38 Ducere Est Servire: THE LEADERSHIP JOURNAL OF DALLAS BAPTIST UNIVERSITY held a much more influential role within the German Protestant Church under the Third Reich. Furthermore, he was a World War I hero with a published memoir and the pastor of one of the most affluent churches in Berlin, drawing massive crowds before Hitler silenced him. Niemöller was known worldwide during the Third Reich and remained an international celebrity until his death. Many studies have been conducted on the Confessing Church, yet few have specifically evaluated Niemöller, one of its most famous leaders. Niemöller was not a perfect leader, but some scholars argue that the adversity he endured at the hands of the Nazis marked a turning point in his character, albeit a very slow change.13 Addressing this gap in the literature, this article examines Niemöller’s leadership before and after his imprisonment to discover new insights for modern Christian leaders seeking to endure and grow through adversity. Martin Niemöller and His Context Born in 1892 to a middle-class pastor’s family, Martin Niemöller personified much of the common German Protestant worldview. Raised in the Lutheran tradition, Martin credits his parents for his Christian upbringing and the “spiritual wealth” they imparted to him.14 Common nationalistic, antisemitic, and militaristic views influenced the Christianity taught in Niemöller’s childhood home. The common Lutheran view of unquestioning support for the state or monarchy was also emphasized in the Niemöller home. He recalled being taught that “a good Christian is a good citizen and a good Christian is a good soldier.”15 After finishing high school in 1910, he pursued a career in the German Imperial Navy, which significantly influenced the molding of his leadership in both positive and negative ways.16 Niemöller made a name for himself in the Imperial Navy and served with distinction during World War I. Niemöller’s journey to pastoral leadership coincided with an incredibly tumultuous era for Germany. The decade following World War I saw a rising volatility in Germany’s economic, political, and religious landscapes. The crushing reparations of the Versailles Treaty and the Great Depression led to significant economic instability in Germany, causing the value of the German mark to plummet and unemployment to skyrocket uncontrollably.17 Niemöller left the Navy because of his hatred for the newly established German government, known as the Weimar Republic. Like many of his peers, he believed the political left and Jews, who influenced the establishment of the Weimar Republic, were the reason the war was lost. After a failed season as a farmer, Niemöller decided to
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