By Eric W. Logan
Janice (not her real name) stopped by my office in advance of our regular mentor/mentee meeting. She shared with me that she was struggling with deciding what to do about a particular course of action. At first, I was a bit surprised because I was one of the managers who helped recruit Janice from a prestigious university, and I knew that she came to our company not because we made the best offer but because she wanted to be near her elderly grandmother. Without getting into the details, some of her concern was that while a particular course of action might be best for the team and might even be best for the project, it would not help her in her own career growth. I understood the concern that as an African American woman in a traditionally White male field in information technology, she felt, rightfully so, that she needed to excel just to be considered equal to some of her peers.
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“I pray that the Holy Spirit will give our leaders the wisdom and courage to end a legacy of governmental abuses.”
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After hearing her concerns, I painted a hypothetical, yet plausible, scenario in which three important demands arose simultaneously. First, her supervisor was insisting that a specific set of new deliverables be completed quickly. Second, she had made a commitment to attend a gathering with friends and people who could help advance her career after work. Lastly, she received a phone call from her grandmother, informing her that the food in the refrigerator had spoiled and that she needed help getting to the grocery store to restock for a family dinner that evening. As expected, she chose to prioritize her grandmother’s needs above all the others. I reminded her that knowing her values would drive her priorities and would help make this difficult decision possible … maybe not easier but certainly possible. I suggested that this scenario might be her guide for what to do next.
As I write this article, flags across the nation are at half-mast in honor of President Jimmy Carter, a leader who embodied our faith and also our service to the community and to the nation. A few days after the publication of this article, we will be honoring the legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who reminded us of our stated values as a nation — particularly for those of us who are of Judeo-Christian heritage and belief. On that same day, we will also be inaugurating the next president of the United States who has promised his administration will carry out mass deportation. I pray that the Holy Spirit will give our leaders the wisdom and courage to end a legacy of governmental abuses such as the separation of immigrant families and the caging of their children. I am thankful to be part of a denomination whose Book of Discipline states, “We commit to the biblical principle of caring for the foreigners among us regardless of racial or ethnic background, country of origin, or legal status” (¶3221).
Love, Justice, Hope
Our values should drive our priorities. In 2025, the contrast of values could not be clearer. The legacy of Dr. King is that of love, biblical justice, and hope for America.
We will be reminded of his “I Have a Dream” speech given at the National Mall in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 28, 1963. I was present as a 10-year-old child along with my father and other representatives from my church. I honestly don’t remember much of it other than the crowded bus ride, the energetic conversations and the huge crowd we had to navigate. It was years later that I actually heard the speech and understood its meaning.
King’s message was both aspirational and inspirational: “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…” It culminates with his famous words: “ ….And when this happens, 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!”
While I don’t remember firsthand much of the events of that day in front of the Lincoln Memorial, what I do remember much more clearly was the fear I experienced going to church less than a month later, after learning of the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, on Sept. 15, 1964. I learned of the deaths of four young girls, all about my age at the time. I remember heading down to the basement for our morning Sunday school classes and touching the light green textured walls of the stairwell and wondering if a bomb was hiding behind the plaster, aimed at me and my friends. Coming from a supportive and loving African American community, I could not understand how such evil and hatred could exist. In all honesty, I find it difficult to understand it over 60 years later knowing that “good churchgoing folk” knew who the guilty parties were, and yet remained silent.
As we remember Dr. King this holiday, we are reminded that his admonitions were not new. Indeed they are rooted in the very fabric of the founding of our nation, however imperfect. “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.’”
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“These teachings reflect my commitment to follow the teachings of Christ.”
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More importantly for those of us who are called by the name of Christ, Dr. King’s teachings bring us back to essential biblical teachings of love and justice. Dr. King illustrates this in his paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 13 in his 1967 book “Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?”: “And so I say to you today, my friends, that you may be able to speak with the tongues of men and angels; you may have the eloquence of articulate speech; but if you have not love, it means nothing. Yes, you may have the gift of prophecy; you may have the gift of scientific prediction and understand the behavior of molecules. … You may even give your goods to feed the poor; you may bestow great gifts to charity; and you may tower high in philanthropy; but if you have not love, your charity means nothing. You may even give your body to be burned and die the death of a martyr, … but if you have not love, your blood was spilt in vain. … So without love, benevolence becomes egotism, and martyrdom becomes spiritual pride.”
We are reminded of some of his other memorable quotes: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that,” and “I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear,” and finally “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’”
It will come as no surprise to those who know me, why these teachings resonate so deeply with me. These teachings reflect my commitment to follow the teachings of Christ and His requirement to “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ … The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:30–31).
