"He has told you, O Man, what is good; and what does
the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk
humbly with your God?" Micah 6:8
Before I get to my thoughts for the day I want to first
express my gratitude to all of you vets for your service to our great nation!
The
issue of slavery became increasingly divisive to the Nation and, as history
records, led to a brutal bloody Civil War. This divide was primarily between
the industrial North and the agricultural South where slavery was, in all
fairness, integral to the economy.
Obviously,
not all Southerners were pro-slavery. Like nowadays, there were good people who
chose to remain silent in the face of this evil. The Wesleyans were not among
those choosing to be silent.
In
North Carolina, forty anti-slavery Methodists withdrew from their church. They
had heard of the Wesleyan Methodists, and asked them for a pastor. That was not
a request easily granted. To be an abolitionist above the Mason-Dixon line was one thing. To cross that line in the
turbulent days before the Civil War was quite another thing. The risks were
great, and the Wesleyans did not feel free to appoint someone to go but did put
out a call for a brave volunteer.
All
eye-witness account of what happened next on the floor of the annual conference
in Ohio is recorded: “After a season of prayer, Brother Adam Crooks arose, his
cheeks pale as marble. ‘I will go,’ he said, ‘Sustained by your prayers, and in
the name of my Savior, I will go to North Carolina.’”
Adam
Crooks was now 23, newly ordained, and single. He knew it would be hard, but he
had no idea how hard it would be. In the journal of his journey south, Crooks
recorded the road was rough. Dr. Roy Nicholson later remarked (personal note,
Dr. Nicholson preached my ordination sermon, laid hands on us and signed my
ordination certificate) “His road would be rough for the next four years.”
In
North Carolina, Crooks was labeled an outside agitator, a dangerous radical,
and a traitor to the white race. He was also labeled a “disturber,” one charge
which was certainly true! He was tarred and feathered in effigy. He was
prohibited from speaking on the courthouse grounds in Forsythe and Guilford
counties (where Greensboro, High Point, and Winston-Salem are located), denying
him his First Amendment free speech rights. In fact, judges in North Carolina
ruled the constitutional guarantee did not apply to “True Wesleyans”!
Interestingly enough, a recent book on violations of the right of free speech
in the pre-Civil War South focuses on Wesleyan ministers.
Reverend
Crooks was dragged from the pulpit and beaten numerous times. Twice he was
poisoned - once by a false friend who said, “Your life is in danger. Come and
stay with me.” He survived an assassination attempt when armed men lying in
ambush one day saw that he was alone and decided against an attack.
Through
all of this, the question that challenged him was, “Can you give your life for the Cause?” (Cf. II Corinthians
11:23b-28.)
Obviously,
Adam Crooks was willing to give his life to “to
do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with his God.”
What
are you willing to do?