On January 21, 2013 by

How to Change the World MLK Way

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“The evil deed of the enemy-neighbor, the thing that hurts, never quite expresses all that he is. An element of goodness may be found even in our worst enemy.”

“We must not seek to defeat or humiliate the enemy but to win his friendship and understanding.”

“Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.”

“Violence multiplies violence.”

“Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.”

“Have we not come to such an impasse in the modern world that we must love our enemies—or else? The chain reaction of evil hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars—must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation.”

“To our most bitter opponents we say: ‘We shall match your capacity to inflict suffering by our capacity to endure suffering. We shall meet your physical force with soul force. Do to us what you will, and we shall continue to love you. Throw us in jail and we shall still love you. Bomb our homes and threaten our children, and we shall still love you. Send your hooded perpetrators of violence into our community at the midnight hour to beat us and leave us half dead, and we shall still love you. But be ye assured that we will wear you down by our capacity to suffer. One day we shall win freedom, but not only for ourselves. We shall so appeal to your heart and conscience that we shall win you in the process and our victory will be a double victory.’”

-Martin Luther King, Jr.

(From his sermon, “Loving Your Enemies,” preached at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama, Christmas 1957.)

That, my friends, is how you change the world MLK way!

Of course, you may have to lay down your life to do it. Which is why Jesus said, “Take up your cross and follow me.”

That last quote, where Dr. King directly addresses his enemies, blows my mind! It’s nothing less than a call to live the Sermon on the Mount! And guess what? It changed the world! So don’t tell me the Sermon on the Mount isn’t “practical.” It is! It will change the world. It just takes more patience than the violent way of satan. Besides, the violent way of satan doesn’t change the world anyway, it just recycles the sin.

Martin Luther King, Jr. had the courage to change the world by following the Jesus way. Do we?

Happy Martin Luther King Day.

BZ

PS: The entire sermon is here.

  • nick

    wow. challenged by this on all levels. thank you

  • http://www.facebook.com/robert.moss.1420 Robert Justice-Moss

    Pastor, I certainly agree with the ideals of the examples you have cited in your comments and I do not ask this question to be argumentative. I would be grateful to hear your thoughts concerning the application of this ideal within the bounds of Nazi Germany.

    Do you believe the Jews could have loved Hitler into submission?

    While the ideal may represent perfection, I fear – in this fallen world – the literal application would result in the death of many innocents. Instead, I believe we should strive to love our enemies but that doesn’t require that we commit suicide.

  • http://brianzahnd.com Brian Zahnd

    It would have been very difficult.

    Is Hitler the ultimate exception to the Sermon on the Mount or the ultimate test-case?

    But why do we always jump into the Hitler question mid-story?

    We should think deeply upon the fact that the Nazi blitzkriegs were waged with baptized soldiers. Had the church held to pre-Constantine convictions, Hitler would never have got off the ground. Before we appeal to Hitler as the ultimate argument against Christian nonviolence, we first have to ask how Hitler was able to amass a following of Christians in the first place! After all, it wasn’t atheists and pagans who formed the German Christian movement that lent support to Hitler in the 1930’s.

    Selah.

    BZ

  • http://www.facebook.com/robert.moss.1420 Robert Justice-Moss

    My apology, Hitler is just the easy example for so many questions concerning evil.

    Perhaps, in our time, I should have used Islam as an example. This “religion” has an ongoing history of violence and intolerance. I would suspect that Muslim wives and children love their husbands and fathers, yet, they are routinely genitally mutilated, beaten and subjected to honor killings. Non-believers are routinely persecuted and murdered. Children are indoctrinated from birth with hate. Dare I say, this would also be “very difficult?”

    When Christ returns, His plan will be perfected. Until then, love has its practical limits. I agree we should strive for His kingdom but during this interim period perhaps we should love our enemies but carry a big stick.

    Completely unrelated: I had the blessing of hearing your original Tapestry of Grace and thought it was absolutely beautiful. I have shared it with many because it is such a powerful message. I just wanted you to know that I’m not always difficult :)

  • Eli

    I can see the rationale behind “love our enemies but carry a big stick,” but I’m not sure that it is supported by the example and teachings of Christ or his disciples.

    A great passage from Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s “The cost of discipleship,” in reference to Luke 9:57-62 concerning the man that said “I will follow thee, Lord; but suffer me first to bid farewell to them that are at my house..”

    Bonhoeffer writes “The disciple places himself at the Master’s disposal, but at the same time retains the right to dictate his own terms. But then discipleship is no longer discipleship, but a programme of our own to be arranged to suit ourselves, and to be judged in accordance with the standards of a rational ethic.”

    Something to think about..

  • Eli

    BTW I am aware of the irony in using Bonhoeffer. There are varied accounts and opinions on the truth as it relates to his involvement with the failed plot to kill Hitler. Regardless, I think the quote stands on its own.