A Challenge To Love
I read this excerpt from Dr. King's book "Strength to Love" in an article from a blog by author and reformed theologian Anthony J. Carter.
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. We cannot in all good conscience obey your unjust laws, because noncooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good. Throw us in jail, and we will still love you. Bomb our homes and threaten our children, and we will still love you. Send your hooded perpetrators of violence into our community at the midnight hour and 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."
While I haven't endured the specific trials or tribulations King refers to in this passage, I have definitely endured ...and I am sure you have too. As I read this, I thought about my "most bitter opponents" from the past and present. We all have or have had "bitter opponents" whether they be an organization, co-worker, boss, or even a family member. Did we continue to love them in spite of our persecution. Do we continue to love them until this very day. At first read, Dr. King's statements seem crazy and unrealistic. But if that's the case, then the Bible is crazy and unrealistic. Please understand, King didn't say like; he said love. Nowhere in the Bible does it command us to like anyone, but it does command us to love everyone...especially our enemies.
So, Dr. king's statements aren't crazy or unrealistic, they are undeniably biblical. As a matter of fact, this passage is just a CRE translation of
1 Corinthians 13. (CRE=Civil Rights Era)
Yet there is one more consideration to be made. As I thought about my "opponents" I was reminded of Ephesians 6:12. Ultimately, our chief opponent is Satan, and Satan will use others to try to oppress us. He will use society, circumstances, and our spouses to try and stunt our spiritual growth. He will even try to use us against ourselves.
Therefore, I resolve on this Valentines Day of 2007, to better practice that CRE-Dr. King type of love. How? By relying on God's strength, I can have the Strength to Love and ultimately have the victory over my opponents because Christ has already achieved Victory over Satan.
What about you?
1 comment:
As a child, I remember getting into a fight with someone (and loosing) at my school nearly every single day. Some days, it took all of my courage to walk through the fear and step onto the playground or into the classroom. My capacity for suffering and understanding why I was in the midst of it had not yet been developed.
I often think of that sad, pitiful little girl. She was a year younger than her classmates and very small for her age. As I look back, I guess she was "tagged" as an easy mark for the bullies that usually plague every school.
Now, in the 50+ years since my school days, I have grown to understand more about the role of suffering in our lives. It is not just a state of being to endure We should see it as a vehicle that draws us closer to the Lord. It should be an example to others of how to live a joy-filled life in the midst of our suffering. And in our victory over suffering, we must never allow the experience to go dormant. Much of our suffering can be a teachable moment to someone else who is in the midst of what we have endured. Our triumph through suffering and the manner in which we attain victory, will be a lesson learned by our children and passed on as a legacy of our faith-filled journey.
"My son, fame and riches have I none; but my faith and long-suffering shall be your inheritance." Mommy 1:60
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