What would you do if you saw evil rising in your nation while most people looked the other way? That was the reality for Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the brilliant German pastor who recognized the threat of Adolf Hitler long before the world understood the full scope of Nazi terror. Author and radio host Eric Metaxas says Bonhoeffer’s story isn’t just history, it’s a prophetic warning for Christians in America right now.
“Bonhoeffer was one of those voices who…was trying to wake up the church, because he knew just as we know today the Lord has appointed the church to be the voice of the nation, to be the conscience of the nation,” Metaxas said in a recent interview on Daystar. “The pagans aren’t going to be held accountable. We are the ones that are supposed to know.”
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Metaxas explained that while it’s easy now to say the Nazis were obviously evil, that wasn’t how it felt in Germany at the time. “Most Germans at the time had no clue when the Nazis were beginning to take power who they really were. Nobody could dream of the Holocaust and the death camps, trust me when I tell you they couldn’t dream of it,” he said.
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Bonhoeffer stood firm even as many churches, both liberal and conservative, chose silence. “They all have good reasons to kind of keep their head down,” Metaxas said. “But he sees pagans saying, ‘I’m going to stand up against Hitler.’” Bonhoeffer eventually joined the plot to assassinate Hitler, believing God expected both prayer and action. “The Lord says, ‘Yeah, well I expect you to pray but I also expect you to act,’” Metaxas said.
The Nazis executed Bonhoeffer in 1945, just weeks before the end of the war. To Metaxas, his life is a heroic example but also a prophetic warning to today’s believers. “Exactly what happened to the German church is happening to the American church now,” he said. “If you don’t speak up…it’s the famous quote we don’t know who said it, but it’s often attributed to Bonhoeffer: ‘Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.’”
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Metaxas said Christians who claim they are “just preaching the gospel” while avoiding difficult issues are missing God’s command. “God is not buying that lie,” he said. “When He calls you to speak the truth, don’t tell them you’re going to preach the gospel. Speak the truth.”
James Lasher is staff writer for Charisma Media.
