The Drum Major Instinct

A few years ago my wife and I toured the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee. It is located in the former motel where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. As we followed the path laid out by the tour, we were struck with the awareness of the cruel injustice that racial segregation was in this nation. The photographs and the video presentations, along with the exhibits, impacted us. It was not that I was totally oblivious to this wickedness before visiting the museum, but the tour had a way of “bringing it home.” The tour concludes on the balcony where an assassin’s bullet took the life of Dr. King. A place we have all seen countless times in pictures.

As I stood there tears streamed down my face, as I thought about this man and the significant role he played in the civil rights movement. His weaknesses, frailties, and sins are well known. Not unlike that of many Bible characters. I also recognize that his theology was less than orthodox. Nevertheless, he was a “prophetic voice” to this nation, and the world, crying out against the sin of racism.

I have read, and in some instances listened to, several sermons by Dr. King. Most people are familiar with his famous “I Have a Dream” speech delivered in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963. You may remember the message he delivered the night before his death in Memphis entitled “I’ve Been To The Mountaintop.” But the sermon that has most impacted was one that is less known. It was entitled “The Drum Major Instinct.” It was delivered in the Ebenezer Baptist Church, in Atlanta Georgia, on February 4, 1968. The message conveyed in this sermon based on Mark 10:35-40 resonates with me.

Dr. King begins by laying out the situation as James and John ask to be “seated on Jesus’ right and left in glory” (vs. 37). He then points out that James and John were expressing a common desire for all of us. The desire to be in front leading the parade – the drum major instinct. He then uses this metaphor to describe the negative manifestations it can produce such as racism and class oppression. But he goes on to show that this desire – the drum major instinct – can be properly directed for good. Here is the conclusion of his message:

“If any of you are around when I have to meet my day, I don’t want a long funeral. And if you get somebody to deliver the eulogy, tell them not to talk too long. And every now and then I wonder what I want them to say. Tell them not to mention that I have a Nobel Peace Prize—that isn’t important. Tell them not to mention that I have three or four hundred other awards—that’s not important. Tell them not to mention where I went to school.
I'd like somebody to mention that day that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to give his life serving others.
I'd like for somebody to say that day that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to love somebody.
I want you to say that day that I tried to be right on the war question.
I want you to be able to say that day that I did try to feed the hungry.
And I want you to be able to say that day that I did try in my life to clothe those who were naked.
I want you to say on that day that I did try in my life to visit those who were in prison.
I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity.
Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter. I won't have any money to leave behind. I won't have the fine and luxurious things of life to leave behind. But I just want to leave a committed life behind. And that's all I want to say.
If I can help somebody as I pass along,
If I can cheer somebody with a word or song,
If I can show somebody he's traveling wrong,
Then my living will not be in vain.
If I can do my duty as a Christian ought,
If I can bring salvation to a world once wrought,
If I can spread the message as the master taught,
Then my living will not be in vain.
Yes, Jesus, I want to be on your right or your left side, not for any selfish reason. I want to be on your right or your left side, not in terms of some political kingdom or ambition. But I just want to be there in love and in justice and in truth and in commitment to others, so that we can make of this old world a new world.”

It is my prayer that the desire in all of us to be the “drum major,” out front leading the parade, be properly directed by the Holy Spirit for Christ’s honor and glory.