In the Wake of the 1963 civil rights campaign, Dr. Martin Luther King sat down and wrote Why We Can't Wait, a personal remembrance of the monumental events that transpired in Birmingham. "I like to believe that Birmingham will one day become a model in Southern race relations...I like to believe that the negative extremes of Birmingham's past will resolve into the positive and utopian extreme of her future; that the sins of a dark yesterday will be redeemed in the achievements of a bright tomorrow".
As I reflect on Dr. King's words written in Why We Can't Wait I am both joyous and burdened. Joyous because much of what Dr. King stood and fought for has come to pass and we have witnessed some major changes here in Birmingham. Burdened because racism still remains active, systemic injustices continue to go largely unnoticed, and there seems to be a whole generation of young people who couldn't tell you one principle that Dr. King stood for only that "he had a dream".
As an urban missionary laboring in Birmingham Alabama, I have been greatly impacted by the ministry of Dr. King regarding justice, peace and love. Growing up in the Washington DC area and surrounding myself with the African American community gave me a unique perspective on race relations, injustice, and bigotry. I never thought however that I would end up ministering in Birmingham, the community that became the hub of the civil rights movement in the 1960's lead by Dr. King.
I never imagined that God would place me, with my African American wife and diverse cultural heritage, at one of the most influential white churches in Birmingham. I never imagined that God would have me challenge my white brothers and sisters in the faith with the idea of "white privilege" and systemic injustices that still linger from slavery, sharecropping and the Civil Rights era. I never thought growing up that God would use me to be a bridge builder of races, connecting the urban and suburban worlds. And I certainly never once envisioned doing it in Birmingham Alabama.
But here I am, because I believe that Dr. King's dream was the very heart of God. While you may not agree with Dr. King's theological view points he got some of the big rocks right: that if you have not love you have nothing. He got another thing right: Every human being is created in the image of God and has dignity endowed by the Creator. Unfortunately it has been churches that stood opposed to this truth, confessing it in their creeds and denying it in their actions. Preaching and living out a truncated gospel that God only cares for middle and upper class white folks. Teaching that we should "stick to our own" rather than being one as Jesus prayed. But while the church missed it badly and allowed the sins of racism, greed and partiality to oppose the dream of Dr. King, God always has a remnant. And I believe the dream of Dr. King lives on in the heart of people truly impacted by the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Dr. King's vision of seeing a bright tomorrow in Birmingham is only possible through the work of The Holy Spirit as the true gospel is proclaimed and believed upon. There will be no dismissal of darkness until the true Light shines in the heart of men. Once you become aware of the holiness of God, the perfection by which God requires, then see your own filthiness and failure to give God the glory due to His name, grace becomes amazing. When you see Jesus as the perfect substitute and only way to be declared righteous in the sight of a just God, it brings absolute humility. And it is that grace and humility that compels men and women to love across color, socio-economic, and political lines. It is that grace which is an unstoppable force of reconciliation and restoration. It is that grace that allows you to forgive because you know you don't deserve the Lord's forgiveness. It is that grace which causes you to confess sins, and be open about shortcomings and weaknesses. And it is that grace which causes true repentance with humility that brings people together broken at the foot of the cross in desperate need of Jesus' finished work. So I am still dreaming...
Jason Williams is the urban pastor at Briarwood Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, Alabama. On top of being a wonderful Christian man, loving husband, and father, he also has an above average jump shot that he used to abuse my Ohio State Buckeyes back in the day. But I don't hold that against him.
As I reflect on Dr. King's words written in Why We Can't Wait I am both joyous and burdened. Joyous because much of what Dr. King stood and fought for has come to pass and we have witnessed some major changes here in Birmingham. Burdened because racism still remains active, systemic injustices continue to go largely unnoticed, and there seems to be a whole generation of young people who couldn't tell you one principle that Dr. King stood for only that "he had a dream".
As an urban missionary laboring in Birmingham Alabama, I have been greatly impacted by the ministry of Dr. King regarding justice, peace and love. Growing up in the Washington DC area and surrounding myself with the African American community gave me a unique perspective on race relations, injustice, and bigotry. I never thought however that I would end up ministering in Birmingham, the community that became the hub of the civil rights movement in the 1960's lead by Dr. King.
I never imagined that God would place me, with my African American wife and diverse cultural heritage, at one of the most influential white churches in Birmingham. I never imagined that God would have me challenge my white brothers and sisters in the faith with the idea of "white privilege" and systemic injustices that still linger from slavery, sharecropping and the Civil Rights era. I never thought growing up that God would use me to be a bridge builder of races, connecting the urban and suburban worlds. And I certainly never once envisioned doing it in Birmingham Alabama.
But here I am, because I believe that Dr. King's dream was the very heart of God. While you may not agree with Dr. King's theological view points he got some of the big rocks right: that if you have not love you have nothing. He got another thing right: Every human being is created in the image of God and has dignity endowed by the Creator. Unfortunately it has been churches that stood opposed to this truth, confessing it in their creeds and denying it in their actions. Preaching and living out a truncated gospel that God only cares for middle and upper class white folks. Teaching that we should "stick to our own" rather than being one as Jesus prayed. But while the church missed it badly and allowed the sins of racism, greed and partiality to oppose the dream of Dr. King, God always has a remnant. And I believe the dream of Dr. King lives on in the heart of people truly impacted by the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Dr. King's vision of seeing a bright tomorrow in Birmingham is only possible through the work of The Holy Spirit as the true gospel is proclaimed and believed upon. There will be no dismissal of darkness until the true Light shines in the heart of men. Once you become aware of the holiness of God, the perfection by which God requires, then see your own filthiness and failure to give God the glory due to His name, grace becomes amazing. When you see Jesus as the perfect substitute and only way to be declared righteous in the sight of a just God, it brings absolute humility. And it is that grace and humility that compels men and women to love across color, socio-economic, and political lines. It is that grace which is an unstoppable force of reconciliation and restoration. It is that grace that allows you to forgive because you know you don't deserve the Lord's forgiveness. It is that grace which causes you to confess sins, and be open about shortcomings and weaknesses. And it is that grace which causes true repentance with humility that brings people together broken at the foot of the cross in desperate need of Jesus' finished work. So I am still dreaming...
Jason Williams is the urban pastor at Briarwood Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, Alabama. On top of being a wonderful Christian man, loving husband, and father, he also has an above average jump shot that he used to abuse my Ohio State Buckeyes back in the day. But I don't hold that against him.