Today we remember the life and passion of the great Martin Luther King, Jr., who for a brief and all-too-short period of time was the mouthpiece of God to breakdown sinful and wretched beliefs, mindsets and practices along racial lines.
As a white pastor, I would like to take a moment to encourage other white pastors to honor MLK’s legacy and dream with more than self reflection and social media compliments. I’m far from a race expert(though one of my best friends is black [and he's so well-spoken!]), but since I believe it’s not just the responsibility of black pastors to talk about race, here’s my entry into the fray-
- Watch the speech. If you’ve never done that, PLEASE do so. It’s not about black and white, it’s about all of creation coming together. There can be no doubt this man was a prophet from God in this area.
- Read Ephesians 2:14-17
- Speak about race in your church. From the pulpit. Call it Sin. Because it is. It’s not just “kinda wrong,” or “just the way some people were raised.” It’s sin. It’s sin in white people, it’s sin in black people. It’s sin in Asians, Latinos, and New Yorkers. Racism is a Sin, and it must be called so, and called to be repented from. If you can speak on sensitive topics like sex and money, why leave race out?
- Have a pastor of another race come and speak in your church, one of your friends. You are friends with more than just white pastors, right? Doesn’t have to be on MLK, doesn’t even have to be on race. But be intentional about exposing your congregation to people and cultures they never would come across in their daily lives.
That’s my list. Anything you want to add? Anything you want to disagree with?
