Pastor John Macarthur isn’t any stranger to controversy.

The conservative evangelical powerhouse has no qualms about offending individuals along with his uncompromising views and unapologetic stances on theological and social points — even when most of them are incorrect. Prior to now, MacArthur mentioned that he didn’t consider non secular freedom or democracy had been Biblical concepts. He has recommended that there’s a Biblical justification for slavery. And, in 2020, he declared that any “actual Christian” should vote to reelect Donald Trump as president.

And that’s simply the tip of the iceberg.

However even for a person who isn’t any stranger to ruffling feathers along with his sturdy opinions, his newest assertion about Martin Luther King Jr. could have crossed a line that many will discover tough to abdomen.

The event was a question-and-answer session at a church service at MacArthur’s Grace Group Church in Solar Valley, California, on February 15, 2024. MacArthur claimed that civil rights hero Martin Luther King Jr. “wasn’t a Christian in any respect” and that his “life was immoral.” His feedback, woven right into a bitter diatribe criticizing different Christian organizations — “The Gospel Coalition” and “Collectively for the Gospel”— for not being conservative sufficient, labeled Luther King Jr. as “a nonbeliever who misrepresented every thing about Christ and the gospel.”

Predictably, it didn’t take lengthy for the feedback to look on social media. (The video is kind of lengthy, so be at liberty to skip to 1:55 for the MLK feedback)

Shut up, John

As somebody who isn’t even American, I discover MacArthur’s comment totally reprehensible, tone-deaf, and hypocritical.

Martin Luther King Jr., along with his Ph.D. in systematic theology and his position as a Baptist minister, is universally esteemed not simply as a towering political determine of the twentieth century but additionally as a deeply dedicated Christian.

His unwavering dedication to demonstrating love for his neighbors price him his life. His imaginative and prescient, rooted within the gospel, impressed his neighborhood to persevere within the face of oppression. King’s resilience and beauty challenged the systemic racism of America with out resorting to the bitterness of his oppressors. Importantly, he persistently directed the hope of Black Individuals towards Jesus Christ, not himself. To really honor him is to acknowledge the profound affect of his Christian religion on his tireless activism.

King’s unwavering dedication to nonviolent resistance is the embodiment of Christ’s teachings to show the opposite cheek and love one’s enemies. In distinction, MacArthur’s divisive rhetoric and controversial statements are often devoid of the spirit of reconciliation and designed to offend.

King’s advocacy for justice and equality displays Christ’s concern for the marginalized and oppressed. Like Jesus, King sought to uplift the downtrodden and problem these methods of injustice and oppression perpetuating inequality. His dedication to the reason for civil rights was rooted in his Christian religion, which compelled him to talk out in opposition to racial discrimination and advocate for the dignity and rights of all individuals.

This message of hope and reconciliation echoes Christ’s name to deliver concerning the Kingdom of God on earth within the truest sense. In his well-known “I Have a Dream” speech, King articulated a imaginative and prescient for a society the place persons are handled as equals. MacArthur, alternatively, appears actually hell-bent on delineating and safeguarding boundaries between these he deems “in” and people he deems “out.”

By dismissing King’s Christian id, MacArthur overlooks the central position that religion performed in motivating King’s activism and provoking tens of millions world wide. It’s nothing wanting an insult to Martin Luther King Jr., to black individuals in every single place, and, in the end, to the God whom he purports to serve.

MacArthur could also be a revered determine in sure conservative evangelical circles the place he’s handled like an advisor to the Trinity, however his feedback about Martin Luther King Jr. reveal a narrow-minded hypocrisy and a whole failure to acknowledge the true embodiment of Christ-like love and compassion in King’s life and legacy.

As a substitute, MacArthur can’t appear to see previous MLK’s obvious sin.

The assassination of MLK’s character

Martin Luther King’s ethical failing appears to be a specific sticking level for MacArthur, who appears to indicate that MLK’s sin by some means excludes him from the desk of the Lord. Certain, it’s no secret that Martin Luther King was accused of getting a number of extramarital affairs throughout his lifetime.

Similar to King David — a person after God’s personal coronary heart in response to scripture.

It’s obviously hypocritical for John MacArthur to denounce Martin Luther King Jr.’s ethical character whereas concurrently elevating biblical figures like King David, identified for his personal ethical transgressions.

MacArthur’s selective condemnation of people based mostly on their private failings reeks of double requirements. If MacArthur is prepared to miss the failings of biblical heroes like King David, who dedicated adultery and orchestrated a homicide — and he’s — then he ought to prolong the identical grace to everybody. As a substitute, his condemnation of King whereas idolizing biblical figures with comparable indiscretions exposes a evident hypocrisy.

He’s cherry-picking morality to swimsuit his agenda.

MacArthur is disparaging a outstanding Black civil rights chief whereas concurrently idolizing what he would consider to be predominantly white biblical heroes, perpetuating a dangerous narrative that diminishes the contributions and humanity of Black leaders. This sample of racial bias underscores the pervasive nature of systemic racism inside sure segments of society, and certainly the church, even amongst people who declare to uphold Christian values of affection and equality.

And if confronted with these observations, MacArthur would doubtless dismiss them as radical leftist wokeism — as if that had been the top of the matter. He has a radical, close-minded dedication to not being held accountable for the church’s previous indiscretions on the subject of racial justice and equality.

One has to marvel if that’s the actual downside for MacArthur. Luther King upset the cultural apple cart, together with that of the church, the place racism was deeply ingrained, simply as was in society at giant. What’s attention-grabbing is that people who’re fixated on wielding their very own political affect and asserting cultural and non secular supremacy incessantly align with those that problem the genuineness of King’s Christian religion.

John MacArthur is chief amongst them.

He could sincerely understand himself as a defender of the religion. Nevertheless, in actuality, he’s upholding a flawed narrative that has undermined and is undermining the church’s integrity. And it’s driving individuals from the church.

The final phrase

So, what are we to do?

On the finish of the day, no quantity of objection will persuade McArthur and people of his ilk that they’re completely incorrect of their evaluation of Martin Luther King Jr. Fairly, any backlash will undoubtedly be interpreted by them as persecution for faithfully upholding the “fact of the Gospel.”

It is going to show to them that they’re “proper,” regardless of how incorrect they really are if we object too strongly. So, I borrow the phrases of Martin Luther King Jr himself:

“Jesus knew that the outdated eye-for-eye philosophy would go away everybody blind. He didn’t search to beat evil with evil. He overcame evil with good. Though crucified by hate, he responded with aggressive love.”

Do these sound just like the phrases of a person who didn’t revere and comply with Christ?

Hardly.

Now, over 50 years after the loss of life of Martin Luther King Jr, there are those that attempt to assassinate him once more. The query that he would have us ask is, “How can we overcome this evil with aggressive love?”

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