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Dripping Springs Weekly Bulletins
Martin Luther King
One of the more controversial figures in the 20th century, King had many detractors. His name on Main Street America has produced many an argument.
It has been over four decades since his well-known speech in Washington, D. C., but we still see it on our TV screens, especially on the anniversary of his birth.
Books were written and stories circulated questioning his character and most of us have no way of knowing if the stories were true or false. But like him or not, he was right about the need for people to be judged by the “content of their character and not the color of their skin.”
My parent’s generation had a hard time giving any degree of respect for King’s race. I recall quite well seeing the water fountains and the seats on the bus, but it is past time for every Christian to set aside any and all attitudes in which we judge a man or woman more by their skin color than their character and their actions. Things are getting better, but we still have a ways to go.
Worldwide Tension
Racial and religious tension is rampant all over the world. The carnage, the tragic deaths are an embarrassment to the human race and to the God Who made us.
Will we ever get to the point where humans with differences in ancestry and religion can dwell together in harmony?
Those claiming to be followers of Jesus cannot cite Him as their authority for hatred, racial slurs or maltreatment of those with whom they disagree. He lived in a day of similar attitudes, but He rejected the retaliation and wrath that was so common to them (Luke 6:35, Matthew 5:43-48) and sought God’s forgiveness for those who had crucified Him (Luke 23:34).
Even in Old Testament days God forbade such acts (Exodus 23:4-5).
Equality Recognized
Jews and Gentiles were constantly at each other’s throats in the first century, but God’s word demanded something better:
“Is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also,” Romans 3:29.
“There is no distinction between Jew and Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich to all that call upon Him,” Romans 10:12.
Nations on other continents speak openly of their “caste” systems, and America is just now coming around to realizing that equality is not only required by law, but it is also right.
Intellectual Equality
An experience I had made me realize that there is equality in man’s intellectual capabilities. In a graduate school introductory class a group of about 75 new students were given standard examinations on vocabulary, grammar, language skills and related subjects. When the test scores were posted, a black man had a percentile score of 98, indicating that his rank was at the top of that incoming class and almost every other class ever.
At that time very few public schools were inter-racial, and the first time I taught a black student was six years later in a Junior College setting. I discovered that capability of learning was more related to effort and the quality of teaching than the color of their skin. More recent experiences have confirmed that conclusion. When a race of people are given equal opportunities they can be equal, even superior in their achievement.
Spiritual Equality
Is a human from the Middle East equal with someone from Western Europe? Is a woman from China equal with a woman from New Zealand? Is a woman equal with a man anywhere? Cultural “rules” may vary from nation to nation, but in the mind of God all of us stand on level ground. We are equally valuable to Jehovah, whether male or female, black or white or brown or yellow. This is exactly what Paul was saying to the Christians in the region of Galatia:
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female: for you are all one in Christ Jesus, And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise,” Galatians 3:28-29.
It makes no difference to God. You and I are on equal footing. The beloved Marshall Keeble made this astute observation many years ago, and it is as true today as it was then:
“We all stand on level ground at the foot of the cross.”
Though Keeble lived in a day in which equality was scarce for his people, he was merely saying the same thing Paul wrote, just in different words and in different times. Even when there is no equality on legal or cultural grounds, each person stands before God with an equal opportunity to receive the blessings of a loving, just God. Surely, God’s people can hardly look with disdain upon another person with the awareness that God loves him/her just as He loves you and me. Shame on any who cannot love the same ones who are the object of God’s love, 1 John 4:19.
Martin Luther King, talented as he was, will stand before God amenable to the same standard we will face. He and all men will be judged by the “content of their character, not the color of their skin.” Praise God for that!
Carl B. Garner
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“Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him,”
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"Why Me?"
These are those throughout biblical history who may well have asked the question, “Why me?” David, in his flight from King Saul, manifested this frame of mind while contemplating his plight in the wilderness (Psalm 7:3-5). Job experienced a similar attitude of what he might have perceived as injustice. He had lost everything near and dear to him but his wife and she eventually turned on him. His three friends, based on false assumptions, accused him of sinning and failing to admit it. He eventually said, in essence, “Why me? I have not done anything wrong!”. There were Christians of the first century who were to suffer persecution at the hands of the Roman Empire simply because they professed to be Christians (Revelation 2:10). Could they not have asked a similar question?
We sing a song in which the writer speaks of a similar situation. In the song entitled Farther Along, we read these words. “Tempted and tried we are oft made to wonder, why it should be thus, all the day long; while there are others living about us, never molested though in the wrong.” In our society the rich are getting richer, the immoral appear to be rewarded and a society which boldly denies the existence of God or a uniform standard, appears to succeed and thrive. Where is the justice?
The Bible clearly shows us where the justice is to be found. As Christians we should be those who rejoice in knowing that man will not be the one holding the “scales of justice” in the end. The success of man today in his riches, popularity and affluence will be the only reward he will ever receive (Matthew 6:2,5). The standard which is denied by so many today will be that by which all shall be judged (John 12:48; 2 Corinthians 5:10).
As children of God, we are the most blessed of people. No, we may not drive the finest cars hold the most prestigious positions, or have the largest bank accounts. We may be mocked and ridiculed in our stand foursquare for truth. We may suffer some form of persecution as we refused to “bow the knee to Baal.”
May we realize that the true day of reckoning will see God as tçe Judge. May we realize that we are blessed now in so many ways, but will be blessed beyond compare with a home in heaven if we are found faithful. Let us thank God every day for allowing us to be so blessed.
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