“I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.”
― Albert Schweitzer
Two months before Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, he delivered a sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta with the brilliant title “The Drum Major Instinct.”
There are 20 different directions I could go with expanding on the greatness of Dr King. His Letter from a Birmingham Jail is a document every American citizen should read annually. His I have a Dream speech will never be forgotten, and will give inspired chills to every ear who listens.
Today I want to focus on his Ebenezer Baptist Church sermon from February 4th, 1968. Dr. King describes the drum major’s instinct as “a desire to be out front, a desire to lead the parade, a desire to be first.” Thankfully, in the 50 years since Dr. King defined the personality, we’ve changed dramatically, and never think of ourselves first before others… Hold for a sec, gotta snap my tenth selfie of the day, this one of me breathing, sitting and typing. “To all my fans. Air kiss.” The drum major is alive and well in our 24/7 navel-gazing culture. Live your best live by focusing on your goals, wins and achievements. On a separate but related note, here’s brutally honest valedictorian who has the proper perspective on achievement. Bravo to him having such wisdom so soon in life.
Dr. King noted the upside-down economy of what Christ says is important in relation to greatness. Jesus defined greatness as service.
Dr. King noted: ‘By giving that definition of greatness, it means that everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don’t have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don’t have to know Einstein’s theory of relativity to serve. You don’t have to know the second law of thermodynamics to serve. ‘You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love. And you can be that servant.”
Such simple brilliance, Christ leaves no excuse. Money, title and ability not necessary. Amen. All that’s needed is “a heart full of grace.” Please-please-please explore the impact those five simple yet explosive words can mean in your life. Grace is by far the most important event in the history of mankind; bigger than the polio vaccination, the power of electricity, the industrial revolution and the information age combined. Yes, an event, not a concept.
We all have tangents that fascinate us about Christ and scripture. The rabbit trails can be inspired or filled with doubt, and all serve a valid purpose on any given day. Personally, I often gravitate towards apologetics, and the promulgation of faith around the globe. With MLK, I got to thinking about his devotion to Christ. “Of course he was,” you might say, “He was a Pastor.” I’m fascinated by why he and millions of other African-Americans would worship Jesus Christ. Let me preface my questions by saying this is a speculative foray. For one, I’m white, and can at best only listen for comprehension. Not a single step or breath taken as a black man or minority, never oppressed or discriminated against. I start from an outsider’s ignorance.
Why would Dr. King, having grown up in the Jim Crow south, place his faith in a Jewish carpenter from Israel, dead for 2,000 years? Why not another giant of peace from the same century, Ghandi? There would seem to be a direct correlation that dark-skinned Ghandi, fighting for freedom from white British colonialism in the 1920s and 40s, would be more attractive. Yes, one could make the case that olive-skinned Jesus is-was attractive to African slaves because of the Jews being enslaved to the Egyptians. But that’s the Old Testament, and very much a Jewish-focused narrative.
For a couple of decades, one my dad’s objections to Christianity was he said it only dealt with a small part of the world, meaning Israel. A strange statement considering that the power of the story somehow spread to the United Kingdom, then leapfrogged the Atlantic. It ended up creating a Bible Belt in the United States, where Dr. King grew up, and is inarguably the bedrock of our country. From a story of one Jewish carpenter, a big chunk of Europe has been influenced, plus South America, Latin-America, Africa and Asia. (I’ll save statistics on growth and reduction between Christianity, Islam, Judaism and other world religions for another day.)
I often hear of a giant conspiracy, where the all-powerful church historically forced people into believing. The idea falls flat to my ears with a resoundingly dull thud. It seems damn difficult for a scheme of global magnitude to be enacted over centuries with no military force. Or saying it’s a political movement also loses steam when individual Christ followers tell their stories. Politics is not the catalyst. In fact, as Dr. King says, the primary driver of the Christian faith is love and forgiveness, not exactly the descriptors that come to mind when evaluating world domination. When I think of Dr. King, I have to ask what would make the Christian faith so attractive, outside of the Gospel message being true. That’s the only connecting point I can make for him, myself, and hundreds of millions of other disparate individuals around the globe. Christ is the only hope we can hold tight in an increasingly fractured world. That unfathomable event where grace was poured forth, must be real.
Dr. King for showed us how a life of service and sacrifice can impact millions. Thank you for mirroring the Lord you worshiped. I look forward to meeting you in the near future.
See ya next time. ML