One of my favorite quotes by the late Dr. King: "If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper...sweep streets so well that all the host of heaven and earth will have to pause and say, 'Here lived a great sweeper who did his job well."
This demonstrates that the equality Dr. King called for was not socialism. He understood that we have different callings, different roles, different stations in life that we occupy. But wherever we are placed, that we should do our job like heaven and earth is watching because they are.
Today, I joined many of our elders and deacons, along with our pastors in fasting and prayer. As we prayed, it shouldn't have surprised me that our prayers took a turn about an hour so into our time. We began to pray concerning our prejudice--even the kind that flies under the radar. The kind that you may feel when you enter a certain store and look at someone who is different than you. The prejudice may not be based on skin color but on style or lack thereof. It may be based on some profile that triggers a memory and suddenly we are feeling those memories like they happened yesterday.
There really is no room for racism, stereotypes and prejudice in a Christian's heart. Why? Because Jesus wasn't that way. He loved the lepers and the prostitutes. He loved those with hangups, habits and hurts.
Happy Birthday Dr. King!
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