Eric Metaxas: What is going on in our
country? Why all the anger and hatred? As Chuck Colson reminds us, the answer is
as old as humanity.
In the wake of the events in Charlottesville, a
national argument is underway. I’d like to say it’s a national debate, but no
one seems to be listening to each other. So, who’s to blame for the racism,
identity politics, and escalating violence and on and on?
Well, earlier this week on this program, speaking
about Charlottesville, John Stonestreet got to the root of the problem. It’s
called the Fall.
“Understanding the biblical concept of the Fall,”
John said, “keeps us from finding the enemy only in the other, as if the problem
is always outside of ourselves. No, as Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn wrote, ‘the line
dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human
being.’”
John is absolutely right. And what he said reminded
me of a brilliant BreakPoint commentary delivered by Chuck Colson way back in
1994 about Nazi war criminal Adolph Eichmann. Why do human beings perpetrate
evil? It’s the Eichmann in all of us.
Here’s Chuck Colson:
Chuck: For you and me, the answer to that
question is as close as our faith, as close as our own hearts. Christians, of
all people, should never be surprised at the evil that infects every human
being—even the most ordinary of people.
A dramatic illustration of this truth took place
thirty years ago, when Israeli agents captured Adolph Eichmann, one of the
masterminds of the Nazi holocaust, and brought him to Israel to stand trial for
his crimes.
Among the witnesses called to testify against
Eichmann was a small, haggard man named Yehiel Dinur. He had survived brutal
torture in the death camp at Auschwitz. Dinur entered the courtroom and he
stared at the man who had presided over the slaughter of millions— including
many of Dinur’s own friends.
As the eyes of the victim met those of the mass
murderer, the courtroom fell silent. Then, suddenly, Dinur literally collapsed
to the floor, sobbing violently.
Was he overcome by hatred? By memories of the stark
evil that Eichmann had committed?
No. As Dinur explained later in a riveting
interview on “60 Minutes,” what struck him was that Eichmann did not look like
an evil monster at all; he looked like an ordinary person. Just like anyone
else. In that moment, Dinur said, “I realized that evil is endemic to the human
condition—that any one of us could commit the same
atrocities.”
In a remarkable conclusion, Dinur said: “Eichmann
is in all of us.”
This is what the Bible means when it talks about
sin. In our therapeutic culture, people cringe when they hear words like evil
and sin. We’d prefer to talk about people as victims of dysfunctional
backgrounds. But there are times when it becomes obvious that those categories
are simply insufficient—times when the evil in the human heart breaks through
the veneer of polite society and shows us its terrifying
face.
Eric Metaxas: Folks, what happened in
Charlottesville will be the focus of a lot of talk for the foreseeable
future—especially as protests and counter protests pop up around the country.
So, as Chuck went on to say, why not use these events “as an opportunity to
press home to your family and your friends the profound truth of the biblical
teaching on sin.” That the events unfolding on our TV screens and newsfeeds
“ought to remind us that all of us are in revolt against God,” and that the
“only salvation for any of us is repentance and grace.”
The Eichmann in All of Us: Chuck Colson on the Root
of Evil
Chuck’s comments are a reminder of the
apostle Paul’s words in his letter to the Roman church. “For the wages of sin is
death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Eric
has encouraged us to proclaim Christ’s grace and forgiveness as we repent and
trust in Him–the only antidote to evil. Breakpoint.
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