Leaving or Losing a Legacy? Finding Meaning in the Monument and Hope for a New Movement

Historic Heirlooms

On August 28, 2011 the nation will pause as a solemn assembly of devotees will converge on the National Mall in Washington, DC, to celebrate and remember the life, legacy, and service of arguably America’s greatest citizen, The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Now, over four decades after his spiritually rousing speech “I Have a Dream,” we reflect upon the state of America and the plight of her African American citizenry.  A lot has changed since that infamous day known as the March on Washington; Jim Crow’s pharaoh-like strangle-hold on the south has been broken and God’s deliverance across the Red Sea of sanctioned, legalized apartheid has been realized.  Yet, I still believe that the people of promise have yet to inherit their Promised Land.  After wandering in the socio-political wilderness over 40 years, we stand figuratively on the muddy banks of the Jordan with a new generation who know not the struggles of Moses.  This new generation, which enjoys the benefits of another’s back-breaking labor, knows little of the lessons of our elders.  They must be taught that our dignity was birthed out of our elders’ endurance of inhumane treatment.  And our respectable titles of sir and ma’am are the result of their ability to maintain dignity while being labeled with the perpetual tag-line of boy and girl, regardless of age.  Our love for knowledge and the determined mind to risk life and limb to acquire an education are the byproducts of their living in the forced illiteracy of slavery; that valued only their burden-laden bent-backs rather than their capacity-filled intelligence.  Indeed, we are today because they were yesterday.   

The Moses Movement 

As this seasoned generation grows in grace, daily tempered by time and ultimately transitioning from this life to one that will never end.  I am saddened, not at their departure alone but at the fact that there is not a prepared generation standing ready to cross our Jordan.  The prophet Moses did not live to stand in his desired destiny of the Promised Land but he did one thing that all legacy efforts require; purposely prepared successors.  In his case it was Joshua.  In our case…well, I am not quite sure this effort has been pursued with intentionality.  I say this mindful of the qualified and capable emerging leaders who have been influenced by the preceding generation.  However, I cannot overlook the sincere disconnect, even departure from the essential nation building that occurred in the late fifties and throughout the sixties.  The intergenerational transfer of sacrifice, service and living beyond one’s self has been interrupted.  Somehow and somewhere there was a transaction that did not register as we continue to give our children everything we were deprived and little of what we developed; such essential qualities as character, fortitude, and a love for our people beyond compare. 

I mention of these facts not to take a stroll down memory lane and reminisce with rosary lens about the so-called good ol’ days.  I make mention of this because my generation must now assume the responsibility to ‘Redeem the Soul of America.’  The state of African Americans today is in greater challenge than forty-seven years ago.  In every conceivable category; from life-threatening diseases, incarcerations, foreclosures, poverty, educational attainment, to violent deaths, African Americans are at the top of the nation's negative statistics.  In light of the challenges before us we must not leave Washington, DC with only digital photos, credit cards purchases, and warm fuzzy felling.  We must leave Washington with a mission, one where we transition from Monument to New Movement.  Our next movement should incorporate the following commitments.  

Educate Another Generation.  The highly successful efforts of President and CEO, Mr. Harry E. Johnson led the Washington, DC Martin Luther King, Jr., National Memorial Project Foundation, Inc. in raising $120 million to erect the Stone of Hope.   The galvanized giving of corporations, celebrities, and everyday citizens accomplished the goal of securing financial resources for the project.  Although worthy of applause, it does seem, at times, contradictory to the personal desires of Dr. King; who did not want a memorial or personal reward.  Yet, I am able to justify my own inner questioning with the biblical example of Joshua’s journey across the Jordan.  He instructed representatives from each tribe to gather a stone and build a monument at the edge of the completed crossing site.  He stipulated that these stones where to stand as a “sign that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, what do these stones mean?”  And you will answer that God cut off the rivers flow and allowed passage for His people.  Finally, he said that these stones will be a continual monument for the nation, reminding them of God’s power of deliverance (Joshua 4:1-7).  I find solace in the fact, that this modern stone will serve generations to come, reminding them of God’s power of deliverance.    

Renew our Commitment to an Intergenerational Transfer.  Over the last ten years, I have had the privilege of being in a personal mentoring relationship with Dr. Virgil A. Wood, former National Executive Board Member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and personal friend of Dr. King.  I cannot put into words or convey within the limitations of this article what I have gained and gleaned from this relationship.  I absolutely treasure the opportunity to be in weekly dialogue, to ask questions, gain insight, and have his input in major poverty reduction projects that I have undertaken. With this in mind, every year our great freedom fighters are transitioning and in far too many cases they are taking with them wisdom, strategy, methodology, and insight into eternity.  Such treasures should not be stored in eternity but should be planted in the fresh soil of minds that dwell in time and space.  We are challenged by the timely words of Reverend Joseph Lowery, co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in a 2005 interview with Rodney Thrash a journalist with the St. Petersburg Times after the transition of Mother of the Civil Rights Movement, Ms. Rosa Parks “…we've got to continue to grow new fruits out in the vineyard because the old trees are passing on into history."  Therefore, we have to be more deliberate in asking questions, documenting, video and audio recording the conversations.  They are indeed walking repositories of history.  Emerging leaders should seek out; even respectfully ask to be mentored under the tutelage of these social giants.  Likewise, our seasoned elders should equally seek to mentor and intentionally invest in another generation.  We need you and welcome your leadership and instruction. 

