The Final Call

Jesus: The Guide for the Public Servant

By The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan | Last updated: Nov 11, 2008 - 6:32:32 PM

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[Editor’s note: (FinalCal.com) -  The following article is based on excerpts from an address delivered by Minister Farrakhan on November 7, 2005 at Little Rock Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan, during a rally supporting the re-election of Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. Click here for CD/DVD and Webcast.]

In The Name of Allah, The Beneficent, The Merciful.

What we envisioned for the Millions More Movement is the Talented Tenth that W.E.B. DuBois wrote about—the brilliant, knowledgeable Brothers and Sisters, most of whom have been separated from the condition of the mass poor. The learned of our people are often given jobs, positions and money, which allows them to live a better quality of life. But this is part of a design to make us satisfied with the false fruit of democracy and make us think that we have arrived, while the masses of our people suffer in an incredible degree of poverty in the midst of plenty.

The Millions More Movement was designed to bring the learned of our people into harmony with the needs of our people through a program that allows them to use their tremendous skill to lift the masses of our people. The Movement is also meant to organize Black people in an effective way, so that we will not make demands of government, and not be able to force them to respond.

An immoral government—and the government has to be immoral if it does not care for the weak and poor—cannot claim the name of Jesus Christ, yet be adverse to the very principles that Jesus taught. The yardstick by which nations are judged is set forth in the answer of Jesus, when his disciples asked him, “Master, when were you hungry and we fed you not? When were you naked and we clothed you not? When were you out of doors and we gave you not shelter? When were you sick and imprisoned and we ministered not unto you?” Jesus answered, “Inasmuch as you have not done these things unto the least of these, my brethren, you have not done it also unto me.”

During the homegoing ceremony and celebration of the victory of the life of Mother Rosa Parks, former President Bill Clinton said that she made America better, but I pointed out that America is not yet good. America cannot be considered good if she leads the world in drunkenness, drug addiction, murder, robbery, rape, assault and incarceration. Fifteen million Americans are homeless; 44 million do not have adequate health care, and if you do not have money or insurance and you get sick, only God can step in and take care of you, because hospitals may charge you extremely high prices, discharge you or even deny you care. Some of our elderly sometimes have to decide whether they will pay for their prescription drugs or get a decent quality of food to put on the table. America is not a good country. She leads the world in selling arms that deal death all over the planet. Although America is great, in order for her to survive, someone needs to make America good. But she cannot be made good if those of us who are in leadership compromise for inclusion and acceptance.

Pharaoh was very upset because the Children of Israel were paying attention to Moses and Aaron, so Pharaoh called his magicians and promised them wealth and nearness to him, if they would oppose Moses and Aaron. When you are promised wealth and nearness to Pharaoh, it takes a very good shepherd to turn that offer down, in order to remain true to the liberation struggle of the people.

Jesus was a guiding light for everyone who wishes to be a public servant. The life of Jesus should be studied from many different angles because Jesus, as he is written of in the scriptures of the Bible, was a true revolutionary. He said he was in the world, but he was not of the world. There was something about the world that Jesus did not want to spoil his garment.

When you are involved in politics and religion, and are in leadership in America, you have to be very careful that your garments are not soiled with worldly desires that Satan can always fulfill—because Satan does not like people who want to serve the best interests of the poor.

Jesus is an example of a man who truly came to serve. So, we should not want public office so that we can become big shots. We should want public office so we can serve. Jesus said, “He who would be great among you, let him be your servant.” A servant serves the needs of the people. When Jesus met a person who was lame, he served that need and told him to pick up his stick and walk.

The people have needs, so those of us in service are only as good as we can use our power to provide for the needs of those whom we serve. History teaches us that, whenever a good servant of the poor emerges, Satan is upset and begins using some of his tricks to work against that servant.

Satan became angry because Jesus was disturbing his power with his teachings. The followers of Jesus no longer wanted to join Satan’s licentious feasts. Jesus asked his followers whose face was printed on their money, and then told them to render unto Caesar what belongs to him and render unto God what belongs to God.

Who belongs to God? Since Caesar did not create life, then we do not belong to the ruling powers; we belong to Him Who created us and gave us life.

So Jesus was not going to bow down to the forces that ruled the Roman Empire. While he respected their authority, he would not bow down to do their will.

The followers of Jesus did not join the Roman army, because Jesus did not support the slavery of the Romans. The people voted and had a senate, but Jesus’ kingdom was not of this world. The scriptures say the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdom of our God and of His Christ. This means that Allah (God) is looking for righteous people to inhabit offices of leadership so that they can fight against, what Paul called, “the principalities, the powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world and spiritual wickedness in high places.”

If you are going to bow down to the rulers of darkness, then you become consumed by darkness. So you are not only in the world, you are of the world. Then, you are no longer able to lead the people, because you have compromised who you are for the inclusion of a seat at the master’s table, where he can give you some of the crumbs, not even a slice. When the master is troubled by a leader that does not bow down to his will, he first decides to try that leader to see what he can offer to satisfy a need, so that the leader can be enticed to submit to him.

In the Bible, Satan brought Jesus up on a mountain, and asked Jesus to look at the many cities stretched out below and said that they belonged to him. Satan said that although Jesus claimed to be a king, he did not see Jesus’ kingdom, but if Jesus bowed down, Satan would give Jesus dominion over his cities. Satan was testing Jesus with the temptation of wealth and power.

