In 1972, I found myself in a beautiful corner of central France as a camp counselor to twelve 8- and 9-year-old boys—four Algerian and eight French. I can still remember some of their names and faces: Kamal, Mohammed, Mustapha, Pierre, Michel, Nicholas, and Jean-Paul. It was a learning experience as well as a memorable one.
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The camp lasted a month. I worked six days a week, with one day off. On my day off, I would trek however many kilometers it was to a small village called Le Chambon-sur-Lignon. There, I enjoyed the peace and quiet of life away from twelve very active garçons (boys)!
I especially enjoyed several cups of robust café au lait, drunk leisurely with a croissant or a croque-monsieur sandwich. While walking through the village or sitting at the café, I enjoyed observing the villagers. People-watching is a favorite pastime. At the time, I was unaware that I was in the midst of a very special group of heroes and heroines.
A decade and a half later, I learned through a documentary film that those villagers were responsible for saving an estimated 3,500 Jews during the Nazi occupation of France and the collaborationist Vichy government. What made the story interesting and unique was the fact that these villagers and farmers were descendants of the Huguenots, who were also persecuted for their faith during the eighteenth century. The title Pierre Sauvage, the film writer and producer, chose for the documentary was “Weapons of the Spirit.”
The villagers and farmers were almost exclusively Protestant Reformed Christians. André Trocmé, their pastor at the time, led them to resist the evils of the Nazi Holocaust “Final Solution.”
I was impressed with how he encouraged his flock. He told them, “We will resist evil without pride and without hatred.” Those words have lingered in my mind now for years, and I can’t seem to let them go… “Without pride and without hatred.” He added, “The duty of Christians is to respond to the violence that will be brought to bear on their consciences with the weapons of the Spirit.”
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The valor exhibited by those villagers and farmers took place nearly a century ago. By sheltering and feeding the many European Jews at that time, they were responsible for snatching over 3,500 lives from the fiery furnaces of Dachau and Auschwitz.
Nearly a century later and half a world apart, we, too, are called to resist evil. Perhaps the evil is abortion, social or racist injustices, rampant immorality, the breakdown of the family, or secular humanism. Are we able to resist “without pride and without hatred?” It seems to me there is a different, more positive way to say it: Resist evil with humility and compassion.
As these two concepts have progressed in my own thinking, both lead to the same end: “to the glory of God.” Whether one is seeking to save a race of people chosen for extermination, an unborn child from premature death, a society wracked with diverse bigotries and racism, or the family unit from extinction, we must be ever mindful that the battle of spiritual warfare can only be waged with “weapons of the Spirit.”
The words of the Apostle Paul ring clear and true today: “For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12) Therefore, let’s fight the good fight “without pride and without hatred,” with humility and compassion, and “to the glory of God.”
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