180 Degrees: Lest We Forget

80 Years Ago

Math Joke: Why was the math book sad? It had a lot of problems. 

When I think of my grandpa, it always amazes me that he was born before World War 2. Only by a month, but it counts. He was alive during the reign of Hitler. When my grandpa was born, Hitler appeared to be doing good things. The world wasn’t aware of the evil that was yet to come. In fact, that’s why my grandpa’s parents even named him Adolf. (A name that’s now illegal in many countries.)

Why do I bring this up? Because it’s with deep sadness that I watch the world forget the horrors of war. For example, the number of people who have forgotten the Holocaust is staggering. And when we forget, history repeats itself. Here are a few findings from a 2020 survey by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.

• 48% of U.S. Millennials and Gen Z could not name a single concentration camp.

• 63% did not know six million Jews were murdered.

• 11% believe the Jews caused the Holocaust.

• 30% say they’ve seen Nazi symbols on social media or in their community.

The one ray of hope is that 80% of those surveyed believe it’s important to continue teaching about the Holocaust.

Now my purpose here isn’t to get political or to pinpoint just one of the atrocities that has occurred. Looking at the wars raging worldwide, you’ll see that human nature is forgetful.

The disciples wrote Jesus’ words in the gospels so the world would not forget. History was recorded so we wouldn’t forget. But human nature says otherwise. To understand Jesus’ view, we must shift our mindset…

180 Degrees

Forgetfulness is frustrating, but if it’s allowed to continue, it can be catastrophic. It’s partially why the 20th century saw countless failed military and Communist regimes. We forgot the consequences, which paved the way for the devil’s agents to take control.

As we remember the 80th anniversary of V-E Day (Victory in Europe), let us not forget. In the same way, let us not forget Jesus’ teachings. It’s because the world forgot His words and gave into human nature that these things happened.

Before We Forget

Whenever my pastor incorporates statistics into a message, he reminds us that “Numbers represent people.” It’s shockingly easy to ignore the vastness of a number like 75,000,000 (an approximation of those who died in WW2). Let me use some stretched examples:

• If you destroyed 75,000,000 houses in the United States, every other house would be gone.
• If everyone who perished in WW2 were an American, 1 in 5 would have died.
• If everyone who perished in WW2 were a Canadian, everyone would have died twofold.

We cannot afford to forget the consequences of war. Wars kill millions of people, but they fracture millions more families, homes, and communities. And they cost trillions. If the countries of the world were to invest the money they spend on war into helping the economy, they could make their countries as prosperous as they want them to be, without obtaining land and resources via war.

On paper, numbers may just be numbers. But those numbers represent people whom Jesus wants to reach. We cannot forget the cost of war, both in this life and in the life to come. WW2 cost Jesus millions of human lives. That is far too great a price.

Before we forget, numbers represent people.

When We Forget

The moment we forget the past, we set ourselves up for repeat. The moment children forget the sting of punishment, they repeat their actions. The moment we forget what God has done for us, we hop back to sin.

I’m not saying all fighting is evil. Ecclesiastes 3 tells us that there is a time for war and a time for peace. God doesn’t forbid war to defend those who cannot defend themselves. God does forbid war for material gain, and this is what cost Saul the kingship. If God were against war, He couldn’t have called David a man after His own heart. David killed thousands, but not for glory. David fought to protect God’s people.

I would love a world without war. However, until Jesus returns, we have a duty to help those who cannot help themselves (Matthew 25:34-40). In WW2, the Nazis oppressed the Jews. At that time, the Jews had no way of defending themselves. Not helping them would have been a sin against God (Matthew 25:41-45). We have that same responsibility to help the oppressed.

When we forget, the past repeats itself.

After We Forget

We live in a society that loves moving on to the next thing, and the thing after that, and after that. For social media trends and sports scores, fine. For major historical events, never.

First, people need truth from a reliable source. Society must learn our history, and they must realize the cost our soldiers paid for freedom. When we forget what others did for us, we embrace the prideful ideology of “I’m here because of what I’ve done.”

The second we forget the cost of sin, war, and oppression is the second the next oppressor rises. The world must know the consequences of men like Adolf Hitler, Augusto Pinochet, Benito Mussolini, Chairman Mao, Francisco Franco, Idi Amin, Joseph Stalin, Kim Il-Sung, Pol Pot, and so forth. Unfortunately, I think you’ll be hard-pressed to find many youths who know more than half of those names.

After we forget, we forget what happened after.

Lest We Forget

In the words of George Santayana, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” While the world may forget the consequences of war (as we see today), we cannot let the world forget Jesus. Only by His power can war be vanquished for all time. As we commemorate 80 years since WW2, we can’t give ourselves false hope that war won’t happen again. It has and it is. Jesus is our hope for salvation, not the latest ICBM or peace treaty.

I think it’s ironic that church attendance rose during WW2. It’s almost like people need something to turn to when confronted with the reality of death, fear, and destruction. It’s on us as Christians to keep pointing them in the right direction.

Lest we forget the sacrifices of those who died to protect our world. Lest we forget those who died in World War 2. Lest we forget the Holocaust. Lest we forget the cost of unchecked power in human hands. Lest we forget Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice. One day Jesus will return and fight the war to end all wars. That is our hope. Until that day, lest we forget.

As Canadian physician John McCrae wrote during the First World War…

“Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw. The torch; be yours to hold it high, if ye break faith with us who die. We shall not sleep, though poppies grow in Flanders fields.”