On January 30th, 1933, Paul Hindenburg, president of the German Reich, handed over rule of the country to Adolf Hitler. Much has been written about Hitler’s rise to power and what he, as a leader, represented to a people still reeling from the loss and shame of World War I.

Hitler was touted as the political leader of the people and head of the Nazi party. Still, his position became equally understood as that of a religious leader. Hitler knew that to gain the support he and his party needed, he needed to blur the lines between church and state.

He did this as soon as he took office, referencing God and Christianity heavily in those first few months. Hitler knew that to win the German people and, in particular, German Christians, he and his party would need to speak their language. He began this work on his second day as chancellor.

With his voice booming, Hitler announced over the airwaves that Germany’s fall was not because the Allied forces had beaten it but because God had removed God’s blessing from the German people. By doing this, Hitler, like others before him, appealed to the masses and enlisted the Christian God as a divine supporter of German Nationalism.

By invoking God, the Nazi party’s governing leadership was to be understood as divinely mandated. The wedding of the two, God and government, laid the groundwork for equating German patriotism to Christianity; one simply could not have one and not the other.

Hitler’s speeches in the coming weeks often referenced the atheist, liberal and leftist elements he alleged were causing Germany to spiral. Hitler promised a remedy: all would be replaced by those who were deemed Christians, as the Nazi party understood the term. His speeches were full of such rhetoric.

The Nazi propaganda machine was on full alert in March of 1933.

Hitler had just finished his closing remarks at one of his speeches when those listening to the broadcast suddenly heard a familiar prayer and song, one they hadn’t heard since the Kaiser’s time. Those listening were given the idea that Hitler had received the blessing of the German church and its leaders.

However, church authorities had told the propagandists the bells would not be rung. Yet, Hitler’s aids cleverly supplied a recording of bells ringing to give the mistaken impression that all was well and that the German church supported him.

Thus, the Christain political party became the Nazi party, complete with their own theology and understanding. Those who agreed with them were good and faithful German Christians. Those who did not were labeled traitors.

Time and the Nazis marched on, and the vision became clearer. Instead of worshipping God, the people of Germany were given an alternative; their Fuhrer became their savior, “Mein Kampf,” their fifth Gospel. His Third Reich would reign for 1,000 years, becoming the kingdom of heaven, and salvation would be promised through the pure blood of the German people.

Scholar Dean Stroud would say, “Thus, this new faith had all the required elements of a religion: a gospel, a leader, and an eternal nature.”

During this time, power-grabbing leaders in the German church pushed this new faith wholeheartedly. The Nazi movement produced acolytes disguised as holy men, bearing the image of both cross and swastika.

Many church leaders understood what opposing Hitler’s church meant and decided to cooperate. Yet, some watched what was happening, noticed the radical changes, and began objecting to this false message.

Those that did claimed the actions of the Nazi party could not be tied to the traditional Christian faith. Karl Barth, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Martin Niemoller preached that a National Church was unbiblical. Their actions would lead them and others to form what has come to be known as the Confessing Church, a movement that pushed back against Hitler and Nazism.

Barth would write that “the kingdom of men, or the Reich of men, is without exception, never the kingdom of God.”

Bonhoeffer would teach students at an underground seminary known as Finkenwalde that “the church has an unconditional obligation to the victims of any ordering society, even if they do not belong to the Christian community.”

Niemoller offered those close in proximity and those observing from a distance what the repercussions of Nazi rule meant:

“First, they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out — because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out — because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out — because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me — and there was no one left to speak for me.”

Niemoller and company decided to confess while they still had the chance. Their confession claimed Christ, not Hitler, was worthy of adoration. This meant seeing Jesus as the incarnate Christ and that his rule was above all other worldly rules.

The story of the Confessing Church is about a call to action because a choice had to be made: go along with power or dissent out of a conviction that what they were witnessing was against their faith and love for humanity.

This is not the only time people have risen up. It is one of many times such calls have been given.

In the rearview mirror of the United States, people have been given the choice to confront what they saw as a distorted view of what was right and just. Those living on farms and in cities and people of different faiths and ethnicities came together during the Civil Rights Movement. Their voices joined together, agreeing that the status quo would not continue.

I think of these moments in time and wonder, if called, would I answer like others did? Would I confess like the underground church in Nazi Germany? Would I march with those in the Civil Rights Movement?

As people of faith living in these Divided States of America, we find ourselves in such a moment. Will we conform, or will we confess?

Will we go along for the ride and allow hate, fear and intolerance to reign? Or will we be like the Confessing church, which saw the problem of viewing Hitler as God’s anointed savior and knew that wedding the church with a political party ran in opposition to God’s New Day?

Will we confess the dangers of upholding the idols of race, ethnicity and white supremacy? Will we confess the flawed teachings of a brutal Christianity filled with unrelenting hardness, no forgiveness and only concerned with dominant and forceful victory rather than life-giving compassion?

Will we confess that a distorted cross – one that uplifts hatred, rejection and obedience to those who oppose anyone deemed weak, ill, and marginal – is not the cross of the lowly Galilean, the one who came to lay power down?

The shadow of Nazism is right behind us, and the temptation of Nationalism stands before us.

We must not fool ourselves into thinking what happened in Germany can not happen here. Today, if you purchase a copy of “Mein Kampf,” most will include an introduction explaining why the book is still in print — it serves as a warning to future generations.

Not long ago, the Rev Dr. Rev William Barber II said any form of Christian Nationalism is a misrepresentation of the teachings of Jesus.

He went as far as to say: “Jesus said the Gospel is about good news to the poor, healing to the brokenhearted, welcoming all people, caring for the least of these: the immigrant, the hungry, the sick, the imprisoned. Christian Nationalism attempts to sanctify oppression and not liberation. It attempts to sanctify lies and not truth. At best, it’s a form of theological malpractice. At worst, it’s a form of heresy.”

To followers of the Way, we must be poised and ready or admit we are comfortable laying our allegiance down to whatever party, Fuhrer or political leader claiming divine rights to rule.

Now is our time to confess. Drop everything and answer the call.