Share the Dream: First Session Script: Love

Confidential: Do not print or distribute in any form.

Lesson 1: Love // Script INTRO TO THE SERIES CHRIS: Welcome to Share the Dream, a video study series based on the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I’m Chris Broussard, a sports analyst and commentator for the FOX Sports 1 television network and FOX Sports Radio. And I am also the Founder and President of a National Christian Men’s organization called The K.I.N.G. Movement that seeks to help boys and men reach their God-given potential in every realm of life.

MATT: I’m Matt Daniels, a Counter Terrorism expert and the Chair of Law & Human Rights at the Institute of World Politics, a graduate school international affairs in Washington, DC. CHRIS: Throughout this video series, we will be looking at principles based on the life and teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that are rooted in SIX qualities: love, conscience, freedom, justice, perseverance and hope.

MATT: Dr. King and other courageous men and women were able to change history through the power of a dream that was not rooted in merely human principles. Dr. King’s dream was rooted in the love of God for all humanity... for all of His children made in His image . . . In other words, there was a profoundly spiritual dimension to the early Civil Rights Movement.

CHRIS: Perhaps this is most clearly seen in a famous speech that he delivered on August 28, 1963, from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC. Dr. King had been invited there to speak at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Toward the end of his speech, he departed from his prepared text and began to improvise this dream that he had for humanity. Here is what followed . . .

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

And when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, Black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last. Free at last. Thank God almighty, we are free at last.

SESSION ONE: LOVE MATT: Welcome to the first session of the Share the Dream video study. Today we are talking about love.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was often called an “extremist” when he gave speeches or participated in marches for civil rights. It’s a word that carries a lot of baggage. Depending on the context, it might even describe someone who is capable of acts of mass violence or terrorism.

Confidential: Do not print or distribute in any form.

Almost always in Dr. King’s case, the term “extremist” was intended as an insult. But he took this baggage-laden label and flipped it on its head. Here’s what he had to say in his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”: “… though I was initially disappointed at being categorized as an extremist, as I continued to think about the matter, I gradually gained a measure of satisfaction from the label. Was not Jesus an extremist for love: ‘Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.’… So, the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love?”

CHRIS: What is love … really? And as followers of Christ, what does it mean to be people of love? Or, in the words of Dr. King, what does it mean to be extremists for love?

The word “love” may be the most overused, ambiguous word in the English language. We use it to express how we feel about thin-crust pizza or our favorite movie. And we use it to express our deepest affection for other people.

So let’s look at what the Bible says about love. First, put simply, “God is love.” God’s very nature is love.

Therefore, everything He does flows from love.

John puts it this way: “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.”

To “live in love” suggests something more active than simply having pleasant feelings toward others. To “live in love” is to think, speak, and do for the good of another. God demonstrated His love for us by doing the most extreme act in human history: He died the death of a common criminal, all while we were still sinners!

Second, the Bible tells us that God’s love DOES something.

MATT: The Apostle Paul writes that “Love is patient, love is kind … it always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”

Love DOES things! All the other virtues we will discuss in Share the Dream—conscience, justice, freedom, perseverance, hope—they all exist as byproducts of love.

So Love must be the foundation of every effort to heal and restore racial relationships.

CHRIS: In his 1957 sermon titled “Loving Your Enemies,” Dr. King proclaimed, “Somewhere somebody must have a little sense, and that’s the strong person. The strong person is the person who can cut off the chain of hate, the chain of evil … Somebody must have religion enough and morality enough to cut it off and inject within the very structure of the universe that strong and powerful element of love.”

MATT: We’re living in challenging times. A glance at your news feed confirms that!

The lines that divide people are thick with fear and division – division along lines of politics, race, culture, and socioeconomic status.

But God’s love in us has the power to DO things nothing else can!

It alone has the power to mend people and communities fractured by hate.

Confidential: Do not print or distribute in any form.

One powerful example from the life of Dr. King was the moment in 1956 when his own home in Montgomery, AL was bombed—narrowly avoiding killing his wife and one of his youngest children.

Almost immediately, an angry crowd from the community assembled seeking vengeance for the attack.

But when Dr. King arrived he made a powerful declaration of his commitment to nonviolence. He said this: “Don’t get your weapons. He who lives by the sword will perish by the sword. Remember that is what God said. We are not advocating violence. We want to love our enemies.”

CHRIS: So perhaps a key question to ask in this conversation is, “What would my thoughts, words and actions toward those of other races and cultures look like if God’s love became the most compelling force in my life?”

To answer that question, let’s focus on two specific characteristics of love: 1 -- Love unites. And 2 -- Love is present.

It’s been well said that the most segregated hour of the week is Sunday morning in a typical church.

Whether this is intentional or a byproduct of cultures, economics, history or geography, it is a reality that we, as followers of Christ, can no longer ignore, especially if our hearts are set on bridging the gaps that divide the Body of Christ.

Right before Jesus was arrested, He was talking to the Father about unity in the church. He was about to undergo the most agonizing 12 hours ever recorded, and He was praying for us!

This is what He said: “I pray also … that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.”

Jesus’ heart for the church, for us, is that we be one.

MATT: The early church struggled to embody this unity. God chose to send a Savior through the Jewish people. For centuries, they were God’s chosen people . . . often suffering persecution at the hands of other societies and cultures.

When Christ came, the salvation He offered was not just for Jews but for Gentiles (or non-Jews) too!

