Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Does King deserve a spiritual award for his work in civil rights?

The world of course would say yes; as for me: I honestly believe that King's
political activism was gross dereliction of duty; and here's why.

The letters that Paul wrote to his friends Timothy and Titus, are sometimes
referred to as the pastoral epistles because they contain instructions for
pastors rather than instructions for John Q and Jane Doe pew warmers. The
following is one of those instructions.

†. 2Tim 2:4 . . As Christ's soldier, do not let yourself become tied up in the
affairs of this life, for then you cannot satisfy the one who has enlisted you
in his army.

King chose to ignore Paul's instructions. I don't expect he'll go to hell for it;
but his insubordination will effect his appraisal as per 1Cor 3:10-15, and
thus result in a smaller performance award than what he would have
deserved had he followed Paul's instructions to the letter instead getting
distracted with political activism.

King cheated on his wife too. Adultery is bad enough when committed by a
rank and file pew warmer; but much more serious when a minister does it.

According to Paul's instructions for ministers ordained to serve Jesus Christ,
athletes are disqualified when they fail to comply with the rules of the game
(2Tim 2:5). One of the rules of the game for ministers ordained to serve
Jesus Christ is to avoid getting involved in the affairs of this world. That rule
is not negotiable.

†. 1Tim 6:13-14 . . In the sight of God-- who gives life to everything, and of
Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good
confession --I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame until
the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,

All the instructions contained within the two letters that Paul wrote to his pal
Timothy were reckoned as "this command". In other words: the two letters
combined comprise a single directive; and 2Tim 2:4 is only a teensy portion
of that directive: there's lots more where that came from. Paul's directive is
to be obeyed-- to the letter. It was never intended as some sort of general
purpose guideline.

FYI: Paul's instructions express Jesus Christ's edicts.

†. 1Cor 14:37 . . If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let
him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the
commandments of The Lord.

†. 1Ths 4:1-2 . .We beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord
Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please
God, so ye would abound more and more. For ye know what commandments
we gave you by the Lord Jesus.

Q: How can it possibly be wrong for a Christian to crusade against the way
people are treated?

A: You can't think of King as "a Christian". He was on a much higher tier
than that. King was a minister ordained to serve Jesus Christ. The standards
for Christ's ministers are higher than those for John Q and Jane Doe pew
warmer. It's no big deal if a nondescript Christian goes on a march to
Selma; but it's a big no-no for men on King's tier to go on marches. It's a
big no-no for men on King's tier to even so much as endorse marches.

An especially really big no-no for men on King's tier is to usurp their church's
pulpit for personal interests. That's sort of akin to hooking up your home's
fresh water pipes to the sewer system. Your fresh water pipes are intended
for fresh water, not soiled water. I'm not saying personal interests are dirty;
all I'm saying is everything has its proper place. For example:

Back in the decade of the 1990's Billy Graham came to Portland Oregon. At
the time there was a big to-do about LGBT. Well; the anti-gay coalition
approached Billy and asked him to endorse their cause. To his credit; Billy
refused. Not that Billy was pro-gay; he just felt that Christ did not call him to
use his pulpit for political activism; but rather to "go and make disciples of
all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and
the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all that I commanded you".

Had King followed Billy's example, and kept his nose to the grindstone
instead of sticking it in affairs that were none of his business; he might have
lived to his father's age of 84 instead of being gunned down at 39. KIng
wasn't martyred for his devotion to Jesus Christ; no, he was assassinated for
his devotion to politics.

I've heard it said that nobody is a complete failure when they can serve as a
bad example. Well; that's certainly true of King. Were I a seminary
professor; I'd very definitely use King not as role model; but as an excellent
example of the kind of minister that every man ordained to serve Jesus
Christ should not be.

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