Silent No More!

Not long ago I read “Letter From a Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr. I would like to make it an annual read set aside for MLK Day, Along with listening to the “I Have a Dream” speech. This letter was written by MLK in response to criticism of his civil rights movement and an appeal from eight white pastors for him to stop causing unrest, leave Birmingham, and let them take care of their own town. I am at a loss as to why I was never required to read any of his writings in school, especially as I learned about the Civil Rights movement of the ’50s and ’60s. I don’t remember spending much time on the subject other than to discuss sit-ins on buses and in cafes and other unrest that occurred during that time. We talked a little about MLK and his assassination, but little about the man and what he really stood for.

He can still be an inspiration to all Americans, especially in the difficult times we are now facing. His relentless pursuit of peaceful protest, the eyes of the government to be opened, and justice to be served was inspiring. It amazes me that we think it is all about the lasting effects of slavery, yet really what it was about is his desire to see the leaders live up to what they promised. First in the forefathers, when they said all men were created equal. Then in the civil war when emancipation became not only a reality but the law, and later in the laws of desegregation. He wasn’t calling on anything new, or even something that was merely demanded by the black community. He was speaking to what the white leaders had promised for decades. The biggest impact that this letter had on me is how little so many things have actually changed and how prophetic his words were about today’s America and about today’s American church. He said, 

“I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion the the Negro’s great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not with White Citizens Councillor or the Klu Klux Klanner but the white moderate who is more devoted to order than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says, ‘I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can’t agree with your methods of direct action’; who paternalistically feels that we can set the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by the myth of time; and who constantly advises the Negro to wait until a ‘more convenient season.’”

What I find most remarkable about this quote is that it is still true today. It goes even beyond the plight of the black man and now enters into the life of the Muslim, the Hispanic, or any other person who finds themselves on the fringes of the white, Christian society. It goes against their plight to find peace and happiness in the “Land of the Free” and the “Home of the Brave.” He goes on to say, 

“Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.”

and,

“We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the vitriolic words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people.”

These statements are no longer just for a generation 60 years ago, but for today’s generation as well. The church remains silent as people are treated differently for both the color of their skin and the beliefs they hold to be true in their lives.

As we watched the events over the summer of 2020 unfold, many Americans sat in dismay and disbelief that this would happen in today’s America. Many spoke loudly in support of or resistance to what was happening and the current civil rights crisis. The problem isn’t with the minority that spoke loudly on either side, but in the majority that refused to speak up at all, including me. I dare say that the time for silence is over. The time to sit back and let events unfold has passed with the invention of smartphones, instant fingertip research, and 24/7 news coverage. We no longer have the excuses that “we didn’t know” or “we can’t understand”. The church’s excuse that the pulpit is no place for political causes or social justice is long gone. If we don’t stand up for what is right I am afraid that the America that I grew up in, and have become accustomed to, is lost forever. The peace that I have become rather addicted to has given way to unrest and a striving for extreme actions that are meant to offset the wrongful actions of so many; actions that have existed now for centuries. As MLK said, 

“Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever. The urge for freedom will eventually come.”

In his quest for peaceful protest and non-violent action, it was not lost on him that violence was a predictable conclusion if the purpose for the peaceful protest was stifled or rejected by those with both the ability and moral obligation to do something about it. 

“If his repressed emotions do not come out in these nonviolent ways, they will come out in ominous expressions of violence.”

This isn’t a call for all of Americas to become extremists, at least not in a traditional violent and outspoken sense. MLK describes extremists as Jesus, an extremist in love; Amos, an extremist for justice; Paul, an extremist for the gospel of Jesus Christ; Martin Luther, John Bunyan, Abraham Lincoln, and Thomas Jefferson, all extremists for what they believed in and stood for. It is as though he had accepted his role as an extremist and rightfully aligned himself with some of the greatest extremists in world history. His quest led him to the conclusion that it was no longer a matter of whether he would become an extremist, but rather what kind of extremist he would become?

“So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or will we be extremists for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of justice, or will we be extremists for the cause of justice?”

He goes on to call out the contemporary church’s “weak, ineffectual voice…” His critique was accurate compared to the church of old. A church that was very powerful and able to rejoice in extreme infirmity, not buckling to the pressure of light persecution. MLK believed that the key to success in the area of civil rights was the church. The very institution that God gave the power to change the world. Not merely by political power, but by influential power that comes through an ever seeking life that is searching for truth and justice in scripture and through our relationship with Christ. He encapsulates the essence of the churches direction with the words,

“If the church of today does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authentic ring, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century.”

This statement holds still today in the 21st century. The strength of the church to stand for what is right is still a necessity for today. Morality must be at the center of a movement that will change the course of our great nation. We must stand on what is right and reject what is wrong. Human life is to be nourished and protected, not to be oppressed and left to the outcomes of the outlying extremists that care for nothing more than their own well being. People whose only motivation is to be center stage and for their beliefs to be heard and accepted no matter what and over that of all others. The preservation of all life should be priority number one, not our feelings, emotions, or pride. We must do what is right because it is right. We must reject what is wrong because it is wrong. This does not mean we affirm every action but accepting every life as equally as important as our own. To battle for morality for morality’s sake rather than fight morally for an immoral end.

“So I have tried to make it clear that it is wrong to use immoral means to attain moral ends. But now I must affirm that it is just as wrong, or even more, to ice moral means to preserve immoral ends.”

In other words, don’t use (immoral) violence to fight for (moral) equality any more than we use a (moral) police to end the (immoral) lives of those whom we deem less important in society. We still have the opportunity to fall on the wrong side of history just as so many have in the past. We have the choice to do what is right regardless of circumstances and outcomes. We have the ability to say to those who oppose human decency and the sanctity of all life that we will stand silent no more. That we will not only speak up for what is right, but we will act on it as well. We will stop the hate-driven rhetoric of today and be extremist in love, justice, and the gospel of Jesus Christ.