Thurman

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Howard Thurman was the grandson of a former slave.  He grew up in poverty, but was very committed to non-violence--so much so that he was an influence for Martin Luther King, Jr. and other leaders of the civil rights movement.  As a theologian in the "Post-Christian World" era, he addresses one or both of the questions "How do I simply live as a Christian?" and "Is my life's work a 'calling' or 'job'?"

            In "What Shall I Do with My Life?" Thurman talks about the temptation of Jesus.  He had a few notes about the third temptation in particular.  He remarks that the "tempter strikes at the center of Jesus' dominant passion, to bring society under the acknowledged judgment of God and thereby insure its purification" (387).  He also talks about how the tempter tells Jesus that all the kingdoms of the earth belong to the tempter himself, not to Jesus. Because of this, Jesus told his disciples to be careful of the wolves when he said "Behold, I send you out as lambs among the wolves.  You must be as wise as serpents but as harmless as doves" (387-388).            

            Thurman also makes a few statements about the role of Christianity in the public square. Basically, what he said (I think) was that there are lambs and wolves both in this world, but they have to learn to work together.  Obviously, we are going to have some wolves in the public square, but it is not until we can inject some of our "lambliness" into their lives that any good can actually occur.  How I see it, at least, was he was saying that we have to show people love regardless.