Sunday, February 01, 2009

quote of the week: Martin Luther King, Jr. on the responsibility of the church to the state

The church...is not the master or servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state, and never its tool.
Martin Luther King, Jr., Strength to Love, quoted by Philip Yancey, What's So Amazing About Grace?, 238

3 comments:

Lanny said...

And Amen!

Tremonti said...

Martin Luther King, Jr nailed it on this one! The church being the conscience of the state! Powerful. We aren't called to force others to our way and neither are we called to be 'a majority driven people'. The church hold their ground in what they believe in ever so firmly in its call being a conscience to it its society. Well that's how i understand this quote. Thanks for this Ted!

Ted M. Gossard said...

Amen, Tremonti. And in so being and doing we're carrying on our prophetic calling in Christ.