Integrity
Posted by: ba <ba@...>
http://www.forthright.net
Straight to the Cross
COLUMN: Fidelity
Integrity
by Mike Benson
Rudolf was the product of a very religious home.
As an adult, he was a quiet, mild-mannered family
man.
History records that he was also an adept farmer.
Much of his success in agriculture was due to a
strict emphasis to detail, and not just his
prowess with seed and soil. An acquaintance in
government took note of Rudolf's proficiency in
the field and offered him a position in the
current administration. As expected, he proved
himself to be a capable leader. In staccato-like
fashion, Rudolf enjoyed a rapid series of
promotions up the political hierarchy.
He was a man bound by habit. Each morning began
with breakfast with his wife and five children. On
his way to work, he would stop momentarily and
enjoy the sweet fragrance of the blooms in his
well-tended flower garden. He followed a strict
work ethic; his days were filled with a routine of
staff meetings, decisions, gathering information
and issuing directives to his subordinates. At the
close of his shift, Rudolf would return home to
the warm embrace of his adoring helpmate. His
children happily greeted him upon his arrival,
because he often brought them little gifts from
work.
His loyalty and dedication earned him the trust of
the highest ranking official in the party. In
1940, he was assigned to a post 37 miles west of
Krakow at the largest factory of its kind in
southern Poland. Despite the relentless demands of
his employer, Rudolf was able to meet his daily
quota of ten thousand "units". In fact, he
performed his job so well that he was commended in
a report that called him "a true pioneer...because
of his new ideas and educational methods."
From the bedroom window of his cozy home in the
country, Rudolf could see the smoke stacks where
he worked. The dark plumes that filled the air day
in and day out served as silent testimony to his
efficiency and diligence as a plant manager. Under
his watchful eye (and the incessant prodding of
his boss — Adolph Hitler), the Auschwitz death
camp systematically exterminated somewhere in
upwards of 2.5—3 million lives.
That's right. Rudolf Franz Ferdinand Hoess -
"Death Dealer". The hard-working "business"
manager. The loving husband. The gracious father
who tucked his kids into bed each night. The man
whose father had brought him up to be a Catholic
priest. And the chief architect and SS Commandant
of the largest killing center ever perpetrated
against mankind.
In May 1941, SS Commander Heinrich Himmler
informed Hoess that the Fuhrer had given orders
for "the final solution to the Jewish question".1/
Hoess understood and installed huge gas chambers
and a crematoria. Within a short time, mass murder
was conducted on an industrial scale. Hundreds of
thousands were poisoned with cyanide gas Zyklon B.
Hundreds of thousands were tortured, shot, or
burned to death. A half million or more died from
starvation and disease. Still others, including
children, were handed over to so-called camp
doctors. "Patients" were forced into pressure
chambers, injected with experimental drugs,
castrated, frozen to death and exposed to hosts of
other agonizing traumas.
How could Hoess not see the blatant
inconsistencies in his life? How could he overlook
the glaring moral contradictions? How could he
count mountains of ghastly corpses, and then go
home to the tender affections of his wife and five
children? How could he be so incredibly brutal one
moment, and yet so genteel the next?
The answer to these questions is profound. Are you
ready for this…? Rudolf Hoess "compartmentalized"
his soul (Jas. 1:8; cf. Prov. 19:1). He separated
his home life from his "vocational" life. He
mentally differentiated between the inferno of
Auschwitz and the quiet refuge of his residence in
the country. He somehow embraced the intellectual
dogmas of his religious upbringing as well as the
rabid inhumanity of Nazism. In short, Rudolf Hoess
lacked integrity.
Dear brethren, we cannot sub-divide our souls. We
cannot and must not partition our inner beings.
Christian men are the same in every circumstance.
We are authentic in either darkness or light.
Whether under the discriminating eye of our family
and peers, or alone in a quiet room, our actions
are consistent, uniform and submissive to the
revealed will of God. We harbor no duplicity
within. There is no hypocrisy (1 Kgs. 9:4; Job
2:3, 9; 27:5; 31:6; Ps. 7:8; 26:1, 11; Prov. 10:9;
Tit. 2:7):
We can't condemn beverage alcohol and then "join
in" with our business associates at a local
restaurant over dinner.
We can't sing "Purer in heart, O God, help me to
be" and then surf the internet to indulge in
lustful fantasy.
We can't appear cool and collected in the office
and then be volatile and explosive in front of our
family.
We can't tell our children to be fair and honest,
and then cheat on our own income taxes.
We can't offer a warm handshake to our brethren
before worship and then verbally berate our
spouses on the way home in the car.
We can't speak caring tones on Sunday and then
fire off a string of profanity on Monday.
We can't support elders and preachers in public
prayer and then verbally pick them apart when they
are out of earshot.
We can't talk about the need for zeal and
spiritual direction in the church, but then fail
to offer long-term, legitimate effort on behalf of
the church ourselves.
The Bible says,
"The righteous man walks in his integrity…" (Prov.
20:7).
Think for just a moment..., what are you really
like "behind the scenes" (Ps. 139:23)? Are you
sincere (1 Tim. 1:5; Phil. 1:10; cf. Phil. 1:16;
2:20; 2 Cor. 6:6)? Are you genuine?
1/ http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1946hoess.html
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