Francis Berger
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Private, Personal, Internal Renouncement of Faith Is a Far Bigger Prize

9/1/2022

4 Comments

 
This blog attracts some excellent and insightful readers whose comments usually deepen and expand my scribblings. Lady Mermaid consistently ranks among these insightful readers. For example, in a comment on my August 29 post, Lady Mermaid happened to mention the Martin Scorsese film, Silence, which is about the persecution of Catholic missionaries and their converts in 17th-century Japan.

Though I have not yet seen the film, the premise sounds quite harrowing. The Japanese rulers at the time forced the missionaries into what Lady Mermaid describes as a "cruel choice" -- renounce the faith or be the cause of inflicted suffering upon others. 

I have yet to see the film myself, but the premise alone was enough to get me thinking about the subject of faith and its renouncement. The 17th-century Japanese authorities who made the Jesuit missionaries witness the torture and executions of Catholic converts each time the priests refused to renounce their faith obviously regarded Christianity as both an external and internal threat to Japanese society and its established power structures. If they hadn't, they would not have reacted in such a ruthless fashion. 

The film immediately raises the question of what we contemporary Christians would do in similar circumstances. Would we publicly renounce our faith to avoid the suffering of others or would we remain faithful to God and allow the torture and executions of others to occur? 

I bring all of this up now because since 2020 I have encountered many Christian blog posts warning of impending public Christian persecution up to and including forced public repudiations of the Christian faith. These sorts of ominous posts are "a hill to die on" arguments, and they often tunnel down into the subject of martyrdom. The writers argue that when push finally comes to shove, Christians must make the right decision by actively and willingly choosing persecution and, ultimately, martyrdom.

For the writers of such posts, I have a few questions . . .

Where were you two-and-half years ago?

More to the point, why did you not consider the birdemic or church closures to be hills to die on?

Even more to the point, how do you envision the hill that will finally motivate you to your martyrdom? 

Must be one hell of a hill. Probably makes a molehill of Everest. 

Here's the thing. I don't think your chance at martyrdom will arrive. Moreover, though Christian persecution is very real in many countries and regions around the world, that sort of thing will probably not emerge in the West for the simple reason that Christians present no real threat to the System. 

The authorities in 17th-century Japan persecuted converts and forced missionaries to publicly renounce their faith because they saw Christianity as a threat. The 21st-century System does not see Christianity as a threat because most Christian organizations and institutions are firmly under its influence and control. More precisely, most churches are willing System partners. This control and influence, this "divine" partnership, allows the System to persecute and humiliate Christians non-stop, and all with the full agreement and blessing of most "official" Christian institutions. 

Sure, the System may single out an individual Christian now and then, and there is certainly much incendiary background noise about "white Christian nationalists", but that is unlikely to pan out into the kind of persecution depicted in the film, Silence. That sort of direct, religion-specific mass-scale persecution is superfluous because the self-sabotage the System initiated in 2020 is already an act of mass public persecution and renouncement that has swept Christians up along with everybody else.

The System isn't seeking the public and external renouncement of Christ. It got that when the churches willingly closed their doors and declared themselves non-essential. It got that when the congregations accepted the closures with an apathetic shrug. It got that when the congregations excused and supported the behavior of their leaderships and hierarchies. It got that when both churches and their congregations willingly and actively allowed the suffering of others in the name of safety and health. 

​No, the System has a far bigger prize in mind. It's going after the only renouncement of faith that counts -- private, personal, internal renouncement.

The kind of renouncement that comes with unrepentant obedience to evil-aligned authorities openly opposed to God; the kind that comes from misguided, prideful fantasies driven by the wishful thinking of some false self or other; the kind that refuses to repent lesser evil; the kind that places faith where faith has no place; the kind that comes from the deep despair of feeling abandoned and forsaken by Christ; the kind that repudiates Jesus without needing to think or speak any words at all. 

Note added: Christians do pose a serious threat beyond the System, but that threat is neutralized the moment they begin to engage with the System on the System's terms. Put another way, Christians have the potential to be an internal threat to the System, but this internal threat is something that is outwith the System rather than something that is inherently within the System. 

