Martin Luther King was the son of a pastor named Michael King who ,,, after a trip to Germany, Michael King, Sr. changed his own name to Martin Luther King, in honor of the great reformer Martin Luther. In turn, his son’s name was changed to Martin Luther King, Jr.

How fascinating that MLK, as he is affectionately known, carried the name of one who for years felt rejected not merely by another race, but by God Himself, because he felt he could never measure up to God’s expectations of him.

Fifty years ago, on April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated, killed for his efforts to create a society in which all people accepted each other as equals. It was another one of those shots heard around the world. The path of a fighter for peace and justice is never smooth. It is profoundly moving to read how he struggled with giving up on his ability to succeed, or for that matter, giving up on life itself. The nature of the struggle MLK was up against brings to mind the words of a member of the British Parliament describing the battle William Wilberforce waged in England against slavery: “It was like pushing back a storm from a raging Atlantic with a mop and a bucket.”

Racial pain is a deep pain because it goes to the soul of one’s being. No one has a choice over one’s birth. To be attacked with racial prejudice is a form of murder because you are at risk just by virtue of your very being. Such a threat brings together stories of the past, the pain of the present, and cynicism for any solution in the future. When confronted with such an unshakable reality, sadly, it can breed a prejudice all its own.

As you read this, I am in my homeland of India just a few miles away from where Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated. I was only two years old at the time. I often think of the life of Mahatma Gandhi and his indefatigable spirit to fight for the freedom of his people. As a young man, he practiced law in South Africa and faced much discrimination. What he saw of racism in those days drove him away from the Christian faith, because he mistakenly judged a person’s profession of a faith as being the substance of that faith. The truth is, you don’t judge a belief by its abuse. So fortunately, he later qualified the difference: “I like their Christ; I don’t like their Christians.” How ironic that the only message in the world that frames humanity in God’s image, takes sin seriously, gives us the most glorious Scripture on love ever penned, and from beginning to end is a message of reconciliation was seen as a cruel belief because of the way it was being lived out. Therein lies the tragedy of racism and the failure of Christendom to deal with it or to own up to its blunders.

But the truth is that prejudice is present in virtually every culture. India’s prejudice didn’t come just from the British. This is a visibly stratified society where often the most common reality is that the common person has no voice. The caste system has taken a monumental toll. Prejudice and slavery were not the localized problem of America. One wrong word in the Middle East about a group of people and you can land before the authorities.

Thankfully there has been some change within this generation of young people who see the errors of the past. But in some circles, prejudices still run deep.

Here is the deepest mystery: Jesus did not say much about what we call racial prejudice or discrimination, or for that matter, even slavery. But his stories were steeped in answers. The Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans and saw them as a mongrel race. Jesus shocked them with the story of the Good Samaritan that showed up their hypocrisy. That phrase is now in our vocabulary. The keepers of the law despised those they saw as less moral than themselves. Again Jesus shocked them with the story of the prostitute who poured out her alabaster ointment on the Savior’s feet. Her story is told wherever the gospel is preached. The Israelites of old hated the Roman’s right to force them to carry his armaments for one mile. Jesus spoke of walking the second mile. That, too, is a phrase we use today. When Paul spoke of being called to the Gentiles, the mob wanted to kill him. But the gospel was still preached to the whole world.

What does all this say? That racial prejudice and other prejudices are not new. Prejudice has existed from the time of the first family when grace misunderstood led to murder.

Racial prejudice is not the problem. Racial prejudice is the symptom that reveals the real problem. We all think we are superior in some way to others, and we find reasons to dislike certain others. If in our hearts we spurn somebody, the mind will find myriad reasons to justify that cancer of the soul.

Of all people in the world, the Christian should lead the way in loving people of all nations because we all are ultimately created in God’s image. Our color does not define us. Our social stature doesn’t define us. Our soul defines us in that we are infused by God’s value in us, and we love because we are first loved by God, who is Spirit. Until the day dawns when we see everyone as having intrinsic soul worth, we will judge people by extrinsic appearances, yes and by color or some other distinction. How blind can we be?

The German reformer Martin Luther was religious but almost “hated God” because he felt he could never be accepted before Him. It dawned on him one day that faith, righteousness, and grace are gifts to be received and cannot be earned or worked for. The reformer was transformed first before he could carry the message of grace to others. Oh, that we might learn this! What a burden is lifted! Salvation is God’s gift. We cannot earn it. Forgiveness is a gift. We do not merit that pardon. Receiving it is to truly understand God’s love.

Fifty years after MLK, America is still struggling with these matters because we have forgotten what really matters in life. Dr. King said, “Unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality.”

Think of that statement. Think again. What are we teaching in schools? That science will save us. Science is the queen of the disciplines. Or, our laws will save us. Really? Which science tells us that truth and love are the answers? That does not come from matter. That comes from the soul. We are already a nation of laws. What laws have changed your heart? The mirror can tell you that your face is dirty, but the mirror will not wash your face. The law can tell you that you are an outlaw. But the law will not help your heart love the law.

This is the time to go to the ultimate heart surgeon who will help us love with his love. It’s time to turn from hate to love. Time to turn from prejudice to an embrace. Time to admit we are proud and wrong-headed. Time to see in each other the face of God. That can only happen when we are first reconciled to God. Then we can be reconciled with one another.

Until then, the one from whom we have not sought forgiveness or that we have not forgiven will control us, and we move into the vortex of the worst kind of slavery, a prison of hate, a cloud of amnesia, or the domination of a thirst for revenge.

That’s why Jesus did not deal with the symptom. He dealt with the source. Our hearts need to receive God’s forgiveness and then we can become instruments of true reconciliation. When you find your true master, you find we are all slaves to God, because that is the ultimate freedom. Ah! What a Master we have, who gave Himself for us, who came to earth as a servant so that we might know we are destined for a kingdom. As C.S. Lewis said, “His compulsion is our liberation.”

*************************

When former skeptic and seventeen-year-old Ravi Zacharias heard the words of Jesus in John 14:19, “Because I live, you also will live,” the trajectory of his life changed forever. In a time of helplessness and unbelief—when he was on a bed of suicide—the truth of Scripture brought hope to Zacharias, and he committed his life to Christ, promising, “I will leave no stone unturned in my pursuit of truth.” Earlier in John 14, Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” This verse has become the cornerstone of Zacharias’s ultimate mission as a Christian apologist and evangelist: to present and defend the truth of Jesus Christ that others may find life in Him.