It’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in the United States of America. Dr. King inspires us to get involved in change for the good of all people. King said that his work was part of what it means to live out the meaning of commitment to the ministry of Jesus Christ.
Last week, I perused the King Center’s Archives. It occurred to me that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s fight for Civil Rights had more to do with a broader vision for the “Beloved Community.”
Dr. King\’s vision for the “Beloved Community” is a global ideal. All people share in such a community. Poverty, hunger, and homelessness are eradicated because human decency refuses them.
In the vision of a “Beloved Community,” an all-inclusive spirit of a human family replaces racism and all forms of bigotry and bias. The moral call for community summons the elite to care for the downtrodden, the advantaged to care for the disadvantaged, the full to feed the hungry, and those with clothes to clothe the naked.
The “Beloved Community” does not assume an unrealistic utopia. Human conflicts are inevitable, but there are no conflicts that human civility cannot resolve in a peaceful manner. Love and trust draw together a human kaleidoscope, a symphony of brotherhood.
Jesus teaches a gospel that makes the \”Beloved Community\” possible. In fact, for Dr. King, the vision of the \”Beloved Community\” is a gospel-driven vision.
I believe that when we take the gospel of Jesus Christ seriously and accept Him as the answer to the world, we will experience the realization of the “Beloved Community.”
More than ever, let’s spread the good news to the world; the “Beloved Community” is possible through Christ. By getting involved with the gospel’s work, we are affecting positive change already in progress–a change that can move the world toward a realized “Beloved Community.”
Dr. Antipas
