Light is a powerful thing. Mathematically, it is a constant traveling at 186,000 miles per second. In physics, it is pure kinetic energy – electromagnetic radiation emitted by hot objects like lightbulbs, lasers, or the sun itself. Specifically, light is made up of photons – tiny packets of energy released by the excitement of electrons when atoms are heated up. If you are a plant, light is food. Through the process of photosynthesis, plants, algae, and even some bacteria convert the kinetic energy of light into chemical energy. For plants, and by extension, for all living things, light equals life. No light, no life.
And in the city of Konstanz, Germany that was true. When the bombs began to fall, leaving the lights on kept them alive.
I’m Scott Beyer and this is the Love Better podcast where we explore the truths and lies about love and more importantly how to turn love into a skill – something we can get better at and hone along the way.
This episode is the fifth installment in a ten-part series on learning to love with all our heart, part of a broader goal this year to study the greatest commandments – to love the Lord (and our neighbor) with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. In every account of the gospels, the command to love always begins with the heart… and today we are going to look at what happens when our heart isn’t in it.
The city of Konstanz, Germany lies on the edge of Lake Constance. A beautiful freshwater lake near the Alps in the middle of Europe. Lake Constance is a condominium – no, not a large building with individual apartments – Lake Constance is a geographical condominium – meaning it is a territory that is shared by more than one country. Lake Constance sits upon the intersection between Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. You can be walking along the chilly shoreline of the lake and simply walk across the pebbled beach from Germany right into Switzerland. In modern times, a tiny six-inch strip of concrete has been added to delineate where Germany ends and Switzerland begins, but that’s it. The lake itself is considered shared territory amongst all three of the countries. More about the condominium life of Lake Constance later.
So, if you live in the city of Konstanz, you also live right up against Lake Constance, which means you live in Germany, but with your shoulder snugged up against your good neighbor Switzerland. Which is wonderful as long as everyone is good neighbors… but what happens when it is 1942, your neighbor is Germany, and the United States of America is conducting bombing raids? If you are Konstanz, Germany during World War II, Lake Constance seemed a little too much of a territorial condominium for comfort’s sake.
Night raids were one of the most effective bombing campaigns conducted over Nazi-occupied territories. Once America entered the war, it turns out that Americans were exceptionally good at producing war machines. Every night long-range bombers like the B-17 Flying Fortress and the B-24 Liberators, along with mid-range B-26 Marauders would fire up their engines taxi down the runaway laden with high-explosive bombs called “Blockbusters”, also known as “earthquake bombs” designed to destroy buildings and industrial targets. The sound of their droning flight filled the night skies over Germany as the Allies targeted urban and industrial areas in search of military targets. Night bombing was meant to cause widespread destruction, stop factory production, and demoralize the cities upon which the explosives fell.
And it worked, Berlin alone saw 314 bombings leaving at least a third of the city in ruins, and by 1945, Germany lost an average of more than 13,000 civilians a month to bombings. As the Allies pushed toward eventual victory, Germany faced heavy casualties night after night. That is, everywhere, but the city of Konstanz. Konstanz went the entire war completely unscathed by bombing runs.
Konstanz, sitting near the edge of Switzerland saw that their neighbors in ACTUAL Switzerland left their lights on every night to signal to the Americans that they were Switzerland – NOT Germany.
And Konstanz thought, you know, maybe we should just do the same thing. So, while all the rest of Germany were under heavy blackout protocol. No lights, curfews, heavy curtains on all windows, vehicle restrictions, and blackout wardens to enforce nightly compliance – the city of Konstanz turned every blessed light on, drove with their headlights shining, and encouraged late night activity and public gatherings. In essence, they pretended they were Swiss – and it worked. During World War 2, the city of Konstanz bluffed their way to safety. U.S. pilots assumed they were still flying over neutral Switzerland and saved their bombs for later.
Konstanz is a rarity in Germany. It is over a 1,000 years old and with its old world charm, cobblestone streets, and large stone buildings, it stands exactly as it did before the War. Not a bomb mark in sight. In short, the city of Konstanz has remained a constant.
And all of this is a lesson in love, light, and deception. First and foremost, Konstanz reminds us that who you align yourself with matters. They wanted to be safe like Switzerland, so they imitated Switzerland’s behavior. Proximity and imitation were powerful tools of protection.
But Konstanz also begs a more important question – did looking like Switzerland actually make them Switzerland? And the answer is, of course not. Konstanz was still very much Germany. In fact, with all those lights on, the city of Konstanz became a powerful unfettered part of the German war machine. The city produced radar parts for German submarines, gun parts, and helped develop the flying torpedo for German bombers. Furthermore, as the war progressed heavily bombed cities transferred many of their operations to Konstanz’s safer streets… and most ominous of all, Konstanz was a part of the German transport of Jews to camps like Auschwitz or Sobibor.
The truth is that the story of Konstanz is the story of a city that pretended to be an Ally while secretly serving the enemy… and Jesus has a word for that sort of behavior – He calls them hypocrites.
