The Image In My Head and Heart
I’m currently in Washington, DC attending an educational workshop at the Holocaust Museum to foster healthier Christian-Jewish relationships, biblical teaching, and interfaith dialogue. My group has around seventeen members and consists of Jewish rabbis, pastors, priests, seminary students, lay people, and chaplains from around the United States. The first thing we are required to do is visit the museum by ourselves so we can sit with the complexity and heaviness of this event and reflect on it uninterpreted.
Several themes and concepts in JR Woodward’s book, The Scandal of Leadership, illustrate quite nicely what happened in Germany during the Holocaust. Much of Woodward’s book cautions Christian leaders to avoid the allure of crowds and the powers, ideologies, and systems of the predominant culture which he identifies as idolatry. One thing that stuck out to me during a workshop session was a graph that showed how Germany identified religiously at the time these events were taking place.
Protestant (63%)
Roman Catholic (32%)
No religion (2%)
Judaism (1%)
Other Christian groups (1%)
Other religions (1%)
Unfortunately, the “crowd” in this case identified as Christian, at least in name, which causes me to pause and take seriously what Woodward argues in his book, “the more people, the less truth”.[i] The crowd, Christian or not, is not always right. However, although the majority of Germany did claim the Christian faith, there were many pastors, clergy, and Christians who embodied the gospel through action by hiding, feeding, transporting, protecting, and taking care of Jews, and other persecuted groups, at the risk of their lives. These people, as our book stresses, chose Christ as their model and entered into suffering on behalf of others at the expense of their own reputation, social status, finances, and lives.
I realize this is a heavy and complex topic to connect to Woodward’s book, but that is where I am this week, and to be fair Woodward’s book is heavy, complex, and dense. At the end of the Holocaust tour, there is a wall of names and some individuals are highlighted with a photo and a longer description. Most of the rescuers highlighted were Christian of some sort which reflects the stats mentioned earlier. There were Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Calvinists, Baptists, etc. Although there were multiple denominations some people “got it” and some did not. Affiliation with the group did not guarantee catching the heart of Jesus. Some professing Christians desired to follow and imitate Christ and some professing Christians followed the crowd and were taken by the propaganda and manipulation of the Nazi party. I would like to think I would be on the right side of history, but we are all susceptible to deception and self-preservation. This is me taking our reading, seeing a historical situation that supports much of its theories, and realizing how susceptible we all are to the crowd as humans. Woodward says, “Humans are captive to imitation, especially through mimetic desire, and there can be no neutrality: not to imitate Christ is to imitate the Powers, and when this happens, it leads to bondage, idolatry, and injustice, manifested by domineering leadership.”[ii] What does this sound like?
Connection to my NPO
This workshop is not the first time I’ve studied the Holocaust. One realization that I had in graduate school years ago was the value of historical criticism. There is a section in Woodward’s book concerning Wink’s analysis of higher criticism that articulated and further unpacked some things I have noticed about this discipline which is helpful for my NPO. Walter Wink was denied tenure because he claimed “Historical biblical criticism is bankrupt”.[iii] Woodward goes on to clarify that Wink did not believe biblical criticism was “valueless”, and he says “His hermeneutic was to address the strong disconnect between the academy and communities of faith.” Critically analyzing the Bible detached from faith or a spiritual community can result in a lifeless, dry, and even cynical approach to the Bible. However, reading the Bible in a faith community without the aid of historical biblical criticism can be unwise and even dangerous in some situations.
Connecting back to the Holocaust, when I first engaged this topic I wondered, “Why were the Jews so hated and targeted in Germany?” This is a long, complicated, and multilayered topic. Woodward talks about Rene Girard’s mimesis theory and scapegoating, and this is an unfortunate case when Jews were blamed by Nazi Germany for many of its issues, but a factor that emerges was certain theologies and biblical interpretations that provided a seedbed for antisemitism to evolve.
Much of the propaganda against Jews depicted them as devils and part of this idea can be traced to certain interpretations of verses like John 8:44 where Jesus says to “the Jews”, “You are from your father the devil, and you choose to do your father’s desires”. Context and historical biblical criticism matters. There is much to unpack here, but this was an intra-Jewish debate between two parties that were Jewish, however, later in history when non-Jewish Christians read and interpreted these verses on the surface it was easy to construct a lens of animosity and even hate toward this group. The later date John’s Gospel was written also plays a major factor in making sense of what might be happening here.
In Rare Leadership, Marcus Warner argues that intimacy with God or spiritual formation is key in forming who we are as leaders.[iv] I agree. However, the image of Jesus we have in our heads and hearts is largely shaped through Scripture and how our faith communities interpret and read it. History has shown how various people groups have used the same book and passages to construct an image of God that brings both beauty and madness into our world. We must go beyond just simply reading the text at face value. Higher biblical criticism, within a faith community, not detached from it, allows for us to move beyond an “ancient worldview” to an integral one that Woodward models in this book.
Questions I’m pondering
What image of Jesus do I have in my mind and heart to imitate?
What denomination or interpretation has shaped it the most? What makes it accurate?
How does my and others spiritual experience feed into this?
Which image of Jesus would compel me to hide Jews in my home at my own expense and which one would allow me to remain detached?
