"I lived in Germany during the Nazi holocaust. I considered myself a Christian. I attended church since I was a small boy. We had heard the stories of what was happening to the Jews, but, like most people today in this country, we tried to distance ourselves from the reality of what was really taking place. What could anyone do to stop it?
A railroad track ran behind our small church, and each Sunday morning we would hear the whistle from a distance and then the clacking of the wheels moving over the track. We became disturbed when, one Sunday, we noticed cries coming from the train as it passed by. We grimly realized that the train was carrying Jews. They were like cattle in those cars!
Week after week, that train whistle would blow. We would dread to hear the sound of those old wheels because we knew that the Jews would begin to cry out to us, as they passed our church. It was so terribly disturbing! We could do nothing to help these poor, miserable people, yet their screams tormented us. We knew exactly at what time that whistle would blow, and we decided the only way to keep from being so disturbed by the cries was to start singing our hymns. By the time that train came rumbling past the church yard, we were singing at the top of our voices. If some of the screams reached our ears, we'd just sing a little louder until we could hear them no more.
Years have passed, and no one talks about it much anymore, but I still hear that train whistle in my sleep. I can still hear them crying out for help. God forgive all of us who called ourselves Christians, yet did nothing to intervene.”
This story always sends a shiver down my spine. There are those who may be quick to judge and would say, “who could possibly just sit by singing while something so horrible was happening?” However, before we look down upon some of the churches during World War II, let’s take a look in the mirror.
As terrifying as the thought may be, is it possible that modern day believers are starting to act like the singing church in the story? Babies are being murdered by the thousands in America through abortions. There are 27 million people still stuck in the chains of slavery. There are children around the world that are desperate for a loving mommy and daddy. Drugs, rape, abuse, the list goes on and on. Are we going to be the church that sings to God and yet refuses to obey Him when it conflicts with our convenience?
During the same time period of World War II, there was a man, named Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He was a man who knew that believing in Jesus must lead to action. He was a huge voice against Nazi rule in Germany and he served as a double spy during the war. Bonhoeffer spoke for those who couldn’t speak for themselves and eventually gave his life for the cause. Eric Metaxas, in his book entitled “7 Men”, recorded this:“At one point Bonhoeffer made the incendiary statement that “only he who stands up for the Jews may sing Gregorian chants.” What he meant was that if we were not heroically and courageously doing what God wanted us to do, God was not interested in our public displays of worship. To sing to God when we are not doing what God called us to do was to be a hypocrite.”
So, here is my question to you, in this day and age, are we going to be Bonhoeffers or are we going to be singers? Are we going to obey God by doing something about the evils around us, or are we going to just sing over the cries of hurting and dying people? The world doesn’t need anymore singers, but we are desperate for more Bonhoeffers. If we really believed the songs we were singing, we would not just sit idle, while people around us are spiritually, emotionally, and physically broken. Is it possible that we can sing “How Great is Our God”, but live like He’s not great enough to use us to put an end to the injustices around us?
I think my family friend, Jimmy Needham, says it best, in his song “Speak”.
“So open your mouth, open it wide.
Quit singing songs for a minute tonight.
You can love with your hands, you can love with your deeds.
How will they know if we won't even speak?”
I pray, as the old man in the story, that God forgives his children for singing when we should have been taking action. I hope that you will be like Dietrich Bonhoeffer and obey God, by taking action against evil. We cannot be satisfied with singing, while the darkness consumes us, but we must illuminate the darkness with God’s truth. Are we going to sing, or are we going to stand?
If you have any questions or comments, you are welcome to email me at christy@tonynolan.org . Thank you so much for reading.
No comments:
Post a Comment