It is articulated in the mission statement of my home church, New Hope in Rochester, New York, and in so many other fellowships: “Love God. Love Each Other. Serve the World.”
And finally, these values and priorities are clearly articulated in “The Free Methodist Way,” the five values that articulate who we are as a unique movement within the global body of Christ and that shape our identity:
Life-Giving Holiness – Not a set of rules and regulations, but instead a life of conforming to the teachings of Christ, made possible by the Holy Spirit and propelled by God’s love for us and, in return, our love for God. It is “a gift that liberates us for life that is truly life by delivering us from the destructive power of sin.” This holiness by necessity includes righteousness, which is both individual and corporate. As an outflow, it incorporates and embraces…
Love-Driven Justice – Realizing that we will never look into the eyes of another person and not see imago Dei (the image of God) or as Jesus teaches us, our neighbor, we are to love as deeply as we love ourselves. “Love is the way we demonstrate God’s heart for justice.” Sometimes this love for our neighbor, both individually and corporately, may seem to be in conflict with our own self-interests, but in the example Jesus taught in the parable of the good Samaritan, loving a neighbor means a sacrifice of time and money. True Life-Giving Holiness and Love-Driven Justice inevitably lead to …
Christ-Compelled Multiplication – “The gospel of Jesus Christ — the message He proclaimed, the life He modeled, and the ministry He modeled — set into motion a redemptive movement destined to fill the whole earth.” Relational. Transformational. Societal in impact. Note the revivals of the 19th century included both personal renewal and societal change. I have never met a person who has truly experienced the love of Christ personally demonstrated by His children (us) sacrificially, who did not respond to the Holy Spirit’s call on their life. I believe that love and justice (true righteousness) are a compelling entry to telling and demonstrating the Good News of Jesus to a broken world.
Cross-Cultural Collaboration – “From the beginning, God’s intent was to have a people from every nation, culture and ethnicity, united in Christ and commissioned to carry out His work in the world.” Dr. King’s well-known “Letter From a Birmingham Jail” is just one powerful illustration of the impact of the failure of working with people different from us for both evangelism and justice. Dr. King was a political prisoner along with others, following a peaceful protest to end segregation. The protest was outlawed by local authorities, but fully within their rights as American citizens. Eight local White clergy wrote an open letter calling for “unity” and took issue with the civil rights demonstrations; however, at no time prior had these clergy met with the African American community or used their privilege and power to stand up for the rights of their fellow human beings. Dr. King started his response on the very margins of the newspaper smuggled into prison containing the “Call for Unity.” Among other powerful arguments, Dr. King quoted the legal principle that “justice too long delayed is justice denied.” Carrying out God’s work in the world encompasses sharing the Good News of Christ, discipleship to holiness and righteousness, standing for justice, and working with those who may not look, walk or talk like us.
God-Given Revelation – When we look at the teachings of Dr. King, it is clear that the beginning and end of his teachings and his call for love and justice are born out of the Word of God. Each of the other four Free Methodist Way values rest solidly on Scripture, which we firmly believe is inspired by God and is “our final authority in all matters of faith and practice.”
It is important to note that the Way “is not a vision or mission statement. It is not a strategic plan. It is a statement of core values that are meant to define who we are as a distinct movement within the kingdom of God today” (Bishop Keith Cowart).
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“We are a kingdom people committed to living out the values of God’s kingdom.”
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Values drive our priorities. The challenges we face in a changing world are significant, but not insurmountable … and may require sacrifice. One final quote from Dr. King comes to mind: “The ultimate measure of a man [or woman] is not where he [or she] stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he [or she] stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
Finally, I’m reminded of the conversation I had with Janice years after we each had left our previous employer. She said “I remember, coming to you for advice one afternoon and rather than advising me on what to do, you reminded me of who I am. For that, I will always be grateful.”
As our bishops remind us, we are a kingdom people committed to living out the values of God’s kingdom.
As we consider how we navigate our faith in this changing world, I simply want to remind us of who we are and Whose we are and to encourage us to live into that.
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Eric W. Logan is the chair of the Free Methodist Church USA Board of Administration and an active member of New Hope Free Methodist Church in Rochester, New York. He is retired from a career in information technology that included serving as the city of Rochester’s director of IT infrastructure, and he now focuses on multiple volunteer leadership roles including serving as the board chair of the Hochstein School in Rochester and on the Board of Trustees of his alma mater, Roberts Wesleyan University; the Governing Board of the Justice Network of the Free Methodist Church; and on the Board of Directors for United Way of Greater Rochester and the Finger Lakes.