4 Comments
bruce charlton
9/2/2022 09:59:55

Important theme!

I have often thought about this, but have never really formulated my stance except that God will make it clear to us if/ when the time comes, what we need to do - including how much we can compromise and yield on the outside (and we all do this to some extent, every day), while remaining clear and committed on the inside.

I don't think this separation of inner and outer was even possible for Christians of the past, which is why martyrdom was usually linked to some explicit and material act of commitment to the faith. But now we are split between inner and outer, as an inescapable fact; and outward conformity has been revealed as less and less spiritually vital compared with the absolute need for inner commitment.

Of course, some will use this to excuse themselves from outward actions that are, in reality, dictated by their own inner commitment - will claim to be Christian on the inside - same as ever! - while actively supporting the agenda of evil in their words and deeds, above and beyond the minimum, and never repenting.

But what matters is what the real motivations are on the inside; and not what we think we can convince other people about ourselves.

And in discerning the real spiritual state of other people from their claims - whether an external conformity to evil is nonetheless underpinned by clear but secret commitment to Jesus inside - is for each of us to make.

Contrary to the mantra of evil, we Must judge others - and not by what they claim, but what we discern from our hearts.

But - in the end - it is our-selves we must primarily be concerned about; and it is not so much a matter of 'justifying' as where (on which side) we place our commitment, desires, loyalties.

I do not regard this as complicated; because matters are very clear, and the sides are ever more widely separated. Therefore, we ourselves should (I think) strive to be clear, in ourselves.

We should know evil, and when we are too weak or afraid to resist or refuse evil, which Will happen to nearly everyone (except saints, if such even exist now in The West) we need to be clear that we have-sinned (are-sinning - because we can seldom/ never cease from sinning) and to repent this - and remain clear in our commitment to follow Jesus to eternal life, and do *whatever* is required of us to attain this goal.

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Francis Berger
9/2/2022 18:42:08

@ Bruce - Great comment.

"We should know evil, and when we are too weak or afraid to resist or refuse evil, which Will happen to nearly everyone (except saints, if such even exist now in The West) we need to be clear that we have-sinned (are-sinning - because we can seldom/ never cease from sinning) and to repent this - and remain clear in our commitment to follow Jesus to eternal life, and do *whatever* is required of us to attain this goal."

Yes, that is the heart of the matter. Clarity and honesty are indispensable. Without that, repentance becomes difficult -- and without repentance, Christians are lost.

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Hoyos
9/2/2022 23:45:56

In fairness some of us did say no during the pandemic. Many of us lost jobs over it, myself and many of my colleagues were pressured to get the vax. I know it’s not martyrdom, but we were menaced and still said no. A lot of Americans did, thousands are of us that I know of.

Hope should not be lost, the fire isn’t yet out. What that will mean I do know ultimately but in the meantime I’m not sure.

Reply
Francis Berger
9/3/2022 08:46:49

@ Hoyos - I acknowledge that. I too lost a job over this, but there is a larger point.

Those who refused to give in to the coercion and manipulation discerned these things as evil and were able to resist, often at the price of discomfort and hardship. Good for them.

However, there were also some who discerned the evil but were unable to resist. They ultimately gave in BUT repented. Once again, GOOD for them.

And there were many who did not recognize the evil and blindly complied for a variety of reasons including the traditional Christian imperatives of humility and obedience, thereby demonstrating a major lack of discernment. Not so good for them.

And there were some who discerned the evil, refused to acknowledge it, went along with it, and are now convinced that their acts and thoughts were good, and that they have nothing for which to repent. Very bad for them.

I haven't lost hope. In fact, I believe we are on the cusp of one of the greatest eras in Christianity, but the emergence of that era requires the overcoming of the kind thinking espoused within blog posts like the one linked below. If that's the future of Christianity, the fire will go out:

https://orthosphere.wordpress.com/2022/09/02/bend-the-knee-to-an-unjust-king/






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