injustice

“God will render all accounts settled in the end, in the universe, either on the cross or in Hell. No injustice will remain!”

Martin Niemöller was a Lutheran pastor in Germany when the Second World War began. He is immortalized for being the one who said, “First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”

Once upon a time, a bishop got in the face of an emperor. One had immeasurable power behind him. The other had nothing but righteous indignation on his side.

The outcome of the standoff surprised everyone who heard the story.

Look, we’ve all dozed off during meetings here and there. It’s just a liability of being human. We’ve probably fallen asleep in class and even in church, too. No biggie, just a bit embarrassing.

But falling asleep during a meeting in North Korea has huge consequences. It can get you killed.

In 2005, an African-American man named Jameel McGee was arrested on drug charges by a white officer named Andrew Collins. Like most accused men, McGee adamantly proclaimed his innocence.

Unlike most accused men, he was telling the truth.

When you notice injustice, racism, violence, or some other form of evil, what do you do? Do you take strong action against it? Do you denounce it? Do you at least pray against it?

At all costs, you should avoid doing what Fred Craddock, the famous preacher, once did.

“We are not to simply bandage the wounds of victims beneath the wheels of injustice, we are to drive a spoke into the wheel itself.”

Abraham Lincoln may have been the most-criticized president in our nation’s history. In addition to the usual worries about economic matters, constitutional legality, and foreign affairs policies, he also presided over a civil war.

But the issue of slavery is what brought him the greatest amount of grief…from both sides.

General William Nelson caused lots of trouble for the Confederate Army that fought against him during the Civil War. The hulking man who stood over 6 feet tall and weighed more than 300lbs well-deserved his nickname of “Bull.”

But after dodging every bullet fired at him by the Confederate Army, he couldn’t dodge just one that was fired at him from the gun of a fellow Union general.

“All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing,” declares Tolstoy in War and Peace. The truth – and consequence – of that statement has revealed itself time and time again throughout the travesties in mankind’s history.

Sadly, it was true of an entire church in Nazi Germany.