Prayer: Father, help us to see all the children you have created in Your Holy image and embrace the diversity while we work in the power of unity and wholeness as the Body of Christ.
Disclaimer... I tell a truth without condemnation and damnation; thus... make sure you read it all, you understand it all, before you go out and tell it all. This is not about who’s black or who’s white; BUT, it’s about what’s wrong and getting it right!
Let us begin with a look at Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., A Great Black Life That Matters:
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., moved about as a self-proclaimed and identified black man in the image that God created him to be. His legacy has allowed him to achieve the highest recognition of honor in this nation. His status as a minister, a Federal Holiday, and a National Monument in his honor is no coincidence. So, let us examine, how did he get here?
Who was his God? Who was his Lord and Savior? (Pause here to see if you have the same one because not all Americans serve this same God). If the God of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who being black, was good enough for him to serve and follow the divinity blueprint of love and unity, why not take a look at his God, and what His 66 books say about His creation and how from God’s view, He regards all lives. Perhaps in this pandemic of multiple proportions, if we turn our eyes to this God, the blueprint of God's Holy Word, we would more greatly understand the value how Rev. King would proclaim today that ‘all lives matter.’
As a man of color, Black, Negro, Afro-American, African American, Colored and having been one of these all my life, I agree.
For 30 years, I have worked diligently to honor, and differentiate, the biblical rights leader, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. from just his civil rights persona. I produced the first three years of the MLK Federal Holiday events in Memphis, Tennessee, including the Opening Ceremony of The National Civil Rights Museum. I have published the first Bible in his honor.
In addition, The College of Aspiring Artists, which I founded, has held multiple events on the National Mall at the MLK Memorial in DC including MLK50 on April 3-4, 2018. That year, the Mayor of Washington DC requested to be a part of our event. We granted her permission.
What does all this mean? Mostly, it has taught me what it means to give honor to a man of God, a man of color, a black man as he described himself, and what it looks like when we as blacks 'do not' give honor or regards to black lives mattering along the way. This is damnable to the detriment of so many.
So, please hear me when I say this as I aim to tell it like it is:
To all persons who say, "Black Lives Matter" the most genuine and authentic question is simply, WHEN? THIS is the question that must be answered, if the God of the Bible, the God of Rev. Dr. MLK and truth is to be included in this discussion by people who say they love God and His Word.
What I know is that I am grateful to know how God made man(kind) in His image. I am grateful that He made all of us, different, unique, and diverse on purpose, BUT NOT to be DIVIDED. And being divided as blacks and as people of God is what we have done over the past 200 years, through religion, race, and politics. No, not everyone meant for this to be, but this is what our 'manmade' stuff has turned out. This is how and why movements that get abbreviated insights produce abbreviated results, and ultimately a ‘what’s not made in God’s image’ and representation.
The expanded point here regarding #blacklivesmatter is that I have seen from the small community of Dumas to the larger stages ‘when black people are doing the greatest of evil to and among ourselves.’
This is a travesty from here in Dumas to DC. I pray that it will stop and am willing to do all I can to make this a reality.
Yes, I have seen white oppression and discrimination over my lifetime. It is still present today. But I have also seen black people grant access and open doors for them to come in and do some of the greatest damage. This #blacklivesmatter movement fits in a category in what I call 'Good Intentions and Bad Ideas'. Now, this must always move from 'good intentions and bad ideas' to good intentions and God Ideas. This, in any moment or movement is a major disfunction, and should be removed from years of disconnect to the fountain of wisdom and justice for all.
Let's all who serve as BLM movement leaders (and this is not the same as the #BLM in which you can research on your own) and those who come alongside in some part or another, commit to doing a vital checkup before any furtherance and engagement. Ask these questions (this group) and all of us who are black:
Why are we killing each other, every day? Does this matter?
Why do we see and know someone who is black hurting and in distress, trying to do something good, we look the other way? Does this matter? I mean when we blacks are right there looking at it, and sometimes urging failure or damnation to occur along the way, does it matter?
Why do we put hate on each other, every day and speak death into situations instead of life? Does this matter?
Why is it that someone must die (a natural death) before people join an effort that the individual has clearly demonstrated is a true labor of love and sacrifice to build? Does this matter?
Why do we allow envy, jealously and pride to keep us from honoring and supporting one another? Does this matter?
Why is it that many blacks who have achieved wealth choose not to go back to their communities to make a difference (unless tragedy or accolades of what they are doing comes into play?) Does this matter?
Before you/we say... "NO" it don't matter, perhaps we would be wise to answer these questions honestly on our way to the exit lanes of Dysfunction Junction and merge onto Let's Get Our Minds Right with God Boulevard, from every community which we live.
All lives matter, all lives have dignity, but all lives are not lived dignified.
Now, 'WHEN", yes... when, we who are first, members of the BOC (Body of Christ) can be true to who we are in God and next... when black people start respecting black people 'all the time' and stop being bought and sold in the 2020, it will force others to put some love and honor on all who are black. And furthermore, this will bring forth a greater respect for all lives to come into the reality that ALL LIVES MATTER.
So, WHEN do BlackLivesMatter? Simple. All the time is the only answer.
Rev. Dr. King’s legacy of understanding the God of all creation and his fight to speak truth with love and the sacrifice and ultimate price of laying down his life must not be overlooked. Not only must we see him as a civil rights leader bent on equality, but understand him, and his message, through the God he served. The God of Rev. Dr. MLK, Jr., is the same God whose Word is as true today as it was in the beginning of time. In the words of Rev. King, ‘we must learn to live together as brothers, or we will perish together as fools.’
To read further and see the entire article, please visit www.mlkbible.education
Rev. Arthur L. Hunt, Jr., D.D., Senior Pastor, HMC—Hunt Memorial Cathedral of Faith
ceo@thecollegeofaspiringartists.education
