If Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was standing before America today, he would likely be grieved – but not surprised.
He lived through one of the previous most ugly and divisive times in our nation. He faced tremendous persecution and hatred born of the racial division in the nation and because he was a black man. He was familiar with prejudice, mistreatment, abuse, and hatred. He was personally threatened and assaulted repeatedly, even jailed. He eventually died at the hands of an assassin. He had a definitive awareness that this would likely be the result of his push for equality for all people. He was warned, threatened, and even had a recuring premonition of his death. Some people accused him of recklessness and tempting his own death by refusing to quit. But he was not. He clearly understood his mission. He believed he was at this time and place in history on assignment to help us live as God intended in a world divided.
Dr. King understood that the greatest threat to a nation is not disagreement, but division fueled by fear and hate. He knew that when people stop seeing one another as neighbors and start seeing one another as enemies, people to be avoided, controlled or put down, the soul of a nation is at risk.
Today we show the truth of that again. In 2026, America is as fractured politically, racially, culturally, and spiritually as ever it has been. We have forgotten that we are all children of God and have divided ourselves into our tribes.
Dr. King would remind us that hate cannot be justified, even when wrapped in moral language. Even when hate is spoken and attempted to be legitimized by religion, it can never be right.
As Dr. King said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
Hope, to Dr. King, required …
- courage without bitterness
- conviction without cruelty
- truth spoken in love
Sounds like Jesus.
So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. John 13:34 NLT
As we remember Dr. King, may it drive us to follow our leaders. May the followers of Jesus be determined to be distinguished and defined by that kind of love and hope in a desperately needy world.