By Marcia Lebhar
“If you stand firmly opposed to overwhelming destructive power, you expose yourself to destruction.”
These words were written by ethicist Philip Haille in his book, Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed, about the leadership of one Protestant pastor, Daniel Trocmé, who galvanized an entire French village during the Nazi occupation. Together, the town of Le Chambon was responsible for saving hundreds, if not thousands, of Jewish refugees.
Yet the book opens with a description of Trocmé’s arrest.
Appalled, I listened this week to an interview with House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, in which she asserted confidently that David Daleiden’s (pictured above) exposé of Planned Parenthood’s sale of baby body parts, and alteration of abortion practices in order to procure them, was “doctored.” Pelosi was asked if she had actually seen the videos. She had not.
No one… no one who has actually watched these undercover videos, can doubt the validity of Daleiden’s reporting. In it we hear Planned Parenthood directors bargaining for higher prices. We hear them admitting to changing the way individual abortions are conducted on individual women according to what body parts are in demand on that particular day. You cannot put these words in people’s mouths. And all the while, our nation’s leaders refuse to hear. They refuse to know.
And this week, David Daleiden was indicted.
“If you stand firmly opposed to overwhelming destructive power, you expose yourself to destruction.”
Proverbs 24:11-12 reads,
Rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to die;
save them as they stagger to their death.
Don’t excuse yourself by saying, “Look, we didn’t know.”
For God understands all hearts, and he sees you.
He who guards your soul knows you knew.
He will repay all people as their actions deserve.
The story of Le Chambon is a challenge from history. The Book of Proverbs voices a challenge from the God of history, the One who “guards our souls.” What exactly are we guarding? Are we shielding our eyes from the destruction of innocents, or are we shielding innocents from destruction? Choosing the latter invites the risk of sharing in their destruction. But as Proverbs asserts, we have not been left alone. How can we respond fearlessly? In our own family… in our place of worship… in our nation?
When Daniel Trocmé was taken away to a Nazi camp, the whole village lined the streets and sang to him Martin Luther’s great hymn, “A Mighty Fortress.” It includes this verse:
“And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us:
The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.”
How will we answer the challenge of history and the challenge of the Scriptures to protect the innocents? Whatever ‘destruction’ that defending the defenseless may invite, it will not have the last word. The apostle Peter says, “Live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear.” (1 Peter 1:17 NIV) God will have the last word. Do we dare to ask Him how to respond to the destruction in our own day? Do we dare not ask?
Marcia Lebhar is the wife of the first bishop of the Anglican Gulf Atlantic Diocese, and is the author of a collection of essays entitled, The Bare Branch. Marcia writes a column, Discipleship Journal, for the Gulf Atlantic Diocesan website.
