Of late, people are tossing out the names “Hitler” or “Nazi” at some of the leaders in our nation and toward the people with whom they disagree politically. It is a demeaning and ill-informed practice. It’s also the end of a mature conversation.

Can you imagine living in Germany after WWII, having the family name of “Hitler”, and how you would navigate your life if you still bore that name?

Jan and I lived in Berlin, Germany, for several years in the 1990s. We came to love the German people and heard what their parents and grandparents faced because of what happened in World War II. Not all Germans were complicit in the horrors of the war.

William Patrick Hitler, Adolf Hitler’s nephew, sought favor within the Nazi regime before the true evil of its campaign fully came to life. He would eventually have a falling out with his uncle, Adolf Hitler, and had to flee Germany, denouncing the Führer publicly. William would later change his name to William Patrick Stuart-Houston.

Newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst brought William to the United States for a lecture tour during WWII. President Roosevelt granted William U.S. citizenship, and he enlisted in the U.S. Navy during World War II, earning a Purple Heart in battle. At the end of the war, William and his wife sought a quiet life and moved to Long Island, New York, hoping to live out the rest of their lives free of the labels people continued to attach to them.

Paul spoke words that apply to this time in our history, “Therefore, form no premature judgments, but wait until the Lord returns. He will bring to light the secrets of darkness and will openly disclose the motives that have been in people’s hearts” (1 Corinthians 4:5).

It is popular today for some followers of Jesus to become puppets of their favorite news outlet or educational institution and attach labels prematurely to people with whom they disagree. This labeling is something those in the Church should avoid. It is too easy to let our frustrations shape our words and turn us into label makers.

We don’t need more label makers. What we need are sensible believers who are careful about labeling people. Like it was with Hitler’s nephew, guilt by naïve association is not the truth.

The Lord is warning His Church about issuing premature labels of any kind.. It’s a naïve practice, “The naïve believes everything, but the sensible man considers his steps” (Proverbs 14:15).