Singing Louder

“I lived in Germany during the Nazi Holocaust. I considered myself a Christian. We heard stories of what was happening to Jews, but we tried to distance ourselves from it because what could we do to stop it. A railroad track ran behind our small church and each Sunday morning we could hear the whistle in the distance, and then the wheels coming over the tracks. We became disturbed when we heard the cries coming from the train as it passed by. We realized that it was carrying Jews like cattle in the cars. Week after week the whistle would blow. We dreaded to hear the sound of those wheels because we knew that we would hear the cries of the Jews in route to a death camp. Their screams tormented us. We knew the time the train was coming, and when we heard the whistle blow, we began singing hymns. By the time the train came past our church, we were singing at the top of our voices. If we heard the screams, we sang more loudly and soon we heard them no more.”

Last night, I remembered this story and it caused me to think:  What are some of the ways that I "sing louder" today?  Are there ways that I ignore the hurt in this world because getting my hands dirty is inconvenient - and messy?

I sing louder when I change the channel whenever I see a documentary on starving children (out-of sight, out of mind).  I sing louder when I know that a lot of goods that I buy were produced by slave labor, but it's too much research and money to buy things that are fair trade.  I sing louder when I essentially ignore the hurting because I am "too busy" to get involved.  By "busy" I mean things that I want to do - but that won't really matter even a year from now.  I am so tired of singing louder.

But, why do I sing louder?  I think sometimes I sing louder because it is easier.  I think sometimes I sing louder because I don't know where to start.  I think sometimes I sing louder because I have convinced myself that the things that I am  busy doing are really important.  I think I sing louder because I think that I can't make a difference.  I think I sing louder cause, "Jesus doesn't want me to feel guilty, does he?"  (often by "guilty", I mean any unpleasant emotion - like, just feeling bad for others - which is technically a form of compassion, rather than guilt).

My Savior didn't "sing louder" over me.  He sacrificed Himself for me.

As a Christ-follower, I don't want to sing louder anymore.