Martin Luther King
Ran across this quote from MLK. I've always been struck by how wise-beyond-his-years he seemed and was. Learned, yes, and intelligent. But even something more. Something almost supernatural. Like he could see things we couldn't.
He was WAY before his time. He was living in the 50s & 60s, which I would say was the pinnacle of the hey-day of the Western Christian church, before the "hippies" got a hold of society. The "moral authority" still had huge influence over politics, the media, and education (remember Ricky and Lucy didn’t sleep in the same bed?)
I would suggest that the backlash that we saw during the “Free Love” era of the 60s grew partly from an unrest regarding the moral authority’s reliance on tradition and power rather than a real sense of love and service. I have this image of Truman-esque men with Fedoras and horn rimmed glasses looking at the young with condescension and disappointment instead of humility and compassion.
I think MLK saw this. This quote encapsulates this:
"The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state. If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority."
How would you define “prophetic zeal”?
He was WAY before his time. He was living in the 50s & 60s, which I would say was the pinnacle of the hey-day of the Western Christian church, before the "hippies" got a hold of society. The "moral authority" still had huge influence over politics, the media, and education (remember Ricky and Lucy didn’t sleep in the same bed?)
I would suggest that the backlash that we saw during the “Free Love” era of the 60s grew partly from an unrest regarding the moral authority’s reliance on tradition and power rather than a real sense of love and service. I have this image of Truman-esque men with Fedoras and horn rimmed glasses looking at the young with condescension and disappointment instead of humility and compassion.
I think MLK saw this. This quote encapsulates this:
"The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state. If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority."
How would you define “prophetic zeal”?
posted by Wealthedge at 11:26 AM
2 Comments:
'How would you define “prophetic zeal”?'
that quote
Not rightly for sure .. I was trying to get some feedback ..
I would say that the question of what "prophetic zeal" really is encapsulates all of the conversation we've been having over the last 18+ months ..
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