Leadership Lessons from Martin Luther King, Jr.
00:00:00.000 | Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the States, and Pastor Johnny, as you look to
00:00:07.600 | him and remember his legacy, he was obviously a profoundly gifted leader.
00:00:11.640 | Of course, we remember him today for what he accomplished in the Civil Rights Movement.
00:00:14.840 | And when you look at him solely from a leadership perspective, what stands out to you?
00:00:19.200 | I mean, what made King such an effective leader?
00:00:23.000 | He was indeed, and some of us have memories of him while he was living, we're old enough
00:00:31.240 | for that.
00:00:32.240 | And the first thing that I think would be to say his vision.
00:00:38.200 | A leader sees a future, a possible future, and sees it so clearly and can articulate
00:00:48.000 | it so well that he's driven by it.
00:00:50.240 | So he had a vision.
00:00:51.240 | I have a dream is a signature message that he gave.
00:00:57.600 | Number two would be he was brilliant.
00:01:01.000 | It helps to be smart if you're going to lead people and discern what makes sense and what
00:01:06.720 | doesn't.
00:01:07.720 | Number three would be he was courageous.
00:01:10.720 | I mean, he put himself on the line.
00:01:14.240 | He put his life at risk right to the end when he was snuffed out by a rifle.
00:01:21.480 | And without courage, you can't lead people through tough times anyway or into hard places
00:01:27.160 | where we need to go.
00:01:30.200 | Another one would be, I think his commitment to nonviolence meant that he had power over
00:01:37.200 | his violent enemies.
00:01:40.040 | Those who took another tack, I don't think had nearly the influence.
00:01:42.880 | Those who wanted to go a violent route to solve the problem of prejudice and racism
00:01:49.480 | in our country and the lack of civil rights didn't have the same effect because you do
00:01:55.600 | have a power over your enemies if you are being dragged away to jail without fighting
00:02:02.640 | back and without malicious, ugly words while your adversary is sticking their dogs on you
00:02:08.200 | and pouring out their fire hoses against you.
00:02:11.560 | That defeated the racists when Americans saw that.
00:02:18.600 | Maybe one more would be the time was simply right.
00:02:24.680 | We sometimes wonder why certain people rise to the head of the pack in terms of leadership
00:02:31.400 | and the answer is their time had come.
00:02:34.600 | God's providence and circumstance just came together and Birmingham and Montgomery just
00:02:42.120 | came together at a time when he was thrust, even against his own desires, into a kind
00:02:49.520 | of leadership that he couldn't account for.
00:02:53.360 | I know that there are people who would want me to make sure I balance things by pointing
00:03:00.480 | out his flaws and so I'll just say he had them.
00:03:04.480 | They were serious but even that's a lesson, isn't it?
00:03:08.480 | That God in his providence uses broken sticks to straighten some lines and so yes, he was
00:03:17.960 | an imperfect man, he was a sinful man and that should be known but the knowledge of
00:03:24.360 | it doesn't cancel out the amazing good that came through his life and the remarkable gifts
00:03:31.760 | that he had.
00:03:32.760 | Thank you, Pastor John, and for more on Martin Luther King Jr. and his legacy, see Pastor
00:03:36.640 | John's book, Bloodlines, Race, Cross, and the Christian.
00:03:40.000 | And if you have a question for Pastor John, please send it to us via email, send those
00:03:42.640 | to askpastorjohn@desiringgod.org.
00:03:45.680 | Please include your first name and your hometown.
00:03:47.760 | You can find thousands of other resources from Pastor John Piper online at desiringgod.org.
00:03:51.680 | I'm your host, Tony Reinke.
00:03:52.680 | Thanks for listening.
00:03:53.680 | [END]
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