Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the States, and Pastor Johnny, as you look to him and remember his legacy, he was obviously a profoundly gifted leader. Of course, we remember him today for what he accomplished in the Civil Rights Movement. And when you look at him solely from a leadership perspective, what stands out to you?

I mean, what made King such an effective leader? He was indeed, and some of us have memories of him while he was living, we're old enough for that. And the first thing that I think would be to say his vision. A leader sees a future, a possible future, and sees it so clearly and can articulate it so well that he's driven by it.

So he had a vision. I have a dream is a signature message that he gave. Number two would be he was brilliant. It helps to be smart if you're going to lead people and discern what makes sense and what doesn't. Number three would be he was courageous. I mean, he put himself on the line.

He put his life at risk right to the end when he was snuffed out by a rifle. And without courage, you can't lead people through tough times anyway or into hard places where we need to go. Another one would be, I think his commitment to nonviolence meant that he had power over his violent enemies.

Those who took another tack, I don't think had nearly the influence. Those who wanted to go a violent route to solve the problem of prejudice and racism in our country and the lack of civil rights didn't have the same effect because you do have a power over your enemies if you are being dragged away to jail without fighting back and without malicious, ugly words while your adversary is sticking their dogs on you and pouring out their fire hoses against you.

That defeated the racists when Americans saw that. Maybe one more would be the time was simply right. We sometimes wonder why certain people rise to the head of the pack in terms of leadership and the answer is their time had come. God's providence and circumstance just came together and Birmingham and Montgomery just came together at a time when he was thrust, even against his own desires, into a kind of leadership that he couldn't account for.

I know that there are people who would want me to make sure I balance things by pointing out his flaws and so I'll just say he had them. They were serious but even that's a lesson, isn't it? That God in his providence uses broken sticks to straighten some lines and so yes, he was an imperfect man, he was a sinful man and that should be known but the knowledge of it doesn't cancel out the amazing good that came through his life and the remarkable gifts that he had.

Thank you, Pastor John, and for more on Martin Luther King Jr. and his legacy, see Pastor John's book, Bloodlines, Race, Cross, and the Christian. And if you have a question for Pastor John, please send it to us via email, send those to askpastorjohn@desiringgod.org. Please include your first name and your hometown.

You can find thousands of other resources from Pastor John Piper online at desiringgod.org. I'm your host, Tony Reinke. Thanks for listening. 1 Desiring God, a book by John Piper, is a book that is a book of the Bible and is a