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The Drum Major Instinct In The Gospel Of Dr. Martin Luther King

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A month before his death, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s teaches the gospel of Saint Mark to the people in the Ebenezer Baptist Church. In order to teach this King explains how the drum major instinct can be perverted, or used in a positive way, in hopes to teach a lesson to his congregation. The story of James and John tells about how the two men asks Jesus to grant them a coming king of Israel who would set Jerusalem free. In the story Jesus replies to the two men saying, “Can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? And be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” (Mark 10:38). The two men said they could, but Jesus still denied them. King automatically remarks, “Now very quickly, we would automatically condemn James and John, and …show more content…

King described how to be important, how to be great, and how to be recognized all using the drum major instinct correctly. King told his congregants, “And this morning, the thing that I like about it: by giving that definition of greatness, it means everybody can be great, because everybody can serve… You only neeed a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love. And you can be that servant” (King 4). King says the words “serve” and “servant” in his sermon. He means that to be great and important you must be a servant of God, and live by Gods way. Gods way means King talks about his funeral, and abouot how he hopes he is not mentioned for the physical things he had but he hopes to be recognized for the person he was. King himself was a servant of God, and tried to live his life serving others. He used the drum major instinct in a way that made the world a better …show more content…

In the story Jesus replies to the two men saying, “Can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? And be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” (Mark 10:38). The two men said they could, but Jesus still denied them. King automatically remarks, “Now very quickly, we would automatically condemn James and John, and we would say they were selfish. Why would they make such a selfish request?” (King 1). The two men wanted to be recognized and they wanted to have some kind of importance. If we take a step back, it could be said that everyone has those desires. Everyone wants be the leader, wants to be important, and have the attention. We all have the drum major instinct. It starts as young as being a baby, the cry for attention, and continues on into adulthood. However, It is how we use the drum major instinct that matters.
The drum major instinct has been the a major source for one of the world's most severe problems with humanity, race prejudice. King said, “...as a result of this perverted use of the drum major instinct. It has lead to the most tragic expressions on man inhumanity to man” (King 3). This judgement of others because of their skin color grows from drum major instinct. People feel that they need to be superior, and people think that the color of their skin has given them a right to be first. This has caused a divide between

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