That was hard for many early Jewish Christians to swallow. For so long they had thought of themselves as far better than Gentiles. As the first-century church began, this mentality snuck into their thinking.

Listen to what the Apostle Paul writes in response: “For [Christ] himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility.”

And …

“So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith … There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave not free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

CHRIS: Sadly, this same “I’m a little better than you are” mentality is pervasive today. Little by little, it’s fracturing the fabric of our culture (and even our churches!) into small, impotent sections.

Confidential: Do not print or distribute in any form.

Sociologists refer to this as “neo tribalism,” where humans divide themselves into “tribes” based on likeness. (Like skin color, like cultural background, like socioeconomic status, like political ideology, and so on.)

Tribalism builds walls.

Unity tears them down.

God’s heart is for unity.

So how do we become people who UNITE in love?

MATT: We seek out opportunities to be a bridge builder. For example, I can visit a church body where I’m the minority. In so doing, I can begin to build friendships with people I might not otherwise have met. And you never know what the Lord can do through such Kingdom connections!

CHRIS: Or when I hear someone say something divisive about a person or group different than themselves, I can speak up. I don’t need to attack the speaker, but I can counter his words by blessing the same group he tore down. When I do this, I’m living a love that unites.

MATT: The second characteristic of love is that it is present.

Have you ever been in the middle of a conversation when the person you’re talking to looks at their phone and starts texting someone? How did that make you feel? Probably not very valued.

Love is fully present.

Think about it. The Living God is so intent on breaking into our lives and hearts that He went to great extremes! He broke through time and history—and sent Christ to bridge the gap between us and Him! CHRIS: When God’s love is the most compelling force in our relationships, we, too, are present.

We show up for the people around us. When someone in our neighborhood or city is treated unjustly, we show up to support them. We attend peaceful protests, write letters to lawmakers, and volunteer for community organizations aimed at bridging gaps. We invite neighbors of all skin colors and backgrounds over to dinner. And we show up when they invite us.

MATT: When God’s love is the most compelling force in our relationships, we step outside the confines of our “tribe” and build Kingdom relationships with people who look different, act differently, and think differently than we do.

CHRIS: Dr. King continued his letter from the Birmingham jail with these words: “In that dramatic scene on Calvary’s hill three men were crucified … for the same crime---the crime of extremism. Two were extremists for immorality … The other, Jesus Christ, was an extremist for love, truth and goodness … Perhaps the South, the nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists.”

MATT: In a world marked by violence and division, Dr. King and countless other brave men and women became extremists for love. They were willing to step away from what was safe, convenient, and comfortable in their lives so they could step forward into the lives of those who were facing injustice, discrimination, and abuse. They even practiced loving their enemies. Are we willing to do the same?

Confidential: Do not print or distribute in any form.

As someone who grew up in a really bad part of New York City . . . Spanish Harlem . . . the idea of “loving your enemies” made no sense at all. It’s one of the phrases that you hear a lot in church but not without much practical guidance on how to put it into action. So I cried out God for insight and was led to a two-step process that can sometimes work in situations where you’re facing hostility for your faith.

STEP 1: Meditate on the Image of God in the person who is hostile to you.

No matter who you’re dealing with, I can guarantee that you can find something in them that reflects the image of God. . . like their intelligence or the fact that they’re passionate about what they believe . . . even if you may disagree with them.

STEP 2: Verbally praise what you see in the other person that reflects the image of God. If possible, instead of responding to their hostility, try to actually praise what you see in the other person that reflects the image of God. For example, you might say “I know we really disagree about X or Y, but I want to say that I respect your passion and think you’re a great advocate for what you believe.”

I can’t guarantee this will always work. But I can say that I’ve seen it work at times in difficult situations because it has the power to disrupt the designs of darkness.

Remember: The goal of darkness is to infect your soul with anger and hatred. We think of anger and hatred like a spear that we can throw at those who are opposed to us. But anger and hatred are a boomerang and the #1 object of their destructive impact is our own heart.

So when you engage in this kind of spiritual jiu jitsu . . . speaking the opposite of what darkness wants you to say . . . you can sometimes short circuit the designs of darkness.

Sometimes, the hostility of the other person may be diminished. But if not, at least you’ve actively taken a step in the direction of preventing their hostility from infecting your own heart.

CHRIS: Let’s quickly recap what we talked about today.

First, we listened to Dr. King’s take on the term “extremist.”

Next, we looked at what the Bible has to say about love. God is love, and His love is active.

As followers of Christ, God’s love in us should also be active. Love DOES things!

Then we explored the question, “What would my thoughts, words and actions toward those of other races and cultures look like if God’s love became the most compelling force in my life?” We broke down the answer into two parts.

One, love UNITES. And two, love IS PRESENT. Finally, we discussed practical ways we can be people of love who unite and who are present, especially in relationships with individuals who look different, act differently, or think differently than we do.

CLOSING MATT: Thank you for joining us for the first session of Share the Dream. Be sure to check out the discussion questions and active reflection in the companion study guide. Talk through them with your friends, family, or small group. They’re an easy way to get the conversation started and to start living out what it means to be a person of love.

Confidential: Do not print or distribute in any form.

CHRIS: As we go, may each of us live out Dr. King’s familiar words: “I have decided to stick with love.

Hate is too great a burden to bear.” We pray that in light of this week’s session on Love, each of you will feel called to Share the Dream right where you are.