In a 1956 message, Martin Luther King Jr. reads an imaginary letter from the Apostle Paul. I've excerpted it below, but be sure to read the whole message.
For many years I have longed to be able to come to see you. I have heard so much of you and of what you are doing. I have heard of the fascinating and astounding advances that you have made in the scientific realm. I have heard of your dashing subways and flashing airplanes. Through your scientific genius you have been able to dwarf distance and place time in chains. You have been able to carve highways through the stratosphere. So in your world you have made it possible to eat breakfast in New York City and dinner in Paris, France. I have also heard of your skyscraping buildings with their prodigious towers steeping heavenward. I have heard of your great medical advances, which have resulted in the curing of many dread plagues and diseases, and thereby prolonged your lives and made for greater security and physical well-being. All of that is marvelous. You can do so many things in your day that I could not do in the Greco-Roman world of my day. In your age you can travel distances in one day that took me three months to travel. That is wonderful. You have made tremendous strides in the area of scientific and technological development.
But America, as I look at you from afar, I wonder whether your moral and spiritual progress has been commensurate with your scientific progress. It seems to me that your moral progress lags behind your scientific progress. Your poet Thoreau used to talk about "improved means to an unimproved end." How often this is true. You have allowed the material means by which you live to outdistance the spiritual ends for which you live. You have allowed your mentality to outrun your morality. You have allowed your civilization to outdistance your culture. Through your scientific genius you have made of the world a neighborhood, but through your moral and spiritual genius you have failed to make of it a brotherhood. So America, I would urge you to keep your moral advances abreast with your scientific advances.
I am impelled to write you concerning the responsibilities laid upon you to live as Christians in the midst of an unChristian world. That is what I had to do. That is what every Christian has to do. But I understand that there are many Christians in America who give their ultimate allegiance to man-made systems and customs. They are afraid to be different. Their great concern is to be accepted socially. They live by some such principle as this: "everybody is doing it, so it must be alright." For so many of you Morality is merely group consensus. In your modern sociological lingo, the mores are accepted as the right ways. You have unconsciously come to believe that right is discovered by taking a sort of Gallup poll of the majority opinion. How many are giving their ultimate allegiance to this way.
But American Christians, I must say to you as I said to the Roman Christians years ago, "Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind." Or, as I said to the Phillipian Christians, "Ye are a colony of heaven." This means that although you live in the colony of time, your ultimate allegiance is to the empire of eternity. You have a dual citizenry. You live both in time and eternity; both in heaven and earth. Therefore, your ultimate allegiance is not to the government, not to the state, not to nation, not to any man-made institution. The Christian owes his ultimate allegiance to God, and if any earthly institution conflicts with God's will it is your Christian duty to take a stand against it. You must never allow the transitory evanescent demands of man-made institutions to take precedence over the eternal demands of the Almighty God.
You can find more MLK speechs and information here.
Posted on January 16, 2012 at 7:31 AM ~ 6 Comments
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Thanks for finding & posting this, Dr Stetzer! Appropriate for our day as much as in the 1950's!
Ed,
This is powerful! Thank you for sharing it.
As a pastor, during an interview I was asked what event do you do to honor Dr. King?
I said we don't do an event. We are honor Dr. King and Jesus by being a multi-ethnic congregation.
Keep up the great work!
Derwin
He was Intelligent and Brave with the Courage to go where he was lead.
Ed-
Thanks for sharing this. I would like to learn more about the pastoral life of Martin Luther King Jr. Do you know of any good biographies that focus on his faith and pastoral life?
There is no longer any distinction between those in Christ. To see, know and fellowship with any believer of any kind, from any country, in any culture, of any color and in any language should only be an opportunity for the love of Christ to be shared and enjoyed. If we do not love our Brothers and Sisters who are different from us, we are very immature indeed.
Wow.
Where did you dig this one up?
I had listened to some of his sermons, and honestly, felt like the scriptures were shoehorned in to the social justice message,
And while this one seemed to degenerate into that,it did at least at first, have a few excelent points.
"Therefore, your ultimate allegiance is not to the government, not to the state, not to nation, not to any man-made institution. The Christian owes his ultimate allegiance to God, and if any earthly institution conflicts with God's will it is your Christian duty to take a stand against it."
I agree with the above, but only to the point of the institution defying Gods will as in agreement with his word. I am sorry I know I could be flamed, but I Dont agree with "fighting for" social justice. Should we be examples to the lost absolutely, should we force them into obeying what we percieve is socially Just. I dont see it, because ultimately it's a sin issue. If you force them into obedience of issues that we know are sin, it's a coerced obedience, not one born of the Holy Spirit. Doesn't mean I won't be an example, but It does mean I believe we are to champion the Gospel of Christ, which has the power to change All mankind. Did Dr. King change America, in many ways, but he has not eliminated racism, and inequality. Jesus CAN and WILL. I believe Martin Luther King saw and endured one manefestation of sin, that was particularly pointed and barbed toward one subsection of mankind. But I believe the Gospel is bigger than that. I believe It has the power to change people, not just away from segregation, and racism, but from sin itself. I also believe it does not require equal rights to work. It is just as powerful now for the people who are still enslaved as it was when Martin Luther Kings ancestors were enslaved. Slavery and racism are states of being. and are Temporal. Just like being inprisoned is. Look at how Paul was inprisoned seemingly for the purpose of freeing his Guard from Sin itself by sharing with him the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If we spend our energy on trying to right our percieved societal wrongs, sure we make make changes here in the now. But if our focus is on sharing the Gospel, which has the power to save eternally, then our effort is magnified potentially unlimetedly. where as Dr King only changed the perceptions of some people on the earth. I just cant help But think what he could have accomplished for the Kingdom, if he had spent all of his energy toward magnifying and proclaiming Christ, rather than equality amongst mankind, when we are all nothing in comparison to Christ? Disagree if you want, but no matter how "right" and "Good" we educate people to be, at their heart, and soul, they are evil and corrupted by their sins, be it manefest in racism, or any of the other ways we demonstrate our corruption, and Need For Jesus, and Jesus alone.
"The misuse of Capitalism can also lead to tragic exploitation. This has so often happened in your nation. They tell me that one tenth of one percent of the population controls more than forty percent of the wealth. Oh America, how often have you taken necessities from the masses to give luxuries to the classes. If you are to be a truly Christian nation you must solve this problem."
The above was interesting since it was written in 1956, and with all the sweeping changes it made in civil rights, the Rich Still Got even richer. And of Course the notion of A "christian nation" with our diest, founding fathers, is well excellent propaganda to feed the christians to keep them in check. But that is my opinion,
You cannot solve the problem by turning to communism, for communism is based on an ethical relativism and a metaphysical materialism that no Christian can accept.
I find this particularly interesting since it is obviouslly stemming from the cold war propaganda against communism, which is something PRESCRIBED by the Bible, in Acts.
They tell me that in America you have within Protestantism more than two hundred and fifty six denominations. The tragedy is not so much that you have such a multiplicity of denominations, but that most of them are warring against each other with a claim to absolute truth. This narrow sectarianism is destroying the unity of the Body of Christ. You must come to see that God is neither a Baptist nor a Methodist; He is neither a Presbyterian nor a Episcopalian.
I do believe we like nice neat lables rather than holding to Gods word, and allowing it to seoerate the wheat from the chaff.