AMERICA'S
GODLY HERITAGE
'Follow the Lord Jesus': Black History
Month
By
Charles Colson
Breakpoint Online
CBN.com – It's
Black History Month—and in classrooms around the country, children
have been learning about famous African Americans and their contributions
to our culture. That's a good thing. But there's one thing most kids have
not been learning about many of these famous men and women: that is, their
Christian faith and how it motivated their lives and their work.
For instance,
Sojourner Truth is often identified as a women's rights advocate and abolitionist.
Overlooked is the source of Sojourner's fiery devotion to human rights:
That was her commitment to Jesus Christ. "The Lord gave me the name
Sojourner," she declared, "because I was to travel up and
down the land, showing people their sins, and being a sign unto them."
At age 88, her dying words were, "Follow the Lord Jesus."
And then there's
Rosa Parks. Many people know the story of the seamstress who helped ignite
the modern civil rights movement. But far fewer people know that Parks is
a devout Christian and that it was her faith that gave her the strength
to do what she did that day in 1955. "Since I have always been a strong
believer in God," she says, "I knew that He was with me, and only
He could get me through that next step"—that is, refusing to give
up her seat on a bus to a white man.
Our kids have
also been hearing a lot about Jackie Robinson's quiet dignity in the face
of racial bigotry on the ball field. But many don't realize the source of
Robinson's ability to turn the other cheek: It was his faith in Jesus Christ.
During his ten years with the Dodgers, he endured racist remarks, death
threats, and unfair calls by umpires. But Robinson's faith helped him keep
his anger in check. Every night, he got on his knees and prayed for self-control.
Most people
know that George Washington Carver was a chemist and agronomist. Born a
slave in 1860, Carver rose to become director of agricultural research at
Tuskegee University in Alabama. He is remembered for developing 118 derivative
products from sweet potatoes and 300 from peanuts—including my favorite
food, peanut butter. Thanks to his efforts, by 1940, peanuts were the second
largest cash crop in the South. But go to his name in the encyclopedia,
and you'll find no reference to the most important aspect of his life: how
his faith in God inspired his creativity.
"I didn't
make these discoveries," Carver once said. "God has only worked
through me to reveal to His children some of His wonderful providence."
Stories like
these are a reminder of what a central role the Christian faith has played
in the lives of many great Americans. We Christians need to reclaim our
cultural heritage from those who seem intent on deleting it from history
books—and from Black History Month celebrations. So I urge you: Before
the month ends, make sure your own kids learn about the abiding faith of
Sojourner Truth, Rosa Parks, Jackie Robinson, George Washington Carver,
and, of course, the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. And consider donating some
of the good biographies written about these people to local schools and
libraries—biographies that tell the whole story.
Our kids deserve
to know, not only of African-American contributions to science, politics,
and culture, but also of those individuals' commitments to Christ.
- Mary G.
Butler, "Sojourner
Truth: A Life and Legacy of Faith," Sojourner Truth Institute
of Battle Creek.
- Mary G.
Butler, "The
Words of Truth," Heritage Battle Creek: A Journal of Local
History 8 (Fall 1997).
- W. Terry
Whalin, Sojourner
Truth: American Abolitionist, from the Heroes of the Faith series
(Barbour, 1997).
- BreakPoint
Commentary No. 990625, "The
Woman on the Bus: The Faith of Rosa Parks."
- Rosa Parks
and Gregory J. Reed, Quiet
Strength: The Faith, the Hope, and the Heart of a Woman Who Changed a
Nation (Zondervan, 2000).
- BreakPoint
Commentary No. 980217, "Baseball's
'Great Experiment': The Jackie Robinson Story."
- Sally M.
Walker, Jackie
Robinson (Carolrhoda Books, 2002).
- McNabb,
"George
Washington Carver: A legacy of salvation for 'the lowlands of sorrow!',"
from "Four Iowans Who Fed the World," a symposium held at the
Herbert Hoover Presidential Library-Museum, 26 October 2002.
- Sam Wellman,
George
Washington Carver: Inventor and Naturalist, from the Heroes of
the Faith series (Barbour, 1998).
- BreakPoint
Commentary No. 030117, "Fighting
Unjust Laws: Remembering Martin Luther King, Jr."
- Mervyn A.
Warren, King
Came Preaching: The Pulpit Power of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
(InterVarsity, 2001).
- Kevin Belmonte,
"A
Faithful Steward," Focus on the Family magazine.
- Kevin Belmonte,
Hero
for Humanity: A Biography of William Wilberforce (NavPress, 2002).
| From BreakPoint, Copyright 2003 Prison Fellowship
Ministries. "BreakPoint
with Chuck Colson" is a radio ministry of
Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with permission of Prison
Fellowship, P.O. Box 17500, Washington, DC, 20041-0500."
Heard on more than 1000 radio stations nationwide. For more information
on the ministry of Chuck Colson and Prison Fellowship visit their
web site at http://www.breakpoint.org.
|
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