Spring Branch Academy – Jonesville, Michigan

On April 9, 1945, Dietrich Bonhoeffer was executed in Flossenbürg concentration camp for his resistance to Nazi Germany.  He had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate the Führer–to “not just bandage the victims under the wheel” of the Third Reich (as he said), but even “to jam a spoke in the wheel itself.”  It failed, but his legacy as a pastor and political resistant remains.  What obligation do fellow citizens have regarding the oppression of the weak by an evil government?

Personally, I find several aspects of Bonhoeffer’s life difficult and troubling.  His book Life Together has moved me deeply, but his neo-orthodox foundations disturb me.  His courage in the face of danger–especially his return from America on the last ship into Germany before the war–challenge me, even though I wonder about the legitimacy of individuals acting without authorization.  Apparently he also had questions, having asked his fellow ministers at one point if they would grant absolution to the murderer of a tyrant.  At any rate, the questions can be set somewhat aside, for the larger question remains: Will we be silent in the face of unjust oppression of others? Here is where Bonhoeffer speaks for today.

Have we not each faced such situations?  At a board meeting, in the classroom, in the cafeteria–the dominant begin to malign the lonely persecuted, while the rest of us stand silent, scared that speaking up would turn their hatred toward us.  It may not be the Kaufen Sie nicht beim Juden (“Do not buy from Jews”) of Nazi Germany, but the feeling is the same.  Should I speak up?  Will I speak up? To my shame, I have not always; but I must.  Where demanded, let it be with respect–even with a question, if necessary–but never with silence.

With respect to government, the question of legitimacy arises.  Who has the right to tell the authorities of their wrong?  In America, the Bill of Rights has preserved for each one of us the right to speak our mind–to keep the government in check, to prevent tyranny from usurping the liberty of the people.  Now, regardless of the legitimacy of our egalitarian system, this much I know: Jesus Christ rules over all, and His word is the final say in the affairs of men.  In America, the church has the greater obligation to speak up in the face of unjust oppression of others; and of all churchmen, the pastors have the greatest obligation.  That is one reason why I admire Bonhoeffer.

Consider with me the words of Pastor Martin Niemöller, a fellow Berliner, who served seven years in concentration camps for statements such as declaring that Jesus Christ was his Führer:

First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out – because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for the communists and I did not speak out – because I was not a communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out – because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for me – and there was no one left to speak out for me.

Woe to us if we keep silent!  “Deliver those who are drawn toward death, and hold back those stumbling to the slaughter.  If you say, ‘Surely we did not know this,’ does not He who weighs the hearts consider it?  He who keeps your soul, does He not know it?  And will He not render to each man according to his deeds?” (Proverbs 24:11-12).