If King Wrote Us a Letter Today

Last updated on: February 24, 2014 at 8:17 am by Grace Sandra

If King Wrote Us a Letter Today 2014-02-24T08:17:49-04:00 Grace Sandra

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My friend, Micha asked me to guest post on what King’s response may be how his dream is (or isn’t) playing out as a part of a larger Patheos project to address the American Church in lieu of Black History Month. For whatever reason, I don’t love addressing the Church directly -I feel too fallen myself- however if there’s one issue I’ve ever felt uniquely suited to address it’s racial equality amongst white & black Americans. This post is my humble .2 cents. I definitely don’t have all the answers, but what I wrote here is based off my experiences…

It’s a sobering task to pontificate on what Dr. King might stew on when given the prompt, ‘If King wrote a letter to American Churches today would his dream have turned into a nightmare?’ He’s THEE Martin Luther King, Jr. for crying out loud. How could any of us possibly delve into the depths of his potential joy or pain at the State of The (American, Christian) Union in 2014?

Yes, he may be elated, overjoyed like so many African-Americans that the single most powerful man in the world is our two-term black American President, but what of the most segregated hour in America during Sunday morning worship services? Would that profoundly disappoint him or would he try and find an explanation? After all, African-Americans are only 13.1% of 316, 128, 839 people. Logistically speaking, 24, 131, 972.4 blacks can’t be at everybody’s Church on Sunday morning. (Not to mention these are census numbers. How many of the 24 million are Jesus-following Christians is a mystery). Perhaps King would throw us a bone on that logistical detail?

Maybe not. If Dr. King wrote a letter to the American Church as a whole (not divided by denominations or other demographics) he’d be a fool or clearly not himself to ignore this glaring conundrum.

I wonder if he’d information seek…

…okay, so first off, what happened after the civil rights movement?

….how did the American Church step in to right the wrongs?

…does the American Church believe they should play a role in reconciliation between blacks & whites?

…is the American Church taking advantage of MLK Day, Black History Month to remember, teach & challenge?

…what role is the American Church taking to contribute to racial justice?

…is righting the wrongs of our sordid history even a thing anymore?

…wait, what? It’s that bad?

…Facepalm. I, Dr. King, am facepalming.

You can read the rest of the post over at Micha Boyett’s, Mama Monk blog. Join me? =)

Martin Luther King Jr.

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