MLK, Jesus and the Kind of Man Needed to Fight for Racial Equality

What kind of man is needed to bring black and white together? What kind of man is can do that? What kind of man can over come such hate?

I am a lover of MLK and what he stood for. I am also a lover of God thru Jesus and all that He Died for...including Martin Luther King. I believe that Dr. King met God 12 years before that day a shot rang out in Memphis. below is the account of Kings conversion. I have always found it striking that only a man of God was capable of moving America towards racial equality.

"He put his head in his hands and bowed over the table. “Oh Lord,” he prayed aloud, “I’m down here trying to do what is right. But, Lord, I must confess that I’m weak now. I’m afraid. The people are looking to me for leadership, and if I stand before them without strength and courage, they too will falter. I am at the end of my powers. I have nothing left. I can’t face it alone.”

He sat there, his head still bowed in his hands, tears burning his eyes. But then he felt something—a presence, a stirring in himself. And it seemed that an inner voice was speaking to him with quiet assurance: “Martin Luther, stand up for righteousness. Stand up for justice. Stand up for truth. And, lo, I will be with you, even unto the end of the world.” He saw lightning flash. He heard thunder roar. It was the voice of Jesus telling him still to fight on. And “he promised never to leave me, never to leave me alone. No, never alone, No, never alone. He promised never to leave me, never to leave me alone . . . .”

He raised his head. He felt stronger now. He could face the morrow. Whatever happened, God in His wisdom meant it to be. King’s trembling stopped, and he felt an inner calm he had never experienced before. He realized that “I can stand up without fear. I can face anything.” And for he first time God was profoundly real and personal to him. The idea of a personal God was no longer some “metaphysical category” he found philosophically and theologically satisfying. No, God was very close to him now, a living God who could transform “the fatigue of despair into the buoyancy of hope” and who would never, ever leave him alone." (Stephen B. Oates, Let the Trumpet Sound: The Life of Martin Luther King, Jr., 85)

So, returning to my original question of what kind of man can overcome that kind of hate; it is clear that only a God-Man can overcome that and only a man who has been covered by the God-Man's blood can seek to fight for true justice.

to see Pipers thoughts on this same portion of the book, visit http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/1163_when_mlk_first_met_god/

it is where I go this post began.