Just in time for Holocaust Remembrance Day, which began Monday at sundown, I came across this online clip from the movie Schindler’s List, probably my favorite (yet most haunting) movie clip of all time.

I constantly live with the tension between the concept that “whoever saves one life has saved the entire world” and our Lord’s admonition that to whom much is given, much is required. I know that we could have saved so many more lives (or, more properly stated, we could have allowed God to use us to save many more lives). Our own selfishness and stubbornness is often our biggest obstacle.

I have never been content to look at someone else and say “I’m doing more than he is doing.” Instead, my constant thought is “am I doing everything God intended for me to do?” That is a tough assignment, and one likely to lead to despair without the knowledge of Christ’s all-sufficient payment for all of our sins, both sins of commission and sins of omission.

This is why it is so crucial to have a deep knowledge of God’s grace in our lives, to enable us to maintain the highest standards without falling victim to despair when we (inevitably) fall short. Sadly, we encounter more Christians with the view that the purpose of God’s grace is to allow our Lord to smile down upon them as they commit heinous acts such as sacrificing their innocent children. But I digress.

A topic of frequent conversation recently between ourselves and some of our colleagues in pro-life leadership has been the use of the term Holocaust. It is extremely offensive to many members of the Jewish community to see abortion referred to as a Holocaust. Never mind the parallels (the dehumanization of the victims, followed by the brutal killings, the piles of bodies, etc.). For some, the term “Holocaust” must be reserved to refer only to the atrocities suffered by the Jews in Nazi Germany.

It bothers me to think that our use of the term Holocaust causes more pain to those whose families have suffered so much already. As I watch Schindler’s List and other movies about what happened during the Nazi Holocaust, I am outraged to think that any human being could condone such actions, and to think that any Christian could sit by silently while such heinous acts were being committed. Out of respect for those who suffered (and in order to avoid unnecessary controversy for our own ministry activities), I have thought that perhaps it would be better if we found another word to use.

But as we considered the use of the term, we realized that no other word so fully embodies the horror of the modern-day slaughter of children by abortion. It is precisely because we do respect those who suffered in the Nazi Holocaust that we must not be afraid to identify the modern-day Holocaust of abortion. We must learn the lessons of history so that we will not repeat them (any more than we already have).

And so I have come to the conclusion that is is not only appropriate, but it is necessary for us to say that abortion is a modern-day Holocaust, so that we can motivate more people to respond in their hearts to those who are suffering today the way that Oskar Schindler responded to those who were suffering in his day.

Are any of our possessions more valuable than the life of a child? That is the question I find myself asking after watching the movie clip above. I always come to the conclusion that none of my possessions are more valuable than one tiny, innocent child whose life could be saved. Even this computer would be better on the trash heap if the time I spend typing this prevents me from helping to save one life. The reason I continue typing here is that I hope that perhaps something I have written may motivate you to invest more of your own, time, talents, and treasure to help save the innocent who are dying in our community this very day.

When we come to the end of this Holocaust, don’t you want to be able to look in the eyes of those whose lives you helped to save, instead of looking at a heap of deteriorating possessions?

Having already had the priceless privilege of looking into the eyes of grateful mothers and children whom God used me to save from abortion, I already know that there is nothing in this world more valuable. May God help me to maintain that perspective.