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Recently at this blog you will have found that a consistent theme has been counting the cost of following Christ.  Few people have better demonstrated this commitment than Martin Luther King, Jr., who we remembered this weekend at the celebration of his birthday.  He understood what it meant to live the kingdom like few others, embracing the example and teachings of Jesus (especially the Sermon on the Mount), even unto death.

Sadly, it is all to easy for us to sift his words and example through a romanticized filter that allows us to vicariously enjoy the glory of his righteousness without costing us a fraction of the price he paid.  We can boldly stand against the enemies of desegregation, long since defeated, yet fail to consider the implications of Dr. King’s words in light of our own, current reality.

Consider his words in the video below.  Listen to the price demanded of those who persist in pursuing God’s kingdom here and now.  If Dr. King were alive today, he would likely have many more enemies than admirers, for he would undoubtedly stand against the violence of our world- military, social, economic and spiritual.  Just as we have all too often done we Jesus, many attempt to appropriate his example to justify their own compromises.  That is why we must be willing to speak and live the disruptive truth, even when it places in unpopular and even dangerous positions.

Shall we overcome? While we stand with confidence that God will indeed overcome, our participation in that victory will come only if we willingly and actively seek to live the words of Jesus in our lives.  In the words of Dr. King, this change will only happen when there are “true neighbors who are willingly obedient to unenforceable obligations”.

Are you willing?  Am I?