But
as I settled into church this morning and we started singing songs about the
cross it dawned on me that yes, my hands are covered in blood. Covered because
I am a sinner and Jesus died for me, covered for the sake of righteousness, the
righteousness of Christ. And that is extremely humbling that the King of Glory,
Jesus the unique Son of the Father, took on flesh and bled for my salvation.
Still,
I’ve been reading, rereading, some of a book about one of the martyrs of the
Nazi years. No not Bonhoeffer, but pastor Paul Schneider. He was actually the
first Confessing Church Martyr, constantly beaten and eventually poisoned. His
testimony reveals something about the Nazis that many do not know. They encouraged
fornication in order to produce many more Aryan babies. Not Jewish babies, not
Roma babies or black babies but Aryan babies. So while they encouraged sin in
order to produce more Aryans they also persecuted and harmed both born and
unborn children of other races and ethnic groups. They tore them away from
their parents and placed them in separate institutions.
Schneider
complained about the national leaders who encouraged the young people to sin. He
had many complaints but one was about the immorality of leaders. It is
important.
In
a blog
posting written in 2013 about Schneider and a book written about him, Paul Schneider Witness of Buchenwald, I
wrote,
Schneider attacked an essay written by
Nazi Propagandist Goebbels, “More Morality, but less Moral Hypocrisy.” As
author Wentorf points out the essay came as Nazi leadership not only pushed
young Jewish and Polish women into brothels, killed those people who they
considered unworthy to live because of disabilities and “so-called hereditary
diseases,” and also encouraged sex outside of marriage in order to produce
more, supposedly, Aryan children. That was a campaign called, “Give the Führer
a Child!” (128).”
My point here is that there are many evils that
leaders can be guilty of, abortion is one of them, a horrible, horrible evil,
but there are others which also diminish life and destroy goodness inside of
and outside of the Church. A ruler’s character, guidance and example can
destroy even the good she does. But we are all sinners and all one way or
another have blood on our hands.
As
Christians we undoubtedly should not rejoice over Trump or Biden but pray for
them, care about them and live under the shadow of the cross because that is
the only safe place to be.
For as high as the heavens are above
the earth, so great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him. As far as
the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
Just as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those
who fear Him. For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful we are but dust. …
(Psalm 103: 11-14)
