949 On being silent

Florida Cracker has noted the famous poem “The Hangman” at her site, which was used as the text in a 1963, 12 minute film about the Holocaust. It appears in many Social Studies curricula for school children, to point out the dangers of cooperating with evil, because when the Hangman comes for you, all your friends and neighbors who could have saved you are gone. As a blogger for Terri, she is pointing out that this issue is bigger than one handicapped woman.

At another site, a lay pastor has used "The Hangman” as the form for his poem “The Deceiver.” In this poem, Satan dressed up in the name of Jesus visits a small gospel, Bible-centered church where even the little ones know right from wrong. One by one the Deceiver takes out the believers.

He takes out a deacon by blessing him the "gift" of laughter and barking; he pulls the “Purpose” sign out of the yard; reads to the congregation from a paraphrased Bible; brings in a rock band to replace the hymns and so forth. Finally, when there is only one man left to finally speak up and protest, the Deceiver says:

Then a twinkle grew in the eye of lead.
"Lied to you? Tricked you? Of course I did.
But I answered once and I told you true,
My best disciple is none but you.

"For who has served me more faithfully
Than you with your silence?" gloated he,
"And where are the doctrines that once stood
To help you to know and choose the good?"

"Changed," I whispered, and hatefully,
"Corrupted," Deceiver corrected me:
"Bible, salvation, Spirit too...
I did no more than you let me do."

In the silence, Deceiver said with a yawn,
"My work is done here. I'll move on."
And he left me scornfully in the lurch,
And no prayers rose from the empty church.
By Mike Fischer

And so, many churches who could have spoken out, have kept silent. They are empty of believers.