"Arbeit Mact Frei" was the inscription welded into the iron, which translated means "Work Brings Freedom." I was at eye level with those words as I pushed the heavy gate open. My stomach turned as I contemplated the vast number of men just like me who had trudged through this same place on their way to uncertainty, hard labor, and eventual death.
As my wife and I made our way through the Dachau Concentration camp in Germany, my thoughts whirled. How could humans treat other humans with such disgust and contempt? Men, women, and children were mercilessly herded together by the thousands and put into concentration camps just like this one. Thousands upon thousands died horrible deaths at the hands of taunting, sneering soldiers and commanders. Thousands more
lived on, suffering the psychological and emotional trauma of encountering human beings that would stoop so low.
As I was pushing my wife's wheelchair along the cobblestone, it occurred to me that she would have been one of the first to be disposed of, had she entered this camp in another time and place. People with disabilities were quickly and permanently terminated because they were viewed as burdens to society.
As I studied the pictures and viewed the appalling evidence, it slowly came to me that every human being has the potential to mistreat others. Every one of us, (if left to our own sinfulness) could end up in a place where we treated other human beings with disdain and detachment. It begins with feeling prejudice towards another individual.
The definition of prejudice includes having a preconceived judgment toward someone else based on their race, gender, social class, ethnicity, age, disability, and more. If you've never had a prejudice thought toward another human being, you can stop reading this message now and move on with your day.
If however you are like me, and have (from time to time) mentally put people into neat little categories, the message that God gave me for this morning is for us. Here it is:
God doesn't make garbage!
If we truly internalize that message, we will ask Him to take us to higher ground, and view people through His lens instead of our own. It's a high calling and we'll only be capable of it if God is in control. Please re-read John 3:16-17 for clarification of who Jesus came to die for. It bears repeating over and over again.
I humbly challenge you to think deeply about the fact that God loves every single one of us.
Have a great day and God bless!
