How often has humanity’s tortured heart exclaimed these words!
The precise origin of the phrase is debatable, though it is often associated with the Holocaust and the vow thereafter that such horrors must never recur. At the site of the Treblinka death camp in Poland, a multi-lingual memorial proclaims these words [1], and at the Dachau concentration camp in Germany also [2].
But tragically, the human capacity for prejudice, rage, and vengeance has facilitated the repeated sundering of this vow in the decades since the Allied divisions tore open the killing centers in central and eastern Europe. The killing fields of Cambodia [3], the Srebrenica massacre during the Bosnian War of the 1990s [4], Rwanda [5], Darfur [6], and the present invasion of Ukraine all come to mind. Other examples, to be sure, could also be cited.
In contemporary America, where mass shootings have proliferated to a heart-stopping rate, we have repeatedly heard the pledge “Never again!” from those determined to stop the slaughter of innocents in these random, utterly senseless melees. Tragically, one ten-year-old survivor of this week’s Uvaldi, Texas, school shooting was asked by a CNN reporter, “Do you ever want to go to school again?” And the boy said No, because no one can assure him that such violence will never happen again [7].
Other Horrors
Two other horrific reports seared the hearts of observers this week. One of these was the report from the Southern Baptist Convention regarding sexual abuse by clergy in their denomination [8], a problem that has increasingly come to light over the past few years [9]. Another report, one of the most shocking I’ve ever witnessed online, found an Indiana pastor confessing to adultery, only to be interrupted by the woman in question who proceeded to inform the congregation that what had occurred for 27 years was not an affair, but criminal abuse, which had begun when the woman was only 16 years old [10].
The Ultimate Solution
Without question, human beings—Christians and otherwise—can do much more than has thus far been done to prevent such evils as the above and hold perpetrators accountable. But the big challenge with human pledges of “Never again!” is human free will, the sad reality that most people in our world persist in choosing sin over righteousness. Ultimately, only the intervention of God in human affairs can bring an end to abuse and violence.
The built-in tolerance for sin so ubiquitous in popular Christian theology bears significant responsibility for the way so many churches mishandle cases of sexual predation and immorality in general. One remembers with chagrin and disgust the statement several years ago by a Southern Baptist pastor accused of sexual misconduct, who made the statement when confronted by the allegations in question: “The flesh will do what the flesh will do” [11].
A theology that views human choices as invariably captive to—or tainted by—humanity’s fallen nature, and which falsely holds that sinful behavior on the Christian’s part cannot alter one’s saving relationship with God, can expect nothing better.
Monstrous sin rarely starts out that way. Too many Christians readily acknowledge that “big” sins like murder, sexual abuse, and many others can and should be removed from the life of one who claims to follow Jesus. But too many simultaneously believe that “little” sins, supposedly “small” forays beyond the divine guardrails, are permissible in the Christian life. More than likely, the gunman who murdered children at Ross Elementary School in Uvaldi, Texas, began his journey into spiritual darkness with incremental, minor steps, until the anticipated slaughter of precious little ones failed to trouble his conscience.
In similar ways, those (in ministry or elsewhere) who indulge the sexual abuse of the vulnerable have nurtured the tolerance of this trait of character through little compromises. The temptation to employ a position of power to get one’s way with underlings, the building of barricades around oneself to minimize accountability, playing on the natural respect due one in such a position, even the perversion of faith itself to forestall disciplinary consequences—all of these, in most cases, began with comparatively tiny choices easily excused and defended. The Bible’s zero-tolerance for sin can thus find itself marginalized, and the way opened for dramatic departures from truth and integrity.
Conclusion: Never Again!
The frequency of mass shootings in America right now quickly brings to mind our Lord’s statement regarding the last days, in which He stated: “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold” (Matt. 24:12). Elsewhere Jesus foretold that the days just before His coming would be like the days of Noah (Luke 17:26), when the Bible says that “the earth was filled with violence” (Gen. 6:11). Speaking of what it was like just before the Flood, Ellen White says:
The land was filled with violence. War, crime, murder, was the order of the day. Just so it will be before Christ’s second coming [##12|Elen G. White, SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 1, p. 1090.##].
