I love that Bonhoeffer didn’t do as so many others do when they try to paint silence and inaction as something short of evil—as does the quotation so often misattributed to Edmund Burke (emphasis added):
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
Misattributed to Edmund Burke
Or the one from Plato:
“The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.”
Plato
In both cases, they pretend that the inaction is not itself evil. And I wonder whether this pretense may not be one of the greatest evils in this world—not on account of its severity, but on account of the great frequency with which it is practiced. It is the way of the world to be lacking in conviction about good and evil, and sadly, it is also the way of most every church that I know of. Most, I would say, have never realized just how stunningly unworldly is the philosophy of Jesus and his apostles in this regard. Witness the apostle Paul, commanding his students to be proactive in exposing evil:
“Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.”
Paul. Ephesians 5:11. NIV
And I believe that this radical command springs from the self-sacrificing example of Jesus. Consider how John summed it up, and what he thought it meant for the Christians at large:
“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.”
John. 1 John 3:16. NIV
This is hardly the picture of the fair-weather fan of good society. No, this is the picture of someone who is going to stand up against evil and protect his friends from it. Indeed! Was Jesus not murdered for doing that very thing, and by a governor who was afraid to take such a stand?
What person, then, being the beneficiary of such a sacrifice, is morally exempt from following suit for the cause of goodness? Though the situation is admittedly different, I can’t keep these words from Jesus from echoing in my mind in regard to this present conversation:
“Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?”
Jesus. Matthew 18:33. NIV
Do you see how the good example was expected to be followed in good faith? And it extended far beyond the mere forgiveness of monetary debt, into the very example of Jesus giving up his life! Consider these bold words from Jesus:
23 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. 25 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? 26 Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
Jesus. Luke 9:23-26. NIV
Many people, however, will want to pretend that they can deny the call to give their all, and still be “good”. They pretend that they can be ashamed of what is right and true, and unwilling to take a stand, while yet not being shameful people themselves. Jesus, however, did not mince words about how he would be ashamed of such people.
