Martin Luther King, Jr. & Our Lives

Feb. 5, 2008

Today is Martin Luther King Day, but I think barely anybody even thinks of him, his mission, or his sacrifice. It's sad, because he gave his life for freedom, justice, and equality...and we get a day off. (Or at least some of us do. :-) I sang "Lift Ev'ry Voice" at my old middle school's MLK assembly on Friday because my old teacher asked me to. She's an interesting person and is really involved in civil rights/liberties and stuff like that. However, she's not a Christian and I'm not really sure where she stands on the whole "there's a God" thing. I think she's more like those who take bits and pieces from whatever religion they want and mash it up together to create some type of personalized religion/spirituality/whatever you want to call it. As she was introducing me, she gave a brief story about how she went to hear Dr. King give his "I Have a Dream" speech when she was about 10 years old. In it she mentioned that she got her strength and hope from Dr. King and called on him whenever she needed it. I couldn't help sort of chuckling and shaking my head because how ridiculous is that - calling on a dead person to give you strength???

Dr. King was a great man, no doubt. He's one of my heroes...someone who really stood up and DID something, which so many people fail to do. I think in today's society, Dr. King's belief in Christ and the fact that he was a PASTOR before he was a civil rights leader, gets heavily overlooked. It's kind of brushed aside. But Christ was where he found his strength, not in himself, or the people he was surrounded by. Because his faith was in Jesus and Him alone, God did incredible things through him and changed a nation. To this day, 45 years later, people still talk about Dr. King and millions of lives have been changed because he listened to the call of God on his life.

This led me to think about what my calling is.... What it is that God's called me to do. Will I follow that still, small voice? That ever-present, yet gentle tug in my spirit? What would happen if the young people across this earth would stand up in their God-given abilities and gifts, hopes and dreams? Could I change a nation? Could I rewrite history for the generations that will come after me? What if we believed that our God was as big as He said He was? What if we believed He really was "mighty to save"? What if we would give our ENTIRE lives over to the cause of Christ and His Kingdom?

I believe, in the very core of my being, that each and every person has something, a mission, that God has called them to do. As Christians, those that claim to follow the words of a Man who claimed He was the Messiah - our Savior, we can't just sit in our comfortable pews and look at the world and shake our heads with pity. If we stay seated...if we stay quiet and ignore what the Spirit of God has called us to do, how can we call ourselves His? What if Dr. King hadn't listened to the voice of God and just said, "No, no, God.... I can't do this. I'm not _____ enough. Please, please...not me"? Millions of people would be affected. My life would be drastically different.... I can't even begin to fathom it. What if people's destinies were hinged on whether you said "Yes!" to God's plan for your life? What if there is someone waiting for YOU?

It's up to the Church to change the world.... There's no one else to do it. The government can't do it. Education can't do it. Only the life-changing, radical, unconditional, matchless, powerful name of Jesus and the Gospel can change the world and bring love to a love-staved planet. We put our hope in people like Oprah or Bono and sort of pat them on the back for what they're doing. And what they're doing is great.... I wish Christians, whose true religion should consist of taking care of the widows and orphans, would do what they do. We have 24/7 access to the God of the universe and all we care about is our little world. There's so much more to life and so much needs to be done. My heart's cry...my deepest desire...is to say "Yes!" to wherever God leads me. Possibly my deepest fear is that I'd miss out on what God has for me. People's eternal destinies are dependent upon my obedience to this Jesus that I claim to love so much. It's so much BIGGER than me and my little comfortable slice of life.

When I think about how incredible the grace of God is...it makes me cry. When I think of how NOTHING on this green earth happens without God's knowledge...it just blows my mind. I've been placed here (in this country, in this state, in this county, in this town, in this church, in this school, in this neighborhood) for a reason. Nothing's by accident. My ever-living God has had it all planned from the beginning. He's placed a calling on my life, and who am I to say "No" to the Creator of all? My life has worked out the way it has because I'm determined to fulfill my purpose while I'm here on this earth. I know it's not going to be easy...and it hasn't...but I truly believe that "my God is mighty to save" and whatever obstacles I face, they won't stop me from following His plan with gusto and enthusiasm, perserverance and faith.

What if Dr. King had said "no" to what God was calling him to do? This country would not be in the state it's in, that's for sure. What if your saying no to what God's calling you to do would have the same impact? What if you could see the impact of your disobedience to His calling, His wooing? Would you still say no?