Friday, May 01, 2009
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Unity Through Disunity
Milan Ford
"Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than
absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much
more bewildering than outright rejection." - Martin Luther King, Jr. (Letter
From A Birmingham Jail)
Wow.
Before proceeding any further with this devotional, I encourage you to read
over the above quotation once more. The power of those words most certainly
demand it.
{Don't worry - I'll wait}
Powerful words, don't you agree?
On yesterday, I took some time out and read all 6,932 words of Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr.'s Letter From A Birmingham Jail. What is (in my opinion) one
of the most brilliant and compassionate collection of words ever written, the
circumstances that led King to write this letter that day were rooted in
the shallow understanding and lukewarm acceptance that many southern white
church leaders had regarding the civil rights movement at that time.
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King along with many other freedom fighters were being accused by them of
precipitating violence and disorder by leading several marches against the
racial
injustices occurring in Birmingham.
This deeply saddened King, who after being placed under arrest by the
Birmingham police, made the decision to unveil his heart to the white church
leaders
who were upset at his actions. With the love of Christ being the common
denominator, he set out to turn his adversaries into his advocates.
His call for unity and an end to injustice was heard around the world.
A powerful letter indeed.
This month, we celebrate the 45th anniversary of this powerful letter. Yet, as
a young leader, I am sometimes concerned that we as a Body of Christ have
yet to achieve the UNITY King aspired to.
While I am quite certain that perspectives range on this from person to person,
I'd like to suggest this one thought for us all to consider today:
Perhaps it is not UNITY that we should be striving for alone.
But rather DISUNITY as well.
In Isaiah 43:18, these words are found: "Do not remember the former things, nor
consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing." And in Hebrews
10:9, these words are found: "God takes away the first, so that He may
establish the second."
While our country indeed has matured incredibly from its once insidious past as
it relates to matters of race, many are still surprised that Sunday morning
remains the most segregated hour in America.
Yet believe it or not, this is in no way a surprise to God. In order to achieve
the kind of UNITY God desires for us to have as believers, our churches
must examine those things we no longer need to be doing.
How will we ever see what NEW things God has in store for us as believers, if
we do not allow Him to challenge us to take away some of the OLD things that
keep our churches segregated?
Are we willing to DISUNIFY ourselves from some of our comfortable preferences
of worship?
Are we willing to DISUNIFY ourselves from some of our methodical forms of
preaching?
Are we willing to DISUNIFY ourselves from a few of our traditions that may be
causing others (of different races or nationalities) to feel unwelcome?
This simple and timeless truth convicts me time after time: CULTURE trumps
VISION.
The integrated greatness of our God will always be overshadowed by our
culturally segregated safe houses. Culture is indeed something we should
celebrate,
but it can become dangerous when institutionalized. Narrowing the church's
mission as either black or white must come to an end.
Today, I believe God is looking for a grey church. One that has discovered that
we can (at times) only gain to the degree that we are willing to let go.
May we all strive for such maturity.
Milan Ford
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O. Addison Gethers
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