MLK's Beloved Community?

Not So Much in Washington, but United Methodists Are Building It Back Home

by

A United Methodist Insight Commentary

Coming up on the annual observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service on Jan. 20, I can't help being caught by the sharp contrast between the principles espoused by King and those proposed by the man who will be inaugurated on the same day.

My email box has been filled with notices of MLK Day events being hosted by local churches around the US on Jan. 20. Topping the list is the online prayer vigil, From Fear to Belonging, that will be hosted by the UMC's General Commission on Religion and Race from 5 to 6 p.m. EST that day. I plan to attend.

Thanks to the Lewis Center for Church Leadership at UMC-related Wesley Theological Seminary, we're able to reflect on ten features of Dr. King's vision of Beloved Community, a concept he learned from the great mid-20th century mystic theologian, Howard Thurman. Lewis Center published excerpts from C. Anthony Hunt's book, Redeeming the Dream: Essays and Other Writings on Martin Luther King Jr. and Social Justice (Wyndham Hall Press, 2023).

Instead of watching the mendacity of the inauguration ceremony, I've decided I'll spend the day reflecting on MLK's vision that Tony Hunt outlines in the Lewis Center article. Paraphrased from his essay the Beloved Community

  • roots itself in the biblical notion of agape love.
  • expresses power within the context of love.
  • recognizes and honors God's image in every human.
  • seeks peace with justice.
  • affirms the efficacy of "soul force" – a concept Thurman learned from Mahatma Gandhi – as "the most effective way to enact real change in human hearts and society."
  • interrelates faith and action.
  • embraces all of humanity as part of "an inescapable network of mutuality."
  • insists on interdependence as the motivation for full humanity and full community.
  • depends on the collaborative effort of cross-sections of people with common interests for a just society.
  • seeks to build increasing levels of trust among people across differences.

This description sounds nothing like the incoming federal administration's proposals. Instead, MLK's description of the Beloved Community sounds a lot like the values that the 2020/2024 General Conference enacted last May, especially in our Revised Social Principles. (I will lead a four-part series on the new Social Principles during February at Insight's sponsoring congregation, St. Stephen UMC in Mesquite, Texas, an eastern suburb of Dallas.)

We're already finding ourselves at odds with both personnel and intended policies of the incoming federal administration regarding proposed mass deportations of undocumented immigrants. The Council of Bishops and the General Board of Church and Society have publicly denounced mass deportations and vowed to protect migrants from unjust and oppressive immigration actions. In particular, bishops of the South Central Jurisdiction covering much of the US-Mexico border plan a Jan. 28 webinar, Beyond Borders: A Christian Response to Immigration Complexities, that likely will highlight ways United Methodists can respond to the threat of mass deportations.

At the grassroots level, individuals, local churches and annual conferences are investing time, energy and resources in building up communities rather than tearing them apart through the "us versus them" mindset of many incoming national and state officeholders. Insight's new "Unity UMC" feature will highlight many of these bridge-building efforts in coming months.

All this brings me to the challenge before us: sharing prophetic witness to God's unconditional love in the face of leadership publicly devoted to thuggish tactics and divisive partisanship. As we might expect, Dr. King offered guidance on this daunting task of Christian discipleship that Tony Hunt describes in an essay, Martin Luther King Jr.’s 4 Key Principles of Prophetic Witness. In short, those principles are:

  • A sense of Call to the task at hand.
  • Conviction of God's will for peace with justice.
  • Courage to act, being willing to risk much for the cause to which one is called; and
  • Commitment, the ability to stick to the effort of witness despite risks and challenges.

I believe that many United Methodists are already acting on our shared conviction and commitment to God's unconditional love as the force for creating Beloved Community. Sadly, however, some of us are not convinced that God's love can truly overcome hate and fear, and so our siblings have embraced with their votes the false security of authoritarianism. The same situation faced religious leaders in Jesus' time, leaderes who appealed to their Roman overlord, Pontius Pilate, to rid them of a contentious young prophet who preached that God, not Caesar, rules over the universe with love, not force.

On Jan. 20, the United States will enter a new regime. On Jan. 20, we who follow Jesus can best observe the day by preparing ourselves spiritually to meet the challenges headed our way, trusting God to grant us wisdom and courage for the living of these days ("God of Grace and God of Glory," No. 577, United Methodist Hymnal).

Cynthia B. Astle serves as Editor of United Methodist Insight which she founded in 2011 as a media channel to amplify news and views for and about marginalized and under-served United Methodists. She has observed and written about United Methodism at all levels since 1988.