Taiwan Church News
3179 Edition
January 28-February 3, 2013
Editorial

Translated by Lydia Ma

With the whole world looking on, US President Barack Obama was sworn in as President of the US with his left hand placed on two Bibles on January 21, 2013. One of these Bibles was used by President Lincoln, who is known for abolishing slavery in the US, while the other Bible belonged to Martin Luther King, a clergyman and civil rights activist. One day prior, Obama had been sworn in inside the White House with his hand placed on a family Bible owned by Michelle Obama's grandmother.

Coincidentally, this year happens to be the 150th anniversary of the emancipation of black slaves and the 50th anniversary of Luther’s popular speech “I Have a Dream”. Both Lincoln and Luther died because of their efforts to realize a core value that they held firmly, which is “all men are born equal”.

Though the US is a powerful country in today’s world, it also faces its share of political and economic upheavals. However, after all is said and done, we cannot but admire this nation’s resolve to abide by its motto “In God We Trust”. Despite frequent accusations of military aggression, the US, by and large, has strived to adhere to Christian values and move forward with those values as frameworks.

As we watched President Obama put his hand on top of these Bibles, we prayed that the US would manage to abide by the ideals put forth by Lincoln and King. As Taiwanese Christians, such an occasion prompted us to think about our own country and our responsibilities. We can respond to God’s love by caring for our own country and helping Taiwan to abide by God’s kingdom values.

When King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech, many conservative Christians of his day no doubt felt that he was meddling with politics and considered his speech as political rhetoric favoring a particular political party. However, political vision is oftentimes inspired from Christian values. In his speech, King referred to Lincoln with the following words: “Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity.” He then added his famous sentence, “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."

Fifty years after that speech, King’s dream was realized when Barack Obama became President. Looking back, no one today would say that Dr. King was merely a watchdog for some political party. Instead, we see him as a pastor who acted on his Christian convictions. In view of this, how can people say today that the PCT’s theme of “Loving Taiwan our nation; Making Known Christ and the Gospel” is a political rhetoric? This theme reflects our desire to share the Good News with the “poor in spirit” in Taiwan. It is also a message that will free all those who are oppressed and a proclamation that our goal is to see Taiwan advance towards God’s kingdom values!