Growing up in the church, I often heard the phrase, “The devil made me do it.” I never gave it much thought until recently. I was watching a special about pictures discovered from the Auschwitz concentration camp. These pictures didn’t show the atrocities we associate with Auschwitz. Instead, they depicted normal life for a soldier: flirting, celebrating, relaxing, playing with their pets, and regular work moments. If you only saw that album and never the other pictures of piles of glasses and shoes, or the rare images of people being separated and sorted, or the grotesque remains of bodies and emaciate survivors, you might think it had been just a regular military post.

My point is, the people who caused so much death and pain, or at least facilitated it, were just people. The most dangerous animal, as a woman in the interview I watched said, is man. Animals kill when they are hungry or to defend themselves. Their intentions are pure and clear, or at least purer than human intentions when they kill. She said men become killers if given permission. I thought about that. If someone tells you that you can or have to do something, you can erase that mark against yourself, right? “I had to do that. I was ordered to do that. I was told that’s what I had to do. I was given permission. It’s legal, so it’s OK.” With just a few words, mankind has justified untold atrocities and horrors.

It’s the proverbial “the devil made me do it” statement, but instead of the devil, they blame the government, society, or their upbringing. They don’t take ownership or accountability for their actions. “The devil made me do it” is a dangerous phrase. It’s one we need to remove from the vocabulary within the body of Christ. No one makes you do anything. Every action you take is your choice. You have the privilege of conforming and obeying, or you can choose to rebel, stand on your principles, and deal with the consequences.

Were there people during the time of the Nazi uprising who, instead of following orders, chose not to comply? Yes, there were. They suffered with the people they refused to harm. If discovered, they often paid with their lives. They refused to say, “I have to do this thing that I see as completely against everything I feel is right.”

Think about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. We’ve all heard their story. These three young men in captivity could have easily bowed to preserve their lives. I’m sure they weren’t the only Jews in Babylon during that king’s reign or even present that day. I’m sure they weren’t the only ones who served the one true God. Yet, they were the only ones the Bible records as refusing to bow.

The devil doesn’t make us do things, governments don’t make us do things, and no one forces us to do something. It is always our choice to either stand by what we feel is right or concede and do what we know is wrong. I’m not saying those who conceded were all bad people. Most people choose to go along out of fear or obligation. They don’t want to lose their life or standing. They don’t want their families to suffer. So, they justify their choice to compromise. Make no mistake, the choice to compromise and go against what you feel is right is your own. You are accountable for that choice and any consequences from it.

Those men in the pictures had justified and compromised to the point that they likely never saw themselves as guilty. They took pictures showing themselves as normal people, not the monsters others now see them as, because they were not monsters in their own eyes. Whether we hold ourselves accountable or not, we are still accountable for our actions. Whether we have justified our actions to ourselves or not, that does not make the actions justifiable. 

The truth is we can choose to bow, to do what every other Jew and person present that day, so long ago, did when the king decreed that everyone must bow or die. We can bow to preserve our life or decide that there’s nothing wrong with the choice to bow to a god other than the one true God.  This was the same choice made by the men and women in the pictures from Auschwitz who choose to comply for their own reasons and decide that all thought of guilt or responsibility for their actions even those that harmed others or cause suffering and death were not wrong.  We can tell ourselves we’re not guilty because someone says what we’re doing isn’t wrong. 

Alternatively, we can choose to do what those three young men who loved God more than their own lives did and refuse to bow. We can choose our own suffering and death over hurting others or causing others to die. Selling out, compromising, and ultimately condemning ourselves are choices we are accountable for. When we choose them, we become the thing we stand for, whether we want to admit it or not. We can become the monster. 

People love to see mankind as essentially good. Others see mankind as essentially evil. I believe mankind has free will; we choose which side we fall on. Even when we try to be good, we won’t do it perfectly. That’s why we need the Lord’s help. But the majority of harm and evil done to others is at the hands of other people. We are truly the most dangerous animal. Although we might be influenced by the devil or evil around us, although we might be given permission by society or governments to hate and harm, and although doing what’s right could cost us our life or the life of our family, we are still accountable for the choices we make and the monsters we become.

How much clearer does the word of God have to be when it says, “If you deny me before men, I will deny you before my Father in heaven”? Stop making excuses. Quit making allowances for compromise. Understand that you are no better than the people in those pictures. You could be a monster too, and just like them, you wouldn’t even recognize it. Just because someone on earth told you there was a different standard or truth, that doesn’t change what the truth really is. God sets the standards. God weighs the scales and determines the measure. So, don’t measure yourself by what man sees as justifiable and right. Instead, look through God’s eyes and the truth we know from His word. You cannot please both God and man. There will be a time when each of us has to make a choice, and it could cost you everything. God didn’t save everyone from the fire the way He delivered Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. There have been many martyrs.

Therefore church, it’s time to stop blaming the devil and start taking accountability. It’s time to recognize who the righteous judge is and begin to measure and decide your actions based on His standard. The message of the gospel is not one of hate, destruction, or harm. It is a message of peace, love, and redemption. Walking in the truth will cost you, as it did for Christ. For some, it will cost their life. We have to understand that there is a life worth holding on to, and it’s not life in this body. It is our spiritual life. We should not fear the one who can destroy our mortal body. Instead, we should be wary of the one who can harm our soul. All too often, it is not the enemy that pulls us off the path; it is by our own choice that we veer away. It’s time we take accountability. It’s time we ask God for the strength and courage to choose the right, even if no one else goes with us. This is not a popular message, but it needs to be said. Where will you stand when the lines are drawn? Recognize that it’s your choice and that you are responsible and very much a part of the side you have chosen, no matter your reasons.