Employ Old Stones in Modern Sling Shots.  The Old Testament story of David’s epic battle with Goliath is useful example.  As David prepared to fight Goliath, King Saul, in an attempt to aid the young warrior, offered his weaponry and armor.  Surprisingly, the armor did not fit.  David respectfully discarded the wardrobe and weapons but maintained his will to fight Goliath using his weapons of stones and sling.  What is often over looked is the simple fact that David chose five smooth stones from the brook; the selected stones were not a new invention.  Who knows the actual geological age of stones chosen?  What we can surmise is that the sling shot was constructed in his day.  In short, old stones dispersed in a modern way.  We intend to review our history, research methodology and render time tested principles as projectiles in new ways through a sling of social media and modern-day practices.  I will render one more needful point concerning this matter.  Some time ago in the region of Ghana our ancestors created, in the Akan language, the word Sankofa.  It is a compound word (Sanko – meaning to “go back” and fa – means to take).  The word has been beautifully captured in symbol as a bird with its head turned backwards and taking an egg off its back.  It signifies us the responsibility for one to take from the past that which is beneficial and bring it into the present in order to make positive progress through the use of knowledge.   I see this as our modern mission.  In short, we have an ongoing sankofa project.

Make Room for Another Generation.  The African American Freedom movement has always employed its youth; whether it was nine students in Little Rock, Arkansas who challenged unjust norms and provided equitable public education possibilities or four college students in Greensboro, NC who gathered courage and started the Sit-In Movement or six hundred students in Birmingham, Alabama, who volunteered to go to jail while thousands of others marched to turn the tide of the movement in that city.  Today many elders recall with pride their participation in past.  Nonetheless, we must allow new voices, vision, and yes, even new victories.  I will be the first to recite the story lines of battles past and won.  It is both needed and necessary.  However, I also believe we tend to lock the door to the emerging generation by only reciting the past.  Let me explain, if we continue to see significance only in the 50s-60s generation we will miss the substance of this day.  If we consistently remind this present generation that they did not march with Dr. King, or desegregate a school with the Little Rock Nine, or never sat-in with SNCC, or stood post for Malcolm X, or picketed unjust polling stations with Fannie Lou Hamer in manner that suggests you have ultimately missed the bus of significance; we unconsciously lock our elders in recorded history and emerging leaders out of being an extension of the movement.  We must help this present generation to find their place and post in this day.   We need our youth, students, and emerging leaders to be a part of today’s movement.

Leave Washington with a Renewed Commitment to Work.  Dr. Virgil Wood has been both vocal and vigilant in respectfully asking that the same emphasis be placed in raising a matching $120 million to seed the work that Dr. King sacrificially invested his life; the lifting of the low and most vulnerable in our world, the eradication of poverty, and creating of good and just society.  The previous March on Washington for Jobs and Justice yielded political and ground level change. We cannot afford for this march and dedication to have only celebratory value.  The New Testament records Peter, James, and John’s journey with Jesus to what is now referred to as the Mount of Transfiguration.  This momentous event, where the countenance and clothing of Christ revealed a glorious light and the appearing of the Prophet Elijah and Moses was the inspiration spark to move beyond celebration to sustained sacrificial service.  At that time, Peter states “Lord, it is good for us to be here. Let us make three tabernacles —one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah (Luke 9:28-33).”  Peter wanted to stay there and worship.  After all, who wouldn’t?  Jesus said to him in so many words, the time for continual celebration has not yet arrived.  He descended from the mountain top and met the multitudes waiting in need.  In other words, there is still work to do.  Similarly, Dr. King told the marchers during his I have a dream speech, “You have been the veterans of creative suffering.   Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.” 

My sincere prayer is that we will indeed celebrate this occasion and render to it the splendor and national pause it deserves.  However, we cannot stay there, neither physically or figuratively.  We must make our decent from the mountain top to once again walk in the valley with the most vulnerable.  We must renew our commitment to sustained sacrifice for the sake of the least of these. Dr. King’s legacy captured in the Stone of Hope Monument should inspire us to carve new images out of the polarized political landscapes, to shape new possibilities in crisis-filled terrain and solidify salvific hope in this present day as we leave a legacy worth treasuring.  According to Dr. Wood, the next movement is “not exodus but Jubilee; the cultivation of love for economic security and spiritual development.”  He concludes with a challenge for all us who desire to embrace the legacy of King.  “The Legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., for the world house global family, is to become the heritage and leadership of his legacy.”  

