This morning my wife put together a small lesson for our four kids about the life, times and legacy of Dr Martin Luther King Jr. After they had their (million) questions answered they colored a picture of him and we concluded by watch a grainy, black and white video of his 1963 I have a dream speech in Washington DC. As we watched and listened to Dr King speak so passionately about his dream for HIS four children, I could not help but be moved as MY 4 children stared through the portal of my iPhone at this pivotal moment in American history. We as a nation have talked a lot today (and every other day) about our progress in realizing this dream. And while we can agree that great strides have been made we continue to have reminders that when it comes to racial progress we are just that: a work IN progress. As I reflected, today, on the work of Dr King, and contrast the civil rights era to where we are in 2015, I am certain of these two truths. 1) The call for justice can only be rooted in the acknowledgement of absolute truth. 2)Racism is a direct result of a faulty view of ones self. Its hard to imagine a time when slavery was considered right. Conversely, Its hard to imagine when divorce was considered wrong. Without absolute truth, justice, is merely an ideal that is defined by the whims of the majority. Thus it will always have the ability to morph and change. And pity on the man or woman for whom the definition changes to their detriment. The ideal that all are inherently created equal is not an American invention. Or even an American realization in the 1960s. No it is an absolute truth, created by an absolute God. The same goes for many other issues that change from generation to generation, or administration to administration. Relativism and tolerance though they may masquerade as progress only change how we relate to each other, not how we view each other. Embracing the truth that we are all made in the image of God, will lead me and you to judge people on the content of their character instead of the color of their skin. Dr King had this to say about our self concept: We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies. The man who cannot forgive, clearly doesnt understand how much he has been forgiven. He has a faulty view of himself. He thinks of himself higher and holier than he ought and thus he is inclined to think he is superior to another human being. And according to Dr. King, a byproduct of this faulty view is an inability to truly love other people. (Yes you can treat people nice, kind and even equal without loving them) Forgiveness is not easy. As I write this I must admit that there are some people I am struggling to forgive. But when I look at how much Ive been forgiven by Christ, how can I not in turn forgive? The more we come to grips with our sin, our shortcomings before God, the easier it will be to forgive and the harder it will be to hate anyone based on such trivial things as race or economic status. We have a choice to make. We can intentionally deny our sin problem, our faults and our shortcomings and continue to think we are superior or we can humbly acknowledge that we are all created in Gods image, and due to our sin and rebellion (racism included), are in the same human condition. One that is in desperate need of redemption. Scripture states it plainly; there is neither Jew nor Greek; there is neither slave nor free; nor is there make or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28)
Posted on: Tue, 20 Jan 2015 03:17:49 +0000
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