Photo from German History in Documents and Images
This morning I read a passage from Eric Metaxes's book Bonhoeffer that was a reminder of how much we want God to look like us, even to the point that we will twist Scripture to fit our own needs. Let me set the stage: It is 1933 and Germany has just pulled out from the League of Nations under the leadership of Adolf Hitler. Most of the German people saw this as a great victory for their country. They were humiliated after World War I and the continued sanctions on the size of their military was obviously problematic for a man like Hitler who desired domination by any means necessary. A day after the German people voted in agreement with Hitler (though most historians would agree this was likely a rigged poll) to pull out from the League of Nations, the German Christians (the official state-endorsed church) held a rally in the great Sportpalast of Berlin (the photo above is actually taken from this very rally on November 13, 1933). There, a high-school teacher by the name of Reinhold Krause, the leader of the Berlin German Christians, gave a speech that revealed the true agenda of this church sponsored "church".
In coarse, crude language, Krause demanded that the German church must once and for all divest itself of every hint of Jewishness. The Old Testament would be first, "with its Jewish money morality and its tales of cattle merchants and pimps!" The stenographical record notes that "sustained applause" ensued. The New Testament must be revised, too, and must present a Jesus "corresponding entirely with the demands of National Socialism." And it must not longer present an "exaggerated emphasis on the crucified Christ." This tenet was defeatist and depressing, which was to say Jewish. Germany needed hope and victory! Krause also mocked "the theology of the Rabbi Paul with its scapegoats and inferiority complex," and then he mocked the symbol of the cross, "a ridiculous, debilitating remnant of Judaism, unacceptable to National Socialists!" Furthermore, he demanded that every German pastor must take an oath of personal allegiance to Hitler! And the Aryan Paragraph that demanded the expulsion of every church member of Jewish descent must be heartily accepted by every German church! (Bonhoeffer, p. 193)
Oh how desperately we want our Jesus and our Scripture to look like us! Don't we see the ease with which we can follow him if only he would conform to our liking, to our prejudices, to our desires?
"Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men." (1 Corinthians 1:20-25)
Be encouraged, brothers and sisters! This facade put up by the German Christians was the beginning of their downfall. Many Germans saw through this and realized that this was in error. Though the night may seem dark and the foolishness of man great, God is greater still. He chose in his goodness to save men and women by the cross. It is he who preserves his word, the Living Christ, the Word himself who still speaks today.
Be warned, brothers and sisters! Fashioning Jesus to our liking and twisting Scripture to suit our needs ultimately produces a god in our own image. Worshiping this god of our making is idolatry, plain and simple. And this temptation is not localized to a specific point in history, nor to a specific political ideology. It is the temptation to which all our fleshly hearts bend. May God in his mercy and grace keep our hearts steadfast. Soli Deo Gloria!
