Christianity has remained one of the strongest and well-known religions for ages dating back to Jesus’s birth. Christianity is the religion established on Jesus Christ the person, his teachings and story. Numerous people partake in and follow Christianity, however there have been individuals who lived their whole lives faithfully and expressed their religions values and beliefs through Christ like actions. St (Mother) Teresa of Calcutta, St Oscar Romero and Martin Luther King Jr. All offered their lives to Christianity through bravery and selflessness. St Teresa offered her life through her participation and founding of charity and missionaries. St Oscar Romero served as an archbishop and fought for poverty and social injustice. As well as Martin Luther King Jr. who was a Baptist minister who stood up for social rights. All three of these people followed Jesus’s teachings and beliefs that Christianity has taught them. Martin Luther King Jr. offered his life to Christianity.
Martin Luther King Jr. grew up in a Christian household with both his grandfather and father being pastors. He additionally followed in his family's footsteps by becoming a pastor himself. While aiding with the church, King worked towards civil rights for African American’s. “Always a strong worker for civil rights for members of his race, King was, by this time, a member of the executive committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the leading organization of its kind in the nation” (Nobel Peace Prize). King went on to do numerous things for not only the colored community but for any victims who were subject to economic disadvantages and injustice (History.com) One of his peaceful protests was in 1995 the bus boycott. Which ended in African American and Caucasian people having equal rights to ride transportation. This protest took lots of bravery from King, him and his family were threatened, their house was bombed, and he was arrested and subject to personal abuse. However, that did not stop King, he was then elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957, it was a group made to provide new leadership for the civil rights movement (Nobel Peace Prize). He used ideas from religious leaders all over the world like Gandhi, for the teachings in this group. He led numerous protests in Birmingham and Alabama which set the world on fire to know who that man was and what he was standing up for. “He planned the drives in Alabama for the registration of Negroes as voters; he directed the peaceful march on Washington, D.C., of 250,000 people to whom he delivered his address, ‘l Have a Dream’, he conferred with President John F. Kennedy and campaigned for President Lyndon B. Johnson” (Nobel Peace Prize). Martin King Jr. was not one to give up, he was assaulted up to four times and arrested as many as twenty-five times. King knew he had to use the courage he was given from God to help people who suffered from injustice. Martin King Jr. offered his life to Christianity through his use of bravery and courage, he spoke up for the people who couldn't and changed the world.
St Teresa or most commonly known as Mother Teresa, was one of the most incredible people to walk the earth. Her goal growing up was to serve God and be selfless, which lead her to missionary work. She left her childhood home at the age of 18 in 1928 to join the institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, known as the Sisters of Loreto, in Ireland (Biography.com.) Mother Teresa later changed her name after one of the most influential saints. “It was there she took the name Sister Mary Teresa after Saint Thérèse of Lisieux” (Carter). Although St Teresa did not end there, about a year later she went to India to teach at the Catholic school for girls. She taught the girls insight on how Jesus lived and how he died for us to live and carry on his legacy. Furthermore in 1946 Mother Teresa received a ‘call within a call’ (Carter). She recalled that Jesus told her, and expressed that she takes the leap and discontinue teaching in India. He advised that she open a place in Calcutta where she and others can care for the sickest and poorest of the country. Mother Teresa expresses selflessness and offers her life to Christianity by devoting her time to missionary work.
St. Oscar Romero was a hero to us all. Romero grew up in a poor family in the 1920s he had five brothers and sisters and slept on the floor of his family home every night. He went to a local school, and grew up to become a priest. Ordained at twenty-five in 1947, Romero served as a pastor to the parish of San Miguel, El Salvador (Kurtz). In 1970, St. Oscar Romero became Auxiliary Bishop in San Salvador. In 1974 he became Bishop of Santiago de Maria. As Bishop Romero started to see and experience the hate that was occurring in El Salvador. He found out that children were becoming sick and dying due to the fact that their parents could not afford the medicine to aid the children. Romero then put his own needs aside to help these children, he used money from the diocese and his own pocket, but he knew it wasn't enough, so he started to speak out (Keen). “In 1977, Romero became Archbishop of San Salvador, the capital city. The situation in El Salvador was becoming worse and he couldn’t remain silent any longer” (Keen). The military were killing people in El Salvador, especially those demanding justice such as teachers, nuns and priests. Lots of people began to disappear and Romero demanded that the President of El Salvador investigate the killings, but he failed to do so. Romero could only think about the people suffering in his country, and he couldn't let it keep happening. 1979 he visited the Vatican to make this public to the whole world. He gave the Pope detailed reports of the murders and kidnappings in El Salvador. When the killing and kidnappings rose, he was conflicted. Romero could only pray and help these people by telling teaching them about God. Not caring about what he wanted but knowing he had to help them somehow. “On March23, 1980, after reporting the previous week’s deaths and disappearances, Romero began to speak directly to soldiers and policemen: ‘I beg you, I implore you, I order you...in the name of God, stop the repression!’” (Keen). That same night St. Oscar Romero died, in the middle of mass in the chapel of the Divine Providence hospital, he was shot by a paid assassin mid prayer. St. Oscar Romero offered his life to Christianity through self-nesses, he taught in the slums of El Salvador about God and preached his word. He used his own resources to help the dying children in his country, and spoke up to the victims of the Salvadoran government when they were being tortured and killed. Romero died doing what he was born to do, by teaching others about God and aiding them in the war going on.
Leaders who develop and live the life Jesus would want us to are very important when learning or even teaching about Christianity. These leaders gave themselves up for God. They were brave in the face of danger, and selfless. Martin Luther King Jr., St. Teresa and St. Oscar Romero all offered their lives to Christianity through bravery and selflessness. Martin Luther King Jr. stood up for the rights of colored people from the bus boycott to starting the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and did not back down when he was afraid. St. Teresa not only participated in missionary work but created and organization in the slums of Calcutta where she devoted her life to serving the sickest of people. Along with St. Oscar Romero who spoke out against the violent war going on in El Salvador, he took a stand to help and serve the people of his country and get them the help they deserve. These 3 amazing humans helped make the world a better place and expressed their faith through their bravery and selflessness which further offered them to the Lord and Christianity.