Asses the ministry to the poor of a historical evangelical leader of your choice (Martin Luther King jr) - Essay Example

? Martin Luther King jr Martin Luther King jr Martin Luther king an American born black citizen who was a clergy man an activist and a leader in the in the civil movements against discrimination. And racism against the black people king was born in January 5 1929. He is known for leading the protests without violence but through protests and civil disobedience king rose to be a national icon in America and won several awards for his exemplary work and efforts in the fight against discrimination against color1. Though he was born Michael king but his name changed by his dad to that of German reformer martin Luther. He was a Baptist minister and this is where we get to meet king through various sermons that he gave during his ministry. King was known to draw alt of influence from Jesus Christ as it’s evident from his publications and sermons he was known to advocate for ones love to God as well as ones neighbor. Kings preaching and ministry were mostly directed to the poor African American citizens who faced discrimination and were wallowing in abject poverty at the time2. W.E.B Du Bois was quoted saying that king was the most significant and unique creature developed by the Negros in the American soil. This is due to the fact that he was able to preach and deliver sermons in a way that transcended in ways and styles that only his black fellows would be comfortable with. Martin Luther king senior was a pastor and familiar with among African American in Atlanta. Thus junior grew up in a suitable middle class environment king was known to be bright and sharp from a tender age and somehow paid little interest to his father’s preaching career and embracing analytical thinking on religion, Due to his intelligence king was allowed to skip to grades in high school commencing his university education at the age of 15 yrs at Morehouse College while living at home. It was Morehouse that his earlier doubts on religion were melting down and king took a bible class which made him fully understand bible. However king ventured into the ministry during his final year and started acting as an assistant to martin Luther senior3. He would later attend the Crozer theological college seminary in Pennsylvania for more than three years, king would later attend Boston University for his doctoral program in Boston where he met his future wife and they married in 1953.king moved to Montgomery Alabama where he started his preaching ministry at the Dexter Baptist church. Kings ministry involved the fight for the less privileged in the society a high percentage of kings congregation were poor Negroes. This would culminate to a political and civil process of fight against discrimination and racism. King would later remain true to his calling and head the biggest ever Negro association of the times pressing for better living standards for the black citizens. Martin Luther king’s philosophy The triple evils of materialism, poverty and racism made up the philosophy of martin Luther in most of his speeches and sermons during his times. King was quoted saying that these three martliaism, poverty, and racism were all were all forms of violence that existed in merry round cycle. He always described them as the barriers to the existence of a unified credible society. To fight the triple evils king called for a non violent way he always encouraged the African Americans to have in mind the six principles of non violence4. He further illustrates his call for peaceful resistance through the Kingian model of social actions stipulated in “six steps for non violent social change”. Martin Luther king had a very strong stance when it came to the in famous triple evils taking on each at a time his publications and sermons. king was categorical about poverty describing issues like illiteracy, unemployment, hopelessness, mal-nutrition infant mortality as major effects of poverty king is quoted in one of his sermons saying “nothing is strange about poverty but what is new is that we now have resources to get rid of it” king goes ahead to declare absolute war on poverty. He challenges the well off of have who do not take time to ponder on the level of poverty in the society. It’s in these times of his ministry that king expresses his social standing for the poor and that something ought to be done. He acts as a vessel of inspiration to his majorly poor congregation. By painting poverty as a menace that could easily eliminated. During his ministry king took racism to refer to any form of prejudice, ageism, and discrimination against a particular group anti semism, colonialism and sexism. King described racism as a philosophy grounded on contempt for life .he explained it as an arrogant assertion that a group of people are much better than others and should be adhered to and other groups or races should be submissive. It’s the dogma that only one race is responsible for progression and it’s the only race that holds any hopes of advancement. King in most of his writings outlines racism as something that separated the physical person, mind and spirit of individuals and inflicting both physical and spiritual homicide upon them. King was a great advocate against the use of force even in the name of national influence and security. It’s remaining true to his beliefs and creed that king openly voiced his opposition on the war in Vietnam citing the unwarranted suffering of the innocent civilians5. He did this through two of his most infamous speeches. “Beyond Vietnam” which he delivered on April 4th 1967 and “why I am opposed to the war in Vietnam” which he delivered on April 30th 9167.the exposure of people to poisonous gases and killing them by burning while at the same time increasing the number of orphans and widows back home Martin luthers preaching Martin Luther drew most of his inspiration and liturgical preaching concepts from Cozer seminary which was pre dominantly white dominated. It’s while studying that he was expose to various ways of sermons arrangement. Mr. King was well known of mixing various styles during the delivery of his sermons classifications of sermons involved placing people