Mesmerized by the Mega: Discovering Mega Works in Minor Churches

We have become a nation of overindulgence.  We are mesmerized with the thought of having the extreme in size.  Whether it is SUVs or Supermarkets the underlying theory is the same; bigger is better.  Unfortunately, this brand of American consumerism has crept into the church and has generated a Gospel of Gargantuanism; where anything modest in size is to be discarded in pursuit of the massive.  The challenge with this kind of thinking, although it might be able to produce some meaningful benefits as associated with the best value or more “bang” for the buck in purchasing, it is disastrous when it comes to our spiritual development.  The Bible teaches us that great things can come in small packages.   Think about it, long before the debut of the blockbuster hit 300, there was Gideon’s 300 where God systematically scaled down his army from over 32,000.  What about the evangelistic team of Paul and Silas?  This dynamic duo preached across Asia Minor and changed the spiritual landscape of cities.  And lest we forget, our Lord and Savior, Jesus, assembled not a massive army but a motley crew of twelve unlikely change agents. 

The sad reality is that Christians can become unconsciously indoctrinated, even intoxicated with “biggism” as we consider our churches.  More and more, the reality of families shopping for churches beyond denomination and searching for spiritual smorgasbords that can meet an array of needs.  This reality is similar to our Walmart experiences; where one can get their vehicle’s oil changed and tires rotated while shopping.  And if children are restless, just grab Happy Meals at the convenience of the in-store, McDonalds.  After, chomping down calories, you can have your eye glasses adjusted in the Vision Center so that you can focus more on the vast sales.  If that’s not enough, there’s more; nail shops, photography studios, and photo shops.  The bigbox craze has inundated our psyche and we now subconsciously expect churches to have valet parking, a visitors welcome center, greeters giving direction to the abundance of Christian education offerings; gender specific, topic orientated, large or small groups, and age appropriate classes.  We gingerly glance through Sunday Worship bulletins or church websites as we would Hotel brochures; searching for the best amenities and overlooking the all important actual context of fellowship and the anointing.  Frankly, we are addicted to the hotel industry’s idea of excessive luxury all for a minimum price; usually the tip we toss into the offering as we leave the church.  The expectation that all churches operate or should function in such manner is just not feasible.  Sadly, if smaller churches cannot compete because a lack of the so-called amenities – something as simple as childcare or children’s church – they are discarded and deemed not worth a second visit; after all who wants to sit as a family during Sunday Morning Worship? 

My point is not to discredit or devalue the work and ministry of Mega Churches (congregations of two thousand or more).  I will be the first to applaud the dexterity and diversity of offerings that minister to the entire person.  However, I want to render a word of caution for the Sunday Service Shopper.  First, the average church in America has a Sunday attendance of 75 – 150 persons according to most research.  So don’t let what you see on the television or the few larger structures in your city distort the reality.  The vastness of the imagery of the churches that have been graced by God to have television ministries can lead people to think that this is normal in American Christianity, when actually the opposite is true.  Second, don’t judge a church by its size but rather its substance.  Take a look at the minor prophets of the Old Testament, for one to consider them minor in quality would be an egregious mistake.  They are only considered minor for the coverage of their ministry not the content of ministry.  They performed a major ministry and projected a major message.  And that is something all churches can do, regardless of the size of congregation.   I have heard people say, I am looking for a small church because they are friendlier.  There is nothing wrong with desiring a friendly church but size alone is not the determining factor in the preferred quality.  In short, just because a church is small does not make it more or less personable and friendly.  One does not have to look far to find small congregations that are wanting in friendliness.  Conversely, some Mega Churches have been very successful in making a large church feel like the family church of days gone by.  Finally, it’s like what our grandparents used to say, every pot has to stand on its own bottom. 

There is a need for smaller congregations in our communities.  I have seen first-hand, amazing, God-honoring ministry facilitated by small congregations across America.  My research and ministry reveals Drug and Alcohol programs for the addicted, homeless and feeding programs for the hungry, community economic development, as well as, youth programs to include choirs, mentoring groups, and educational enhancing initiatives.  The next time you drive down an urban street and see a row of storefront churches before you criticize the church ask yourself a couple of serious questions, “Could it be that God has allowed this church for a particular group of people that perhaps needed such an environment to meet Him?  Is possible that God can get the Glory out of small churches with large endeavors?”

Congregational size is not the question; the real question is whether we are willing to invest ourselves in a congregation to expand opportunities for others to come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.  We must all work to extend the ministry of the church beyond stained glass and padded pew.  I believe God wants to use smaller congregations to help turn the tide.  It is time that we disavow ourselves of the mindset that smaller churches lack significance and substance.  Let the church of our Lord Jesus Christ rise, not by budget size or seating capacity but by the power of God, for “one can put a thousand to flight and two ten thousand.” This is my small attempt, no pun intended, to give mega appreciation to the small congregations who often go unnoticed for faithful, life-changing, community impacting service.  My continual prayer is that there will be Mega Works in Minor Churches.