Several years ago, a group of Christians decided to throw their collective weight behind a candidate for national office. They were concerned about the moral decay and chaos that threatened their nation in the wake of an inconclusive war.
They wanted to insure some level of religious education in public schools. They desired a return to better days when Christian morals were the norm and not the exception. They wanted the world to know that theirs was a Christian nation.
The candidate recognized their fears and responded accordingly. When asked “from whence cometh his strength,” he pulled a dog-eared New Testament from his coat pocket and claimed God as his source of wisdom. His party adopted an “unalterable” endorsement of “positive Christianity.” His Christian followers were sure a new era of morality was coming.
Paul Raybon
The politician, Adolf Hitler, was made chancellor of Germany in 1933 and given extraordinary powers by the vote of Christian politicians. He soon thereafter implemented his program to nazify the German Protestant church. More than 800 pastors were placed in concentration camps, including Martin Niemoeller, a vocal defender of separation of church and state.
“Positive Christianity” became a warped religious nationalism that ignored if not endorsed the slaughter of millions of Jews, Catholics and other minorities. As a student of history, | realize chances of such a thing happening in America are slim. As a student of the gospel, I know such ties with political ideology are out of place in the Christian faith.
The above was part of a letter to the editor of the Christian Index I wrote in July 1986. I was 21 years old and had just attended my first Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting. I was appalled at the overtly political greeting from then President Ronald Reagan and horrified at the overwhelmingly positive reaction of the messengers.
Oh, to be young again. I really didn’t think Southern Baptists would surrender their birthright of separation of church and state. I could not have imagined the American political religious landscape could ever so closely resemble that of 1933 Germany.
“Remember that even in 1933, there was a remnant.”
When someone asks me, “Why didn’t God do anything to prevent the Holocaust?” I typically say, “God knew Christians could stop Hitler before he came to power, but they chose to believe they could co-opt political power for their own ends and so gave over their souls and their nation to evil.”
Are we there yet?
If we are, remember that even in 1933, there was a remnant. There were Christians who said, “We will have no part in this!” Read the Declaration of Barmen of 1934, largely written by Karl Barth and adopted by the Confessing Church that stood up against Hitler. They clearly stated their beliefs and just as clearly rejected the false doctrines of those who were riding Hitler’s coattails.
Take heart from the courage of others.
Remember each one of us has the power and the obligation to live out our faith by taking care of the least of these — our neighbors — people who live in our neighborhoods, work in our communities and whose children attend our local schools.
The entire sociopolitical system is too much to tackle every day. Do what you can with the opportunities God places in front of you.
Remember God’s reign has outlasted Assyria, Babylon, Egypt, Greece, Rome, the Third Reich and the Soviet Union. We may not live to see it, but in the end, God wins. Live knowing the cost of following Christ is never greater than the prize that awaits us at the end of the race.
God is already here.
Paul Raybon serves as co-pastor with Melissa Hughes at Hominy Baptist Church in Candler, N.C. He also is a leadership and congregational coach through Christian Equipping Coach and Barnabas Partnership.