The Holocaust Museum stands in DC as our nation\u2019s tribute to the over six million Jews who were killed in the WWII genocide.\u00a0 There were lots of factors leading up to separation, objectification, deportation, and eventually, annihilation, of the Jews.\u00a0 One of them was the burning of books.\u00a0 Hitler understood that ideas are the soil in which attitudes take root, and that attitudes are always the precursor to action.\u00a0 Change ideas, and you\u2019ll change action.\u00a0 The Bible agrees with him.<\/p>\n
All \u201cother ideas\u201d were a threat to the man and his plan.\u00a0 That\u2019s why there\u2019s a section in the museum memorializing that tragic night of May 10, 1933 when big bonfires were made of books.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t just Jewish authors whose works were toast \u2013 anything deemed \u201cUn-German\u201d was destroyed. \u00a0Hitler\u2019s absolutism, his declarations about Aryan supremacy, his objectification and demonization of Jews, Gypsies, Homosexuals, Professors, Pastors, and Priests \u2013 none of this could have possibly happened in an environment where free thinking was encouraged, or where there was a true marketplace of ideas.<\/p>\n
I ponder what the implications of this are for Christ followers and churches. \u00a0I know I\u2019m called, as a shepherd, to protect my flock. \u00a0I also know that Paul well knew the danger any single shepherd faces when he\u2019s viewed as the sole repository of truth. \u00a0\u201cI am of Paul\u201d, \u201cI am of Cephas\u201d etc. was the precursor to the TV pastors of the 80\u2019s and 90\u2019s and the Rock Star pastors of our new millenium. \u00a0We like to follow people. \u00a0It is incumbent then, that we who are followed must point people beyond us, always, to Christ. \u00a0We need to realize that though we lead, we are still learning, still growing, still repenting. \u00a0Because of this we must \u2013 MUST point people beyond ourselves.<\/p>\n
The ones who resisted the Reich (and there were hundreds, at least, scattered throughout Europe) shared two qualities, both of which are important for our maturity:<\/p>\n
1. They wouldn\u2019t be swayed by \u2018groupthink\u2019<\/strong> because they were secure enough, courageous enough, to question authority. \u00a0Acts 17:11 speaks of a group who search the Bible daily, recognizing that no teacher is the final authority. \u00a0I always get concerned when I hear, \u201cwell Richard says\u2026\u201d \u00a0or \u201cCS Lewis wrote that\u2026\u201d \u00a0Listening to teaching is a good thing. \u00a0Listening to more than one is best. \u00a0But when we talk about our faith, we need to be able to point people to the Bible as our final source of authority, rather than what any single teacher says.<\/p>\n 2. They resisted censorship.<\/strong> The people who sheltered Jews were generally widely read. \u00a0So was the Apostle Paul, as evidenced by his quotations of Greek poetry in Acts 17. \u00a0In my last post, I encouraged broad reading, because as the people of God who live scattered amidst prevailing cultures, we\u2019re called, not to separation, but to discernment. \u00a0We need to be able to attend movies, read books, listen to the news, and build bridges between these cultural poets and God\u2019s eternal truth. \u00a0Though separation and censorship is easier, it\u2019s the stuff that makes for groupthink rather than maturity. \u00a0That\u2019s fine if the teacher is wholly mature, and a perfect communicator of truth \u2013 but Jesus hasn\u2019t shown up in the flesh lately, so discernment is still needed.<\/p>\n 3. They put it all on the line. \u00a0My wife and I pondered what it would be like to be a pastor in 1933 Germany, with three young children. \u00a0The lines seemed clearly drawn: \u00a0Fall in line with the party, or face termination, retribution, and even imprisonment. \u00a0It would have been easy, perhaps, to justify my need to care for my family, to rationalize that I could do more good \u201con the inside\u201d than in the unemployment line. \u00a0A simple nod to Ceasar, and I can get on with saving souls. \u00a0Most pastors did just that.<\/p>\n Meanwhile there were people, a few, for whom the thought of compromise never surfaced, not even for a moment. \u00a0Resisting the Reich and sheltering Jews was happening throughout Europe, even with the realization that those who were caught would pay a terrible price. \u00a0They put their own lives, and those of their families, on the line.<\/p>\n \u201cHe who sakes to save his life will lose it\u201d was what Jesus said.<\/p>\n We\u2019d do well to live more loyally to Christ than our movements, and more loyalty will inevitably to lead to more liberty, more courage, and more life.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Holocaust Museum stands in DC as our nation\u2019s tribute to the over six million Jews who were killed in the WWII genocide.\u00a0 There were lots of factors leading up to separation, objectification, deportation, and eventually, annihilation, of the Jews.\u00a0 One of them was the burning of books.\u00a0 Hitler understood that ideas are the soil […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-church","category-justice"],"yoast_head":"\n