by Scott H. Northrup
The Bible says that we should give honor where honor is due, and so tonight as I sit down to write this article I want to pay tribute to a great Christian man, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I think it is totally fitting during this month of the year when we set aside time as a nation to celebrate the accomplishments of people of color in this great land.
It was not only his eloquence, not only his gift of oratory, though they were substantial. It was the righteousness of God working through Dr. King that was able to change the face of America forever. He demonstrated what has been done time and again throughout history, when a man aligns himself with the divine purpose, when a spirit-empowered believer walks uprightly before God, walking in sincerity and truth. It was demonstrated by his namesake, Martin Luther, who stood alone against the corrupt church of his day. It was borne out when the man of God William Wilberforce stood vehemently against the slavery of the colonial world. And it was carried out when the little black woman Rosa Parks, the child of God, who had a revelation of the fact that she was the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, got up from the back of the bus and moved to where a child of the King of Kings should sit. When you walk in God's righteousness, His righteousness goes to work on your behalf and accomplishes far more than what the natural human being can accomplish.
Dr. King had a clear vision of the divine plan. God abhors racism. It is an abomination to Him. But Dr. King didn't just get angry, though there was plenty of cause. Instead he saw an opportunity to make a difference.
No man created for him the office that he filled that hot August day when he stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and spoke to hundreds of thousands, saying, "I have a dream." It was the righteousness of God working through his redeemed spirit.
Listen to the content of his mighty words that day: "In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence ... I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed - 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal'... I have a dream that one day 'every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low; the rough places plain, and the crooked straight; and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together' ... This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning - 'My country, 'tis of Thee, sweet land of liberty ... Let Freedom Ring.' "
I am thrilled to be part of a local church that embraces racial and socioeconomic diversity. I hear a lot of secular organizations TALK about tolerance, but it is in the growing worldwide church of Jesus Christ that I see it as a vital force. And so I implore my white brothers and sisters that haven't quite gotten hold of the vision, to jump in the waters. And I also implore my brothers and sisters of color that celebrate their great heritage as a people, to "Look to the Rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug." It was not Mohammed. It was not a political party. It was and is Jesus that sets you free. He sets us all free.
@ copyright 2004 by Scott H. Northrup. All rights reserved.