Belton gives Martin Luther King Day presentation: 'Color Outside the Lines'

The Rev. Dr. Victor J. Belton, pastor of Peace Lutheran Church in Decatur, Ga., presented the 2012 Martin Luther King Day lecture at Concordia University, Nebraska. Belton's presentation, "Color Outside the Lines," was part of Concordia's Looking Beyond Speaker Series. 

Introducing himself as a preacher and not a historian or sociologist, Belton identified Romans 12:1-3 as the driving text behind his presentation. He encouraged the audience to be "creatively maladjusted" as Martin Luther King Jr. was. Creative maladjustment, Belton explained, was what King learned growing up as he watched his father do the unexpected in his traveling and in his public opposition of social injustice. This early experience set King on the path to "coloring outside the lines." 

The stature that King reached, Belton said, was only possible because God called King and he answered. Belton challenged his audience: "Each of you has that capacity in the way God has called you to serve." 

There is a duty, Belton said, to raise a generation to challenge the status quo in love for its fellow man and in concert with the guide of Jesus Christ. These are the individuals who need to break boundaries and "color outside the lines with wisdom."

"God says don't fill someone else's shoes, but make tracks. Let them fill your shoes," Belton said. 

The Looking Beyond Speaker Series was created to expose Concordia students to diverse speakers and ideas. Belton's presentation is made possible through an ongoing gift from Martin and Regina Maehr.