“…for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on the unhistoric acts;
and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been,
is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life,
and rest in unvisited tombs.” - George Eliot, Middlemarch
In light of the federal persecution, the ongoing trial, and the prospect of spending my remaining days in federal prison, we re-watched A Hidden Life recently. This 2019 movie, written and directed by Terrence Malick, is a moving cinematic experience on many fronts and to be highly recommended.
The natural beauty of the Austrian mountains is enough to captivate any audience. But, when one contrasts the evil being leveled against the humans inhabiting this heavenly landscape it adds another dimension in understanding the incorporeal battle we are engaged in.
The Austrian, Franz Jägerstätter, is more than just a conscientious objector. He is one who is motivated by doing what is right in God’s eyes. One who values truth and standing for it. Throughout the movie he is seeking to reconcile the evil being perpetrated by the Nazis upon humanity during Hitler’s reign and his response too the supernatural forces behind it.
Franz, unlike most of his contemporaries, understood the eternal nature of his response to those forces. He could not swear the required oath to be loyal and serve Hitler when he was drafted into the war machine. He understood he was responsible for his actions and for every word that proceeded from his mouth. For that; he was arrested, kept in prison, tortured, and ultimately executed.
It is hard for we enlightened 21st century thinkers, who have been told everything is about some future eternal abode somewhere else, to understand the historic understanding of our Christian faith as it pertains our eternal vocational calling taking place here and now. But the spiritual reality is our actions and our decisions impact the world around us. The spiritual truth we believe, when manifested in the material world where we live, has a profound impact on both the seen and unseen world around us.
The difficulty is not a culture that doesn’t believe in God. The challenge is we often confuse the testimony of our lips with the testimony of our lives.
As the title of the movie and this post indicates, the lives of people who live by faith may not be seen by the world, they may be hidden. They may pass in obscurity and anonymity through the culture around them. But there are those glorious incorporeal beings who watch every move we humans make. We either give testimony to the truth of God in the world or deny it by our actions.
Very few people know there have been an estimated 77,000 Christians arrested since Roe v Wade was handed down in 1973. These were average church goers who looked into the political and cultural discussion around abortion and were filled with horror at what we as a nation were allowing. What we were promoting. What we as a nation came to demand. They knew something should be done. They understood that innocent babies where being ripped apart inside their mothers wombs across our nation. But what power does one man or woman have in the face of such brutal and violent bloodshed? What can one person do?
One person can love their neighbor as themselves. These people did not launch a movement to defy and resist the government. They simply did the only thing the government left them with. They laid down their freedoms and identified with our unborn brothers and sisters. They peacefully and non-violently laid down their lives at abortion clinic doors across this nation. They understood, to be a witness against the violence hidden away in the abortionist chambers, someone would have to speak for those who have no voice. Someone would need to be a living testimony against that evil. Someone would have to be willing to sacrifice.
Not only were many arrested for sitting down at an abortion clinic door in an attempt to save the children physically, tens of thousands of Christians rallied to their cause in a thousand different ways.
Instead of going to the lake or a weekend sporting event, families would take their children and travel to the local abortion clinic to pray and to talk with moms seeking abortions. Many rescued babies were adopted by Christian families who brought them into their home and made them part of their family. Hundreds of thousands gave financially to save the unborn at the expense of their own retirement and investment funds, and many other worldly goods. They gave up these material trinkets along with their reputation, dignity, and many times their own physical safety. They gave all these worldly goods and fleshly desires up and came to the place where babies died. They came to minister to a stranger who they did not know. There was no vested interest in these strangers other than their shared humanity. They did this and many many more acts of sacrifice and mercy for 5 decades in light of the bloodshed unleashed by Roe V. Wade.
How many of these people do we know? How many of these people received awards from their community for the sacrifices they made? How many received invitations to be interviewed in the media or were honored in the halls of our distinguished institutions of government or higher education? Why would people in vast numbers perform these sacrificial acts? The scriptures tell us, “True religion is to visit the widow and the orphan”. They did these acts because they were motivated by their eternal vocation as citizens of heaven.
Where they “successful”?
We may not have scientific data and charts that show a materialistic correlation between the number of hours spent praying at an abortion clinic and the number of years it took to over turn Roe. We may not be able to prove scientifically how many babies were saved by the sacrificial living of Christians. We do know this. There are babies alive today because Christian’s sacrificed. We know the world is a better place because the evil of abortion did not and still does not go unchallenged. We know that in addition to the angels watching the world through their eternal lens, there are also an estimated 50,000,000 children who see the love that has been and is being shown on their behalf. When their own mothers and fathers abandoned them, sometimes a lone Christian standing on a sidewalk or sitting at the abortion center door was the only love shown to that child in this world.
So the question should not be framed in the materialistic view of success. Rather, the first question is, were these people faithful to love their neighbor as themselves? Has our culture been faithful to the truth? Have we been faithful in our eternal calling? Do we live for the world and all the clamors of fame, honor, and wealth or do we live for eternity? Are we living for “the ministry we received of the Lord”?
And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there:
Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me.
But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
Acts 20:22-24
Notice Paul does not base his decisions on material factors. But he has one goal in mind, to finish the race. Sometimes it costs. Sometimes it is hard. Sometimes living in light of eternity in a fallen world is a fearful thing. The reality is the spiritual world is the foundation upon which the physical world is based. While our life may seem insignificant in the material realm, every decision, every word, and every action is significant in the spiritual realm.
We may pass through this world living a very basic simple life. We may not be known by men of means or authority. We may not move in the circles of political powers. But through obedient grace, we may move in the circles of spiritual powers that can overthrow nations. The powers that can cast down principalities and power and every high thing that exalts itself above God. Perhaps those with a material focus won’t notice our life well lived. Perhaps we won’t see the fruit of our sacrifices.
I questions if Franz knew the impact of his decision to stand up to evil in Nazi Germany. He may have died without fully understanding the impact his suffering and sacrificial life had on the world. I doubt he knew that you and I would be looking at his life today and examining it as an hidden life. But then again, perhaps his life was only hidden to those who live in the material world and don’t have eyes to see the glory of the eternal victory and the crown reserved for those who serve Christ.