Martin Luther King, Jr. Quotes About Church

• The church must be reminded that it is not the master, or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Christian, Church, States

  1963 Strength to Love.

• I was convinced that worship at its best is a social experience with people of all levels of life coming together to realize their oneness and unity under God. Whenever the church, consciously or unconsciously, caters to one class it loses the spiritual force of the "whosoever will, let him come, doctrine and is in danger of becoming a little more than a social club with a thin veneer of religiosity."

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Spiritual, Class, Oneness

  "A Martin Luther King Treasury".

• The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the 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. If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Spiritual, Church, Doe

  1963 Strength to Love.

• A Church that has lost its voice for justice is a Church that has lost its relevance in the world.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Voice, Justice, Church

• The most dangerous type of atheism is not theoretical atheism, but practical atheism -that's the most dangerous type. And the world, even the church, is filled up with people who pay lip service to God and not life service. And there is always a danger that we will make it appear externally that we believe in God when internally we don't. We say with our mouths that we believe in him, but we live with our lives like he never existed. That is the ever-present danger confronting religion. That's a dangerous type of atheism.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Inspiring, Believe, Filled Up

  "Rediscovering Lost Values". Sermon delivered at Detroit's Second Baptist Church, February 28, 1954.

• It will be one of the tragedies of Christian history if future historians record that at the height of the twentieth century the church was one of the greatest bulwarks of white supremacy.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Christian, White, Tragedy

  Martin Luther King Jr. (1963). “Strength to Love”

• If the church of today does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authentic ring, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Inspirational, Loyalty, Church

  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2013). “The Essential Martin Luther King, Jr.: "I Have a Dream" and Other Great Writings”, p.103, Beacon Press

• On the one hand we are called to play the good Samaritan on life's roadside; but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life's highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. "A Time to Break Silence," at Riverside Church

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Journey, Men, Compassion

  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2013). “"In a Single Garment of Destiny": A Global Vision of Justice”, p.119, Beacon Press

• I would be the last to condemn the thousands of sincere and dedicated people outside the churches who have labored unselfishly through various humanitarian movements to cure the world of social evils, for I would rather a man be a committed humanist than an uncommitted Christian.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Christian, Men, People

  Martin Luther King Jr. (1963). “Strength to Love”

• The early Christians rejoiced when they were deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the Church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles o popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Christian, Ideas, Suffering

  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2011). “Why We Can't Wait”, p.67, Beacon Press

• Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church's often vocal sanction of things as they are.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Inspirational, Average, Community

  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2011). “Why We Can't Wait”, p.67, Beacon Press

• The contemporary church is so often a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. It is so often the arch supporter of the status quo.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Inspirational, Voice, Church

  Martin Luther King (Jr.) (1968). “I Have a Dream: The Quotations of Martin Luther King, Jr”

• I'm grateful to God that, through the Negro church, the dimension of nonviolence entered our struggle.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Struggle, Grateful, Church

  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2013). “The Essential Martin Luther King, Jr.: "I Have a Dream" and Other Great Writings”, p.97, Beacon Press

• Why is the church always a taillight rather than a headlight?

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Church, Headlights

• The church must be the critic and guide of the state, and never its tool.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Church, Tools, Guides

• Unfortunately, most of the major denominations still practice segregation in local churches, hospitals, schools, and other church institutions. It is appalling that the most segregated hour of Christian America is eleven o'clock on Sunday morning, the same hour when many are standing to sing: "In Christ There Is No East Nor West.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Christian, Morning, School

  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2010). “Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story”, p.219, Beacon Press

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