at various classes or groups which was the common style that the poor African American were used to due to his prudence king was able to reach other people through his preaching other than his black community. Dr king never took sermon research just lightly but was very was very committed as on every Tuesdays he would outline his ideas the following day he would conduct in depth research on them and gathering illustrations and relevant excerpts on Fridays king would write down his sermons it took Mr. king on average 15 hours to prepare for his sermons. King widely borrowed from other writers and historians in his sermons. This was highly criticized as he never gave them credit. Martin Luther fight for the poor It was widely known that king had a soft spot for the blacks, natives, Chicanos and also white Americans6. This led to king’s initiative to start the poor people’s campaign so that individuals would gain economic independence and human rights. Those involved in the campaign set out more than 3000 people tent at Washington mall where they spent the next 6weeks.the poor people’s campaign brings into light the deep connection of king and the poor individuals in America regardless of their color this was an initiative that king started within his ministry as the calls for civil justice and human rights had not improved the economic conditions of those in abject poverty. The war on poverty was meant to pressurize the government to come up with an economic policy for the poor Americans. It painted that the government was spending much more on the war in Vietnam other than address the looming poverty crisis against its citizens. King held so dear and close to his heart what he believed was not right and its widely known that the speech he gave four days to his death was on poverty. He gave this speech at the national cathedral Washington on March 31st 1968 the speech was titled “remaining awake through a great revolution. King went ahead to use various illustrations and statements against what he termed as a greater enemy7. It is in this speech that king expressed their intention to bring the poor people’s campaign to Washington claiming it was no historic gesture but a move to press the government to address the crisis of poverty. The poor people’s campaign was an idea well blend within the SCLC it took a five day meeting before the announcement and decision of civil disobedience in Washington. Though not all members of the SCLC conquered with the whole plan of conducting the Washington protests among them was Bayard Rustin and dissent was evident in the entire planning process but king was convinced with the noble intention of it for the fight against poverty. He went ahead to demonstrate the non violence, but militant, dramatic, dislocative, disruptant nature of the protests at the same time commanding attention as much as possible. King went ahead to visit various cities rallying support for the poor people’s campaign. He went to marks, Mississippi on 18th march 19688. Where he came across the picture a teacher feeding kids during lunch time with only a slice of apple and a piece of crackers which moved him to tears and motivated him even more in his drive for change. As king continued with his quest for the fight of equality and economic independence as well as preaching the gospel of Christ. It came to a time that he had to make public the demands. Thus, on February 1968 he demanded for the $30 billion anti poverty fund, full employment, stable assured income, and construction of houses annually which should be affordable by the low class. As king invoked Americanism he also combined it with concepts of African American traditions, which had been taken into account as part of the countries etho’s. The fact that king ventured into the civil rights campaigns and still remained relevant; in the contemporary service of preaching the word of Christ made him unique as he with stood the test of time. Through all the struggles of king a movement by the name of SCLC(Southern Christians Leadership Conference) it was an African American civil rights movement that was established in 1957.Under the leadership of king the organization was fundamental not only in the civil rights movement but also in the ministry of martin Luther king9. The organization drew most of its inspiration under the independence and power of black churches. The Montgomery bus boycott is what led to the creation of this movement. The SCLC is credited for king’s success on various events that he organized, sermons and speeches that he gave during his ministry. It provided the logistical support and the planning that was needed at those crucial times10. It’s widely known that king drew most of his inspiration from leaders like Mahatma Gandhi who led a non violent fight for independence in India. King came up with various publications and through them continued with his fight against poverty and civil rights. No single individual who has influenced the standing of a race in society as king did remaining true to his cause11. He inspired many people with his passionate and spirited fight against racism. He embodied great moral qualities like patience, truth, courage, equality and justice. King saw everybody as equal and always respected everybody despite their ignorance. He was committed to instituting equality and fair treatment for all and has had a lasting impact on American society. Bibliography De Leon, David (1994). Leaders from the 1960s: a biographical sourcebook of American activism. Greenwood Publishing. P. 138. KIRK, J. A. (2005). Martin Luther King Jr. Harlow [u.a.], Pearson Longman. RAMDIN, R. (2004). Martin Luther King, Jr. London, Haus. FAIRCLOUGH, A. (1995). Martin Luther King, Jr. Athens [u.a.], University of Georgia Press. SCHAEFER, L. M. (1999). Martin Luther King, Jr. Mankato, Minn, Pebble Books/Capstone Press. Gosman, Gillian. (2011). Martin Luther King Jr. New York: PowerKids Press. NELSON, R. (2003). Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Minneapolis, Lerner Publications Co. BRUNS, R. (2006). Martin Luther King, Jr: a biography. Westport, Conn. [u.a.], Greenwood Press. SCHRAFF, A. E. (2008). Martin Luther King, Jr. Irvine, CA, Saddleback Educational Pub. Read More