This is What a Christian Looks Like

American History, Politics, San Francisco Graffiti and Mural Art

“Dr. Martin Luther King was pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, when he was twenty-five years old, in 1954. As a Christian minister, his main influence was Jesus Christ and the Christian gospels, which he would almost always quote in his religious meetings, speeches at church, and in public discourses. King’s faith was strongly based in Jesus’ commandment of loving your neighbor as yourself, loving God above all, and loving your enemies, praying for them and blessing them. His nonviolent thought was also based in the injunction to turn the other cheek in the Sermon on the Mount, and Jesus’ teaching of putting the sword back into its place (Matthew 26:52). In his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail, King urged action consistent with what he describes as Jesus’ “extremist” love, and also quoted numerous other Christian pacifist authors, which was very usual for him. In another sermon, he stated:

“Before I was a civil rights leader, I was a preacher of the Gospel. This was my first calling and it still remains my greatest commitment. You know, actually all that I do in civil rights I do because I consider it a part of my ministry. I have no other ambitions in life but to achieve excellence in the Christian ministry. I don’t plan to run for any political office. I don’t plan to do anything but remain a preacher. And what I’m doing in this struggle, along with many others, grows out of my feeling that the preacher must be concerned about the whole man.”

—King, 1967″

29 thoughts on “This is What a Christian Looks Like”

  2. I won’t enter into religious or political discussions at my own blog. I get too upset and frustrated by ignorance and prejudice. But I admire that you do that here, Rob.
    I will state my personal experience (well some of it). The most Christ-like Christian I ever knew rarely went to church. The most Christ-like people I have ever encountered (as a group) are wiccan (or similar beliefs) — the people whom many, many Christians (even in this day and age) often exclaim “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live!” One of the least Christ-like things they could ever say…
    Hugs on the wing.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply
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      2. So many great role models who dedicated their lives for peace and love on this planet. It causes me goose bumps every time I think of that. I appreciate it a lot that you do such posts, Robert 🙂

        Like

      3. I’m so tired of ceding Christianity to people who don’t practice it. We’ve been bullied and harangued by frauds for over thirty years. They’ve gutted our government, besmirched the streets of our cities with the grinding poverty of disabled citizens, tried to pack the courts and our congress with racists and disingenuous corporate tools, and turned a regulated for profit economic system into a tool for social Darwinists. They have brought a nation that once stood as a champion of human rights to its knees. The only people who can protect the little decency that’s left in the U.S. are the people who are willing to stand up to them and say no.

        No more bullshit. No more claiming the moral high ground for hate. If these hypocrites don’t want to live in a secular state that guarantees everyone the right to worship or not worship as they please they can also exercise their American right to leave. Whatever these frauds do, in my little corner of the world, if they are going to call themselves Christian they need to have more to say for themselves than a three day weekend in jail and paid stints of Fox News.

        Liked by 2 people

      5. It’s what I want to do…I tried to put in a proposal to the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation, but the people organizing the 2016 conference never replied. But I’d love to speak. And thanks…I sometimes think I get carried away…LOL

        Liked by 1 person

      6. That is exactly that skill, to get carried away. I hear you, happens to me too… lol Perhpas you should try to speak at schools or universities about that. Start somewhere, right articles for newspapers and make your name known. They will let you speak for sure.

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