarking, "you think I'm about to give two apple shits about what y'all are thinking?" She appeared on the radio station Praise 102.5 to defend the Periscope incident a few days later, but it has continued to taint her reputation as a gospel musician and now minister of the gospel. On the finale episode of Preachers of Atlanta, Le'Andria comes to a realization, with the help of a ministerial mentor, that her actions, including the Periscope incident, public intoxication, and premarital childbirth, have been inappropriate, and promises to recommit herself to a holy and righteous life. |