History is
full of flawed heroes, jars of clay – not of porcelain – who though blemished
held great treasure.
Martin
Luther King, Jr., Day always awakens conflicting emotions within me. Granted, as a white
male from the American South, that demographic alone would cause some people to
immediately ignore my opinion related to MLK.
However, I
don’t consider myself a racist. I believe God created everyone in His image.
All races descended originally from one race through the bloodline of Noah. Racial,
ethnic, and social diversity is one way God displays various aspects of his
amazing grace.
My best
friend in seminary was a black man – a former drug dealer turned to Christian
preacher-evangelist. I invited him to preach in three different churches where
I worked. The best neighbors I had in my life were a wonderful black couple in
Laurens, SC. My wife and I enjoyed many summer evenings sitting on their back
porch years ago.
A Mixed Bag
But Martin
Luther King, Jr., causes conflicted responses.
Positively,
who can deny he was a powerful force against the evil of racism in America? He
and another son of the South – Billy Graham – stood against segregation and the
ignorance of hating someone because of the color of their skin. And they both
confessed the Lord Jesus Christ and preached from the Christian Bible.
Who cannot
be stirred by the historic “I Have a Dream” speech that challenged people to
see all people as being made in the image of God? A few years ago I took my
family to the Civil Rights National Monument l in Birmingham, Alabama, to view the statues mindful of key figures in the Civil Rights movement. Thankfully, we
live in a day when a black man can rise from obscurity and become the President
of the United States.
Those are
all things to be celebrated enthusiastically.
However, MLK
was no spotless hero. Several aspects of his tainted legacy bother me. History
records he habitually was unfaithful sexually to his wife. Known for his
girlfriends and mistresses, this was not a man of God who practiced great self-control in the area of his sex drive.
Old FBI documents released by President Donald Trump in 2017 reveal some extremely dark sides to MLK, including his penchant for orgies.
Old FBI documents released by President Donald Trump in 2017 reveal some extremely dark sides to MLK, including his penchant for orgies.
Yes, I
understand some of the FBI files could have an over-arching agenda to discredit
him. However, somewhat like Bill Clinton’s private life, MLK’s sexual
promiscuity is well-known.
On another
note, The King Papers, which reveal many of his inner-thoughts on theology and
other matters, reveal a very unorthodox King: denying the virgin birth, questioning
the veracity of the Scriptures, and holding some troubling views of the
atonement, just to name a few.
Socially and
politically, MLK was much more a socialist than a capitalist. Some would argue his
theories resembled Communism more than democracy. For years he was on the FBI’s
list of people with links to Communists.
Yet, no
doubt, he is a towering figure in history. The annals of time contain numerous
flawed heroes – biblical Abraham, Samson, and David, Martin Luther of the
Reformation, Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, John F. Kennedy, Winston
Churchill, and today, Donald Trump.
Yet some of the same voices who hail MLK as a worthy figure to be celebrated are the same ones who claim that Donald Trump is "evil" and should be rejected because of his past immoral sexual ethics. Or they are the same ones to embrace the removal of a statue or memorial to someone like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, or Robert E. Lee because of their links to slavery.
Black and White
One vice of
the Left is to paint people in broad black and white strokes. If they can
find one flaw that goes against a leftist value, they attempt to make the media
perceive the person as “all bad” or “evil.” This is a political tactic used
with great success when trying to discredit an opponent.
Today, if
something is dug up that was less-than-ideal from someone’s past three or four
decades ago, a frenzied scurry begins to paint the entire persona as “bad.” The
MeToo movement has used this tactic in some cases.
However, the
real world is not that black and white. People are flawed with a combination of
honorable and less than honorable characteristics. A society fueled by revenge
or justice will eventually have no one left standing. All of the memorial statues
will eventually be removed because no human can live up to a perfect standard.
A society
oiled with grace, however, understands that we can learn from our flawed
heroes. We can even celebrate them, remembering the good things about their
legacies without embracing or excusing the bad.
I believe
President Donald Trump is one such flawed hero. Like the Old Testament judge
Samson, who had deep blemishes yet was raised up by God to help his people at a
specific point in time, so I believe Trump was sovereignly exalted in a troubled
time in our nation.
As author Eric Metaxsas has so eloquently stated, Donald Trump arose in American history not to be her savior, but to keep her from falling off of the cliff of no return.
Is Trump flawed?
Yes. Should he be painted as completely evil and unworthy of respect and
celebration? No more than Martin Luther King, Jr. and the aforementioned list.
We can celebrate the great accomplishments of a person, learn from their achievements, mistakes, and failures, without embracing all of the dark aspects of their life.
We can celebrate the great accomplishments of a person, learn from their achievements, mistakes, and failures, without embracing all of the dark aspects of their life.
Wisdom
allows us to remember with grace.
Pictures used by permission from Pixabay.
Check out Stephen Strang's book God, Trump, and the 2020 Election: Why He Must Win and What's at Stake for Christians if He Loses.
Check out Stephen Strang's book God, Trump, and the 2020 Election: Why He Must Win and What's at Stake for Christians if He Loses.