Free At Last?
Today is the day our nation has set aside to honor the life and accomplishments of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.—and rightfully so. Yet, as with any high profile public figure, we must bear in mind that to elevate any person to “sainthood” status, or to defrock a person from such elevated status, is neither the right nor the responsibility of any human being or organization; this is strictly a divine prerogative. God alone knows the true posture of a person’s heart. In the case of Dr. King, what seems clear to me, is that he was deeply concerned for the disenfranchised—and that perspective is surely near to God’s heart.
Dr. King was right in the central thesis of his proclamation: All human beings have been created in the image of God, and all human beings deserve to be treated with dignity, and respected for their inherent value as God’s progeny. They deserve such high esteem because that is how God Himself treats his children. He mediates love in full accordance with his “equal opportunity” plan; that is, God loves all his offspring impartially (a precept humans find enigmatic both in principle and in practice!)
Although the Bible consistently displays God’s impartial love—often overturning our expectations in the process (note His habit of exalting the disenfranchised and deflating the “high and mighty”), certain passages of Scripture seem to cut against this grain. Take, for example, Malachi 1:2-3 quoted by Paul in Romans 9:13: “Jacob have I loved; Esau have I hated” (KJV). But this is a case where the linguistic and cultural gaps that separate our world from the Biblical world create (sometimes radical) misunderstandings.
We moderns nearly always default to the emotional component, the “touchy-feely” side of love and the “fuming anger” side of hate. But there is another side of love and hate that is distinct from—although often interconnected with—their emotional component, a behavioral “posture” or “disposition” or “intention” that people have toward each other. In other words, are they “in your court” or “in your face”? “At your throat” or your embrace? Do you draw them close, or push them away
The Hebrew notion of “love” and “hate” underlying many Biblical passages unravels many an otherwise perplexing exegetical conundrum. Consider, for example, the impact on our understanding of Malachi 1:2-3 if we translate the text, “Jacob have I chosen; Esau have I rejected.” Or perhaps, in sports lingo, “Jacob will start; Esau is benched.” None of these senses requires us to believe that God had personal animosity toward Esau, or any of His progeny, for that matter.
God chose Jacob, because he was a better fit for his purpose. If I wanted my children to entertain my guests at a party, I would not choose Kaleb to do a “scorpion” nor Kali to do a “kick flip” because Kaleb is the skateboarder and Kali, the competitive cheerleader. My choosing or rejecting has nothing to do with my emotional attachment to them, but everything to do with my purpose for them. In a similar way, God chooses some and rejects others according to His will and purposes, but he holds an identical posture toward all: He desires the highest good of us all AND does whatever He can to make it happen. This is the behavioral side of love; it is a posture, a disposition, an intention—and it does not depend on “warm fuzzies.” This clearly is God’s posture toward all his offspring. And it is the posture he urges us to have toward all our siblings impartially. This is “doable” only through the power of God’s Holy Spirit who delivers us from bondage to sin and makes us “FREE AT LAST”!!
