I am a strong believer in the power of the written word, however, today I am going to make use of the strength of another genre to share a story with you. So please watch the video below before you continue reading.
You might be wondering how these people could have gone on with their daily lives - attending church to sing hymns and listen to preaching- when so much suffering surrounded them? Furthermore, you were probably disgusted at their hypocrisy. How dare they drown out cries for help by singing praise to a compassionate God! Why is it that the majority of the Christians who were within reach of the Jews refused to lift either hand or voice in their cause?
Under the rule of the Nazi Party, resistance didn't seem like an option to most people, including these Christians. There was an unspoken understanding that permeated the country- those who kept silent could continue with their lives, but any one who moved to defend the condemned masses would die with them. They were not ignorant of what was going on, as trains loaded with Jews passed them by, yet they acted as though they were, simply because it was easier 'not to know.' What could common men and women possibly do to stop armies anyways? Some were willing to admitt their guilt in allowing such forces into power, but they considered the atrocities that had followed to be outside of their responsibility. When the pastors exhorted their congregation not to resist evil men it fit their own inclinations perfectly. No one could afford to listen to words that would bring conviction, not in times such as these. There was enough to be done already just to keep their families safe and fed without taking on other people's problems. So they justified themselves by the fact that they were to love their enemies, and they dampened their guilt by reminding themselves that God had said to be at peace with all men.
Was their justification consistent with the scriptures? Were they still representing the Name by which they called themselves? Could they truly be Christians while being passive to the desperate cries for help - or were they only fooling themselves? The answers to these questions is of the utmost importance to us because we are guilty of the same negligence and live with a similar indifference in our hearts. Though our stomachs may have turned to see the Jews despair of hope outside the doors of a church and we felt enraged by the lack of sympathy this story revealed - we too stand guilty. The sin of negligence is easier to recognize from a distance. If those same Germans could see us go about daily life desensitized to the injustices of abortion, human trafficking, ISIS, or the persecuted church, I believe they would be horrified at us!
"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." - Reinhold Niebuhr
When we have no power to act in an area we can rest in the assurance that our God still can! However, He left us here to be His hands and His feet, to serve this dying world, and we must be careful to fulfill this duty to the very best of our ability. God, the judge all of us will stand before one day, knows exactly what we can and can't do. As Proverbs xxiv. 12 cautions us, "If you say, "Behold we did not know this," does not He who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not He who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will He not repay man according to his work?" It could be that the only part you are able to play in a fight against injustice is through financially supporting another or through lifting up the cause in prayer. But how do you go about such a duty? Are you intentional to fall on your knees at every opportunity and 'remember the prisoners as if you were chained with them' (Hebrews xiii. 3) or do you just give what is required, or offer a quick prayer every now and then, because you just happen to recall the suffering of others in the midst of a busy day?
"We need to learn to err on the side of action, because we tend to default to neglect. So many won't do anything until they hear a voice from heaven telling them precisely what to do. Why not default to action until you hear a voice from heaven telling you to wait? For example: Why not assume you should adopt kids until you hear a voice telling you not to? Wouldn't that seem biblical since God has told us that true religion is to care for the orphan and the widow." - Francis Chan, You and Me Forever
There are multiple references in the bible about seeking justice, defending the oppressed (Isaiah i. 17), and saving those who are being led away to death (Proverbs xxiv. 11).
So according to the bible, if anyone should have come to the help of the Jews, and the other victims of the Nazis, it should have been the Christians! Those who claimed to believe in a loving God and have access to His throne room to get help in time of need! Did not the One they called 'Lord' leave His place on high to come and rescue those who could not save themselves? He could have turned a blind eye to that need, and would have been completely justified in remaining in His glory. Yet He came in humility, choosing even to lay down His life in order to rescue the perishing. There was no denying that helping the afflicted would come at a cost to the German church, of those who did most lost possessions, family and even life. Still they were all called to follow the example of the One who had walked through suffering for the sake of others!
“It's high time that Christians made up their minds to do something . . . What are we going to show in the way of resistance-as compared to the Communists, for instance-when all this terror is over? We will be standing empty-handed. We will have no answer when we are asked: What did you do about it? ” - Hans Scholl
When the train broke down outside of their church, the congregation might have been moved to tears at the sounds of the Jews cries but their tears did little good. When the moment of decision came their actions demonstrated indifference.
"Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?" (James ii. 15 -16)
So rather than heeding the final, desperate pleading of conviction they chose to silence it. This decision to forget compassion was not restricted to that Sunday alone, they had been doing so on every Sunday and every day that had led up to that one. Each silent decision to do nothing aided and abetted the Nazis in their crimes.
"Therefore to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin." (James iv. 17)
The church in Germany did not see at that time that their compromise left their religion useless and empty but the Nazi soldiers did! There was no reason for them to waste effort trying to disband the church when they had already paralyzed it with fear. So long as it failed to inspire action, no amount of preaching or singing could pose a threat to their regime. The National Socialist Party had realized the truth in Jame's words, "faith without works is dead," unfortunately a large portion of the church had not!
"God forgive all of us who called ourselves Christians and yet did nothing to intervene!"
May we learn from their mistake and not continue to make the same one!
In Christ
quiana
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