I was 10 years old when Martin Luther King was assassinated in 1968 and I really didnt understand at the time the significance of this mans life. Two years later Ill never forget being bussed across the tracks in the first year of integrating schools in the south and walking into my home room as the only white kid there! I suddenly realized I had never had a friend that was black in my entire life! Little did I realize that God was preparing me for a future where I would eventually lead a church in the very city Martin Luther King preached and that we would join in the effort to bring healing between the races as well as trumpet equality and justice for all. After 25 years of pastoring over 118 different cultures I still struggle with the indifference that my own race continues to demonstrate to the plight of minorities and instead form judgements from whatever the media chooses to show them. Lately one of the new slogans we see often displayed is Black Lives Matter which I totally get but at the same time Im wondering when will America get All Lives Matter? Unfortunately Martin Luther King Jr.s famous statement is still true that 11:00 Sunday morning is the most segregated hour in America! I think as long as we continue to depend on the government to solve the racial divide while we segregate ourselves each week in worship we are sending the wrong message to the world about what Christ really looks like! One of the things Martin Luther King demonstrated with his life is that reconciliation is INTENTIONAL but not necessarily COMFORTABLE. Recently I attended a national Roundtable in Dallas where I heard T.D Jakes make a plea to white pastors across the nation to speak up in this area and help minority leaders with the cause of equality and justice. I decided a long time ago to heed this call in my city and would echo this plea to all my white pastor friends to join in this cause. Martin Luther King Jr. left a legacy that the world will never forget. Now the question is will those of us who know Christ be willing to do the same? biography/people/martin-luther-king-jr-9365086
Posted on: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 23:41:19 +0000