Near the end of the film Schindler’s List, World War Two is drawing to a close. With liberation by Allied forces imminent, 1100 Jewish factory workers gathered to honor Oskar Schindler, the man who had helped them escape the Nazi death camps. The Jews presented Schindler with a gold ring, made from a gold tooth given by one of the Jews, in appreciation for what Schindler had done for them. Moved by their gesture, Schindler comes to a moment of self-realization: he didn't deserve their honor because he could have saved more people using the many resources that he had wasted in the past. Removing a gold Nazi lapel pin from his jacket that he had worn for many years, Schindler realized that he could have saved two more people with it. Schindler is overcome with shame that he had held back something so small that could have been used to save a life.
Often times, we go through life thoroughly convinced that we are doing everything possible to give of ourselves to others. Living the American dream, we are often consumed with family, friends, work, and hobbies. But there are times, like with Oskar Schindler, we come to the realization that most of what we are doing, while not necessarily bad, is usually self centered and self serving. Recently, Kevin Conway, a missionary with Church Resource Ministries, told my Saturday Morning men’s group that the plight of the people in Croatia & Bosnia so moved him that he gave up his home, business, and career to serve God in the former Yugoslavia
Dr. John Piper, Pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis MN
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