MLK and Real Power

As we celebrate the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, we need to notice his commitment to a different kind of resistance. He called for non-violence as a means of fighting violent oppression. Common sense says that this will never work. But King's goal was not defeating the oppressors. His goal was reconciliation with the oppressors. 

He emphasized that oppression hurts the oppressor as well as the oppressed. The status quo in the 1960s was harming the soul of the majority culture. It was hurting everyone. 

King spoke prophetically, calling out churches and Christians who turned a blind eye to injustice and systems of oppression. He knew that everyone would benefit when all people were treated fairly. He called for his followers to have an attitude of love toward those who sought to harm and silence them. The fight depended upon hearts steeped in faith and non-violence.

Where did King get these revolutionary ideas? Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, describes a way of living that defies common sense. Through history too few people have tried to put these teachings into practice. King realized that Mahatma Gandhi had employed Jesus's principles in the fight for freedom in India. Although Gandhi was not a Christian, he saw the truth behind Jesus's methods. Like Gandhi, King sought to help the oppressors have a change of heart. When this happens, everyone wins.

That's the big surprise. When humans live like Jesus described, everyone wins. This is what Jesus called the "kingdom of God."