IFA celebrates 50 years with a conference and gala this week. Eric Metaxas is a keynote speaker, so we bring you this article again. 

Eric Metaxas’ most recent book, Letter to the American Church, gives hope for a true revival in America that transforms the culture and brings the nation’s people to a knowledge of Jesus. Drawing from the rich resources of research for his 2011 biography, Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy, Metaxas chronicles the attempts of the young pastor, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, as he repeatedly spoke truth to the German Church, warning them of the impending dangers of being compliant while a rogue government took shape under their watch. The prophetic message Bonhoeffer delivered to the German Church speaks to us today. Their failure cost the loss of over 70 million people who died in WWII, including the lives of 6 million Jews. Will the American church fail to act as the German Church did? If we do not act, our fate could be worse than the German Church’s. Metaxas makes it clear; the church of this nation holds the key to whether America survives as a nation or succumbs to cultural and political defeat.

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The introduction’s first two sentences state Metaxas’ purpose for writing Letter to the American Church. I have written this book because I am convinced the American Church is at an impossibly – and almost unbearably – important inflection point. The parallels to where the German Church was in the 1930s are unavoidable and grim.

Metaxas dishes out a heavy dose of encouragement backed by historical reality to shock the reader to realize the urgency of the hour in which we live. If an American believer sincerely desires to stand against evil, circumvent our loss of freedoms, redeem our culture, and bring about a revival, Letter to the American Church, is a must-read book.

To educate and embolden believers, Metaxas gives us some definitive actions. We are to:

• Be the Church – Dietrich Bonhoeffer called the German Church to actually be the church in its day, not only by living a dedicated life but also by standing against political evil. A true church will act against injustice at every level of society.
• Listen to the Prophets – Dietrich Bonhoeffer was the prophetic voice, not only for the German Church of his day but also for today’s American church. Metaxas brings Bonhoeffer’s prophetic voice forward to speak to a weak American church that has shrunk back into its proper religious sphere, to come forward and speak out against the prevailing evils of our day i.e., transgenderism, abortion, wokeness, corruption, Diversity Equity, and Inclusion, etc.

• Speak out while there is a window of time to do so – In 1919, Hitler issued his first paper on the Jewish Question, in which he stated, the ultimate goal must definitely be the removal of the Jews altogether. The German Church remained silent. By the time the Nazis implemented their Final Solution and began systematically killing Jews in 1941, the window of time when small actions of resistance by the German Church would have made an enormous difference had closed.
• Overcome being silent in the face of wickedness – Metaxas reminds us cowardice begets cowardice, and courage begets courage. Failure to speak out creates what German sociologist and political scientist Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann calls a Spiral of Silence; the price of speaking rises when people fail to speak. Fewer and fewer people speak out until a whole nation is silenced.
• Get Political – The German Church shrunk from entering the political fray to resist the Nazis. He quotes Bonhoeffer, who said in his book The Cost of Discipleship, It is high time we broke with our theologically based restraint towards the state’s actions – which, after all, is only fear. ‘Speak out for those who cannot speak.’ Who in the church today realizes that this is the very least the Bible requires of us? Sadly, the German Church relied on its faith alone to change the government and therefore failed to thwart the tide of evil that knocked at its door.
• Realize evangelism is not the only goal of the church – Metaxas refers to one of the main failings of the church when evangelism as its only goal. God calls the church to enter every sphere of society to transform the culture to reflect the plans and purposes of God.
• Know our works must support our faith – It’s not enough to say we have faith without the works to support it. Bonhoeffer called faith without works Cheap Grace. That is grace that costs us nothing and gives no reason for the world around us to change, for Cheap Grace makes the Christian look like the world.
• Rally the American churches to speak as one voice against evil, injustice, and government anti-Christian policies – In an effort to separate the German Church from the rogue Nazi government, Bonhoeffer and several other theologians drafted the Barmen Declaration that stated the German state must not and could not co-opt the Church, that the sanctity and separation of the Church from the state must be clear. Of the approximate 18,000 German Churches, 6,000 signed the Barmen Declaration. This group became known as the Confessing Church. Once the persecution of the Confessing Church began, their number dwindled to about 3,000 who stood strongly against Hitler. Metaxas points out that the group with the strongest voice was the 12,000 churches that remained silent.

Metaxas repeatedly reminds us that Bonhoeffer’s words are an indictment of the American Church today. The only difference between us and the German Church of that time is that we have been able to see what happens when the Church does not do what God calls it to do. We have the example of the German Church in his day as a warning. Therefore, if we do not rise to the occasion now and do what God asks of us, shall we wonder whose sin is the greater?

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Nancy Huff is an educator with a mission to equip believers to pray strategically for the Cultural Mountain of Education. She has authored Taking the Mountain of Education: A Strategic Prayer Guide to Transform America’s Schools, Safety Zone: Scriptural Prayers to Revolutionize Your School, and Decrees for Your School. She leads prayer groups to pray at key educational locations across the US. For additional information, go to: https://takingthemountainofeducation.com. Photo Credit: Daniel Tseng on Unsplash.