[i] JR Woodward, The Scandal of Leadership: Unmasking the Powers of Domination in the Church (Cody, WY: 100 Movements Publishing, 2023),xxx.
[ii] Woodward, The Scandal of Leadership, 289.
[iii] Ibid., 62.
[iv] Wilder, Jim, and Marcus Warner. Rare Leadership in the Workplace: 4 Uncommon Habits That Improve Focus, Engagement, and Productivity. Chicago: Northfield Publishing, 2021.
About the Author
Adam Harris
I am currently the Associate Pastor at a church called Godwhy in Hendersonville, TN near Nashville. We love questions and love people even more. Our faith community embraces God and education wholeheartedly. I graduated from Oral Roberts University for undergrad and Vanderbilt for my masters. I teach historical critical Biblical studies at my church to help our community through their questions and ultimately deepen their faith. I love research, writing, learning, and teaching. I oversee our staff and leadership development. Before being at Godwhy I worked as a regional sales coach and director for Anytime Fitness. I've been married for over 13 years to my best friend and we have two amazing boys that keep us busy.9 responses to “The Image In My Head and Heart”
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I found it interesting how you connected Woodard’s book with the holocaust and how Christians utilized misinterpretations of scripture to justify their horrific treatment of Jews. This week I am preaching on dismantling white privilege and found Woodard’s book to be super helpful, especially his exegesis of Philippians 2, in writing the sermon. Any time we seek to imitate the principalities and powers instead of Christ and the way of the cross we will fall into trying to dominate another. I hadn’t connected this to the holocaust and appreciate you widening the lens for me.
Yeah it was good timing. I would read this book each morning before going into class at the museum and couldn’t help but see some parallels. What a heavy week. I think I’m realizing more and more that “how” we interpret our Sacred texts reveals as much about our heart as it does what we are reading or interpreting. Thanks for the response Kally!
Hi Adam,
I appreciate how you connected Woodward’s book to such a challenging historical event and to your NPO, noting how our image of Jesus informs and interprets such events. It is easier to see the damage done in retrospect and even harder to imagine what our choices would be given influences, group associations, and interpretations of scripture. I love where you landed on tending to our image of Jesus and the questions you are pondering. I am pondering them as well. Do you have a favorite or compelling image of Jesus from scripture that you’re inspired to imitate? Really great post!
Thanks Jenny, these passages and verses shape my view of Jesus the most:
Jesus is asked in Luke 10 how to inherit eternal life and he gives the two great commandments and follows it up with the good Samaritan story.
Love your enemies, pray for your persecutors, and bless those who curse you.
The story of the two sons.
There are MANY more, but these come to mind first.
You?
Hi Adam,
Luke 10 is one of my favorites as well! I have been on a 2 1/2 year journey through the gospel of Luke using lectio divina with two small groups so I am my currently taking a slow look at Jesus in Luke 24. How he attends to the two distressed disciples on the road to Emmaus and later his appearance to the Eleven and others by asking simple questions, giving them freedom to feel their emotions, speak of what troubled their souls, walking with them, and then revealing himself at the table has been very impactful for me. Jesus didn’t rush to fix, he stayed present to them as they were, and then offered what they needed to believe…explanations and proof. He isn’t rushed, but gentle and very attentive to their needs. That is leadership in chaotic times!
Adam, this is a great (and sober) post. I loved your questions at the end, especially the last one.
I can’t help but wonder if today in the US we have a crowd of people who identify as Christian who are a lot like the German population that ushers in Naziism. I see so many historical correlations it’s a bit scary. But what is more frightening to me is that their version of Jesus (that my version of pastor has preached, or at least allowed) is the kind of Jesus who would lead to this reality.
Thanks again for the thought provoking post.
Thanks Tim, it’s been a heavy but enlightening week. I couldn’t help but think about Woodward’s quote, “The greater the crowd the less the truth” or something along those lines. When I saw that Christian percentage stat, it really stuck with me for the week. I agree, the correlations are a bit scary. After looking at passages theologians and pastors used to support anti-Semitism and how that grew over time I also think the Bible needs a sticker on the front that says, “Handle with extreme care”. Such a powerful book. Thanks for the response man!
“However, although the majority of Germany did claim the Christian faith, there were many pastors, clergy, and Christians who embodied the gospel through action by hiding, feeding, transporting, protecting, and taking care of Jews, and other persecuted groups, at the risk of their lives.” I am wondering if this phrase applies still today?
Also when you said “However, the image of Jesus we have in our heads and hearts is largely shaped through Scripture and how our faith communities interpret and read it.” I agree, that is why we need to be very careful about vetting the places and people we do this with. I wonder if I find myself wanting to find people who think like me or if I’d be better off with diversity of thought and experiences. This is why I love Lectio Devina. I think maybe our consumer church hopping does not lend to the right kind of diversity as we try to understand scripture?
Adam’
This was such a powerful, well written and heavy post. You posed 5 questions at the conclusion of your post, of the 5, the final one has me really thinking about my own response. You posed, “Which image of Jesus would compel me to hide Jews in my home at my own expense and which one would allow me to remain detached?” This is such a difficult question to answer. We are faced with so many considerations that affect our action. Yet should me consider anything other than what is right, and just and humane and Christian? I don’t have a pure answer.