Throughout Jesus’ life, He warned against the way of the hypocrite. The word ‘hypocrite’ is a transliteration of a Greek word ‘hypokrites’ – it means an impersonator or an actor. For example, there have been thousands of Elvis impersonators, Elvis hypocrites, but only one Elvis. Everyone is just playing a part.
Jesus warned of the danger of spiritual hypocrisy. Those who would give God all the actions (prayer, worship, public deference, even religious clothing) but would refuse to give God their hearts. In Matthew 6, Jesus addresses three areas in which hypocrisy truly shows itself – giving, prayer, and fasting.
Hypocrites give publicly to be noticed publicly. They action of giving is good, but the motivation is insincere – they want the praise and recognition. Similarly, the action of prayer is done publicly and oftentimes at great length. A hypocrites prayer may in fact be the most eloquent one you have ever heard, but privately their voices fall silent. And fasting, well, who is going to deny himself food without at least being praised for their piety. Hypocrisy carries the trappings of love but it is devoid of the heart. It’s like Konstanz – the lights are on, but only to blind you to the truth of what’s going on.
And furthermore, Jesus warns that hypocrites can be found everywhere – even within the Lord’s church. In Matthew chapter thirteen, Jesus would tell the parable of the Tares and the Wheat.
Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. "But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away. "But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. "The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?' "And he said to them, 'An enemy has done this!' The slaves said to him, 'Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?' "But he said, 'No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. 'Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn."'" (Matthew 13:24-30)
Tares are a weed – they don’t bear any grain, but they survive by looking exactly like wheat up until the very last moment. The point of Jesus’ parable of the tares and the wheat is that His church down here on earth would include both tares and wheat – true disciples and hypocrites and that God accepts both growing alongside each other all the way until the harvest of the Judgment Day. In short, hypocrites are here to stay – at least for the foreseeable future.
So, what does that mean for me? I guess it means a couple of things. One, I better do some serious evaluation of myself to make sure that my love is real and not just an impersonation of others. I need to spend some time in self-reflection because my motives matter. Ask yourself: “Why do I treat people the way I do?” and “Why do I make the choices I do?”
The Pharisees fasted, tithed, prayed, and kept themselves free from immoral lifestyles, but oftentimes they did it purely as an act of religious traditionalism. They were religious, but they weren’t faithful. Their rewards were from men and not from God.
If you are a religious person – why are you religious? Is it because others around you are? Or because you find it comforting? Or because you are praised and rewarded for being religious? Would you still be religious if persecution arose or if it suddenly became unpopular or it cost you friendships or your job?
How do I avoid being a hypocrite – James gives us a hint in his letter. In James 1:27 he writes,
If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his [own] heart, this man's religion is worthless. Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of [our] God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, [and] to keep oneself unstained by the world. (James 1:26-27)
If you want to make sure you are religious with the right motivation – focus on two areas: helping people who can’t reward you and making sure you detach yourself from the ways of the world. When you are busy helping widows and orphans (and any other disenfranchised group in need of help) you are putting your efforts into an area of religion that needs more workers because the work is hard and the rewards are intangible. Find a way to help those who can’t repay and you virtually guarantee avoiding the temptation of hypocrisy.
The second issue that the hypocrisy of Konstanz brings up is the damage that can be done to the cause of Christ by religious hypocrites. The United States is increasingly becoming irreligious. The fastest growing religious category is “nones”… and many of those nones exist because they are fed up with the fakers. In fact, maybe you are an irreligious person because you experienced religious hypocrites and they left a bad taste in your mouth toward Christianity?
If so, I’m sorry that happened. This world is a condominium – we share territory with the hypocrites. Maybe it would give you encouragement to realize that there is someone else who had that same experience with hypocritical religious people? His name is Jesus.
Jesus dealt with religious hypocrites, too… and they made Him very angry and very sad… but they didn’t make Him give up on God. Pretenders only exist because there is a real thing to imitate. There is such a thing as true, genuine, discipleship of Jesus Christ.
There is nothing new here: Peter warned that false religion would have a destructive influence and upset the faith of people when he wrote:
But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; (2 Peter 2:1-2)
Don’t let Satan turn your heart away from God through people who have hurt you. After all, if you had an experience with a bad mechanic, that wouldn’t mean you’d stop driving a car – you’d keep driving, but you’d find a better mechanic next time. You wouldn’t allow one bad actor to turn you sour on the entire world of automobiles. Don’t let fake religion keep you from true religion. Many awful things have been done in the name of Christ, but that behavior has nothing to do with the true religion of Jesus Christ.
Remember world has always had Konstanz, Germany’s, but don’t let their pretend light dim yours, and don’t let the hypocrites decide your future.
Your light doesn’t need to be like theirs. Check your motives, love with your whole heart, and find opportunities to do the right thing without any chance of earthly reward.
There will always be pretenders – light your light shine anyways.
Learn to love better – learn to shine your light from a pure heart.
Thanks for listening! Next week I will be out of town in Florida catching some sun, some family time, and some continuing education opportunities. So, there won’t be any episode next Tuesday.
As always thank you for listening, sharing with others, and all the emails and notes of encouragement, I read them all and am grateful for your support. Have a wonderful week, and as always, until next time…
“Remember, you are loved, so go… love better.”