But we can’t remind ourselves often enough that God isn’t waiting for the world to get worse before Jesus can return. Rather, He is waiting for a victorious people in whom the character of His beloved Son will be perfectly reproduced before the world and the universe (Zeph. 3:13; I Thess. 2:23; II Peter 3:10-14; I John 3:2-3; Rev. 3:21; 14:5). Witnessing such horrors as those we have seen this week, we can understand why divinely-empowered perfection of character is imperative for those who enter the pearly gates. God can’t take a chance on bringing people to heaven who might again perpetrate the horrors that have appalled the watching universe for six tragic millenniums. Ellen White underscores this truth in such statements as the following:
God, in His wisdom and mercy, tests men and women here, to see if they will obey His voice and respect His law, or rebel as Satan did. If they choose the side of Satan, putting his way above God’s, it would not be safe to admit them into heaven; for they would cause another revolt against the government of God in the heavenly courts. He who fulfills the law in every respect, demonstrates that perfect obedience is possible [##13|——Review and Herald, July 21, 1891.##].
God will accept nothing less than unreserved surrender. Halfhearted, sinful, professing Christians would spoil heaven, were they permitted to enter. They would stir up a second rebellion there [##14|——The Upward Look, p. 197.##].
Without perfection of character no one can enter the pearly gates of the city of God, for if, with all our imperfections, we were permitted to enter that city, there would soon be in heaven a second rebellion. We must first be tried and chosen, and found faithful and true. Upon the purification of our character rests our only hope of eternal life [##15|——Sermons and Talks, vol. 2, p. 294.##].
Without Christ, it is impossible for [man] to render perfect obedience to the law of God; and heaven can never be gained by an imperfect obedience, for this would place all heaven in jeopardy and make possible a second rebellion [##16|——Signs of the Times, Dec. 30, 1889.##].
When this living demonstration of perfect holiness is displayed before witnesses mortal and immortal, then God’s creation will be able at last to say of sin, rebellion, massacre, and abuse of all kinds: “Never again!”
REFERENCES
1. “Never again,” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Never_again
2. Ibid.
3. “Killing Fields,” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_Fields
4. “Bosnian genocide,” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosnian_genocide
5. “Rwandan genocide,” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwandan_genocide
6. “Darfur genocide,” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darfur_genocide
7. Adrienne Broaddus, Bill Kirkos, and Amanda Musa, “Texas school shooting survivors say they fear returning to school,” CNN, May 27, 2022 https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/27/us/uvalde-texas-shooting-survivors-fear-school/index.html
8. Theresa Waldrop, “Here’s what we know about the report that says Southern Baptist Convention leaders mishandled sexual abuse allegations,” CNN, May 24, 2022 https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/23/us/southern-baptist-sexual-abuse-report-explainer/index.html
9. Robert Downen, Lise Olsen, John Tedesco, & John Shapley, “Abuse of Faith: 20 years, 700 victims: Southern Baptist sexual abuse spreads as leaders resist reform,” Houston Chronicle, Feb. 10, 2019 https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/investigations/article/Southern-Baptist-sexual-abuse-spreads-as-leaders-13588038.php
10. Marla Pasquini, “Pastor Admits to ‘Adultery’ During Service—But Then Female Church Member Takes the Mic: ‘I Was Just 16’” People, May 24, 2022 https://people.com/human-interest/pastor-admits-to-adultery-then-female-church-member-takes-the-mic-alleging-she-was-16/?fbclid=IwAR1thJc4Lneu6DzKlJd44whRA1uWvRwrb28-bInox_Q-ur2JbEbk5z3pCDk
11. Downen, Olsen, Tedesco, & Shapley, “Abuse of Faith: 20 years, 700 victims: Southern Baptist sexual abuse spreads as leaders resist reform,” Houston Chronicle, Feb. 10, 2019 https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/investigations/article/Southern-Baptist-sexual-abuse-spreads-as-leaders-13588038.php
12. Ellen G. White, SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 1, p. 1090.
13. ----Review and Herald, July 21, 1891.
14. ----The Upward Look, p. 197.
15. ----Sermons and Talks, vol. 2, p. 294.
16. ----Signs of the Times, Dec. 30, 1889.
Pastor Kevin Paulson holds a Bachelor’s degree in theology from Pacific Union College, a Master of Arts in systematic theology from Loma Linda University, and a Master of Divinity from the SDA Theological Seminary at Andrews University. He served the Greater New York Conference of Seventh-day Adventists for ten years as a Bible instructor, evangelist, and local pastor. He writes regularly for Liberty magazine and does script writing for various evangelistic ministries within the denomination. He continues to hold evangelistic and revival meetings throughout the North American Division and beyond, and is a sought-after seminar speaker relative to current issues in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He presently resides in Berrien Springs, Michigan