Martin Luther King

Martydom As Amnesia: Jesus & Martin Luther King Jr.

~ Mike Skinner ~ 2 Comments

“His martyrdom has somehow muffled his message….
We deify him in death, but we demonized him in life.” – Tavis Smiley

Tavis Smiley has recently released a new book, Death of a King: The Real Story of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Final Years, in which he argues that Dr. King’s death has overshadowed the subversive message that characterized the end of his career. In his last years, Martin Luther King Jr. came out strongly against the US war in Vietnam and called America “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today.” The world saw his concerns expand beyond civil rights as he turned a sharply critical eye towards the “triple threat of racism, poverty, and militarism.” And almost everyone hated him for it.

I can’t help but wonder if the same thing has happened to Jesus. If somehow his martyrdom has muffled his message. If perhaps we have deified him in his death while forgetting that we demonized (and continue to demonize) him in his life.

The Western world revels in Jesus as a martyr and embraces him as a sacrifice for their sins. But when it comes to his message of radical care for the poor and unrelenting nonviolence, we want none of it. This is not unlike Jesus’ first-century audience, who were so threatened by his message that they killed him for it. Make no mistake about it: Jesus wasn’t killed because the Jewish & Roman leaders knew that God desired a spiritual sacrifice for sin, he was killed for challenging the religious and political status-quo of the day.

Racism, poverty, and militarism continue to be the “powers of our age.” Thus, I fear that today Jesus’ message would poll equally as low as it did in the first-century … and I’m more scared that perhaps even western “Christians” who love Jesus the martyr have still not come to terms with his actual message.

Remembering: MLK and Inauguration

~ Chad Chambers ~ Leave a comment

No matter your political views, today’s events are worth watching. If only, to remember. Remembering is something that Christians are called to do, but we can’t remember well when aren’t paying attention in the first place. So remember:

 

Letter from a Birmingham Jail – “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

I Have a Dream Speech – “Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.”

 

I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. (Galatians 4:1-7)

 

(Scheduled post on metaphors will come tomorrow…)