by Clint Walker
First Baptist Church, Fowler
I am a Baptist. I am a follower of Jesus before I am a member of any denominational persuasion. I have worshipped in several different types of Christian churches from Anglican to Pentecostal churches, and everywhere in between. I have studied theologians that were Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian and more, and learned from all of them. Nevertheless, my theology, my history, my identity, and even my professional networks are all in the Baptist family.
There have been many Baptist leaders who have been influential in our nation and church as a whole. Billy Graham was a great evangelist. The English preacher Charles Spurgeon was an excellent preacher. However, the greatest Baptist theologian and leader of all time may well be the one that we celebrate as a nation next week, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
When I was young, I used to think of Martin Luther King Jr. as simply a great orator. Then I began to read what he wrote, and delve deeper into what he said. Man, was Dr. King smart! His theology of love, and not just loving our friends but loving our enemies, is brilliant. And he did not simply talk about what the Bible said on this matter, he put it into practice. And the wing of the civil rights movement that he led changed America for the better. If you get a chance read some of his books, like “A Testament of Hope” or “Strength to Love.” You will be moved by his Christian convictions as well as his top notch intellect.
Part of the genius of the work that he did and the words that he said was that it was prophetic. By prophetic I do not mean that it spoke primarily about the future, although the “I Have A Dream Speech” was about the future and the end times. By prophetic I mean that the civil rights movement got in America’s face, and through many speeches and protests reminded us in very visual and real terms about what God calls us to do. Most specifically, it reminded us that it is sin to treat people unequally or be prejudiced about people because of the color of their skin. Dr. King reminded us that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”. Dr. King pointed us back to how Micah summarized faithfulness to God as “to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). Dr. King and the civil rights movement were prophetic because it pointed to our prejudices, racism, and injustice and reminded us that this kind of behavior was sin. Then he called us to repent, and to be reconciled. At the same time, he called the people who were being oppressed to love and forgive like Jesus. Heavy stuff. Brilliant stuff.