Those of us in public office, and in leadership in general, have to be tested by Satan. He sifts us to see what it is that we want that he can give to make us bow down. But Jesus responded, “Get thee behind me, Satan.”

Satan became upset that he could not tempt Jesus, so then he tried to sift the followers of Jesus, to see if he could find one close to betray Jesus. Satan tried to tap the envy of the Jewish priesthood. Although Jesus declared that he did not come to change the law, he did not follow the ways of the rabbis. So Satan tried to feed the envy of the rabbis so that they would turn on Jesus. Satan lied about the good accomplishments of Jesus in order to make them appear ugly and vile, by saying Jesus did them by the power of the devil. Satan then turned public opinion against Jesus, through the control of the media. Then, Pontius Pilate decided to stay out of the matter because he was upset that Jesus’ teachings created trouble for his leadership. So, Pontius Pilate told the people that they had to choose between Jesus, a good man, and Barabas, a thief.

And the people chose Barabas. They turned down a good man because public opinion had been turned against the good man, and a betrayer had emerged from among his disciples. Then, those that were supposed to stand with Jesus in his hour of trial ran away, and would not go to the court. Not voting on Election Day for our public officials is like not showing up to court to stand up for Jesus.

Jesus exemplified the pattern for all those who stand for the weak and the poor. When Ghana became “free,” Kwame Nkrumah, the country’s first president, became a man for the masses, but Western governments did not like him. They overthrew him while he was on a trip to China, and put their choice in his seat that would allow them access to the raw materials of what was formerly called “The Gold Coast.”

Patrice Lumumba, the first and only elected prime minister in the Congo, was a man for the masses, who loved his people, but he would not bow down to Western powers. They assassinated him and then put Mobutu Sese Sekou in his seat. Mobutu did everything that the West wanted. In the last days of his life, we visited him and he was grieving because America, whose bidding he had done diligently, had turned her back on him when he was no longer needed.

The histories of these leaders are a sign to all those who bow down to Satan and the rulers of darkness. When Satan gets finished using you, he turns you over to those forces that would destroy you.

When Fidel Castro rose to leadership as president in Cuba, he transferred land from the rich to the poor. He inherited an illiterate country, but today Cuba has 100 percent literacy. He inherited homeless people, but today every person in Cuba has a home. In Cuba, citizens have free education, free health care—but America does not like Fidel Castro because he was good for the people.

In Venezuela, President Hugo Chavez is a man from the ranks of the poor, who is not willing to give away the wealth of the people of Venezuela to those who want to suck the blood of the poor. So, he becomes troublesome to America and the CIA organized a coup against him; they decided that if they could not control him, they must get him out of office.

Then, Pat Robertson, a so-called Christian leader, says, “If he [Chavez] thinks we’re trying to assassinate him, I think we really ought to go ahead and do it. It’s a whole lot cheaper than starting a war.” His thinking reflects Western powers who seek to destroy leaders simply because they do not wish to bow down to their will.

This has been the pattern of Satan against all of our great leaders of change, such as Nat Turner, Denmark Vesey, W.E.B. DuBois, Frederick Douglas, David Walker and Sojourner Truth. These leaders became our heroines and heroes long after they were dead, but while they were living, their contemporaries were made to see them as negative forces in this country. We stoned Paul Robeson because they said he was a Communist. After his death, we learned that he was a man who loved us. Marcus Garvey was also a good man who would not bow. They trumped up charges on him, jailed and then deported him. Today, we appreciate Marcus Garvey as a great man, but his contemporaries did not think much of such a great man.

When they do not like a particular leader that may be in a Black district, they always try to find another Black person who may be sincere, but who also wants to be a big shot. Before the powers decide to back the challenger so that they can remove the other Black leader from office, they force them to bow down to their power. They will put money behind a candidacy to remove a good man—but the leader who the enemy supports is not good for us, he is good for them.

During a recent visit to Memphis, Tenn., I met with the leaders of the city. Mayor Willie Herenton addressed the meeting, and shared that after a few days of a visit of mine several years ago, where he gave me the key to the city, he was called into a meeting. He recalled that some of the rich and powerful leaders in the city were at that meeting, and told him that he had to get the key back from me. It was an insult to them that he should give a key to the city that they run behind the scenes, since they are the people who control the money. Mayor Herenton told them that he would not take the key back, and remained firm in his decision. He has been returned to office four times and he is trying to decide whether he should return a fifth time. That is strength and character in leadership.

Cynthia McKinney and Earl Hilliard, Congress members from Georgia and Alabama, are Black people fighting for Black people, but they angered White folks, who then put money behind other Black candidates and took them out of office because they did not like the politics of McKinney and Hilliard—which were the politics of the poor.

I looked at the humble ads that our Brother, Mayor Kwame Kilparick, had on television. It was evident that he does not have a lot of money behind him, because if he had a lot of money behind him, every few minutes you would see an ad on the television, telling you to vote for him. But he does not have any money, because he is our man, a man for the masses. He will not bow down to the powers and that is why they do not want him to serve another term in office as mayor—but that is why we must re-elect him and help him fulfill his vision for the city. He is on the path of those, like Jesus, who would serve the poor.