Last year there was a shooting at a college in Oregon. The news reports revealed that Christians were the targets. The situation bothered me so much that I actually wrote this article in the hours that followed while sitting in a Dallas hotel room. I kept it to myself in an effort to be sensitive to the situation, but the more I thought about it, the more dangerous I realized it might be to leave this in the pile of would-be articles currently titled “New Microsoft Word Document” on my laptop.
This is less about the shooting itself, and more about the dangerously popular practice of twisting scripture to fit a desired meaning. And while I have no reason to think that this practice has anything to do with the 2015 shooting, I have every reason to think they’re inseparable.
Matthew 10:33 says “but whoever denies me before men, I will also deny before my Father who is in heaven.”
I’ve heard this passage of scripture twisted and manipulated hundreds of times, and chances are, so have you. Usually, it becomes the standard verse in an emotionally manipulative altar call. You’re sitting there and you’ve just been asked if you want to invite Jesus into your heart, so immediate failure to comply would be the same denial Jesus meant, right? Based on that, your decision not to come forward is specifically warned against in this verse, or so you’re told. Hypothetical Martyrdom The other way that I’ve seen this single verse taken out of context is when it’s being used to plug hypothetical martyrdom, which is a term I made up because no existing phrase seemed to capture the mindset I’ve witnessed. Simply put, it’s a way of romanticizing the notion of being forced to acknowledge faith by some masked group of heavily armed terrorists, all the while holding hands and singing (insert favorite cheesy modern worship song here). American Christians soak it up like gravy. I can’t put my finger on the issue of hypothetical martyrdom or why some embrace this line of thinking. My best assumption is that it’s mostly driven by entertainment intake. What man hasn’t been emotionally stirred by watching a great war movie where the hero dies in service to our nation? Hypothetical martyrdom is the Sunday morning equivalent of that feeling. It leaves you emotionally embedded somewhere in between the final battle scene of 300 and Tom Hanks’ last words in Saving Private Ryan. Does this actually happen? I’ve actually been at a church service where the pastor used that singular verse to preach on this subject. In short, he made the statement that he didn’t think many in his congregation had the conviction to line up and openly acknowledge Christ if someone kicked open the back door of the church and started lining people up for execution, forcing them to verbally acknowledge Jesus, or face the dire consequences. He managed to make this the entire focus of the sermon that day, and I left realizing how truly dangerous bad theology could be. Let’s face it, sometimes poor theology can be as harmless as using too much water for baptism, but this was different in so many ways. It was several years ago, but I still remember that sermon almost word for word. It’s this particular abuse of the text that really bothers me and, combined with the news report of the Oregon shooting, prompted me to write this. Not only is it just poor theology, it’s dangerous. Especially when we live in an age where people really do walk into buildings armed with an arsenal of weapons, then line people up and then shoot those that declare their faith in Christ. It’s also terribly insulting to those Christians that are being killed worldwide instead of pledging a lifetime of worship to a false god, as well as past martyrs that died to pave the foundation of the faith we proclaim. “but” So let’s deal with the scripture in question, and see if there lies a Biblical response to the issue of anti-Christian terrorism and how we should react if we’re ever in a similar scenario. Is the Bible actually teaching us that we will go to hell for denying Christ if we have a semi-automatic weapon pointed at our heads? The first thing that should jump out about verse 33 is that it starts in the middle of a sentence with the word “but.” I’ve always found that the worst theology comes from formulating a doctrinal position on an incomplete sentence. What if I said “there is no God” and then cited Isaiah 45:5 which says; “I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there is no God.” See what I did there? It just doesn’t work. There’s no logical reason to read any book in fragments and expect to come away with an accurate understanding. Context matters. So to put some context around Matthew 10:33 we need to answer a few basic questions: Who is Jesus talking to? What is the point of the conversation? The context of this verse is really laid out much earlier in chapter 10, starting in verse 5. As you can see, this entire conversation is not about you and what you should do in case you have a gun in your face. No, it’s Jesus providing instructions for the 12 Apostles he’s sending out “to the lost sheep of Israel.” These instructions start in verse 5, and carry all the way through chapter 11, verse 1, which says “When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples….” Jesus spends the verses in between giving them instructions and explaining what will happen to them as they spread the Gospel in hostile places. One of his clear commands is “When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next” found in verse 23. Beyond all of the context, the real meat of what’s being said here is found by simply reading the full sentence. Just backing up one verse, you see that Jesus says; “So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” I think it’s pretty clear, especially when looking at the context of the conversation, and the allowing both the positive and negative portions of the teaching to be heard, that Jesus is not talking about a one-time denial of Him in some random hostage situation. He is clearly talking about those that would deny him forever. You can’t accept the negative in verse 33 without accepting the positive in verse 32. If you’ve never professed your faith in Christ to those in your family or church then get that handled, but if you have then rest easy, allowing all of scripture to speak to this issue. As we read later in Hebrews chapter 6; “For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.” Just ignore it then? Are there scenarios where this verse, understood in context, applies to you today? Sure there are, but it’s unlikely you’ll experience them this Sunday. There are civilizations and people groups today that would force fellow members to denounce Christ forever and give their worship to a pagan god. These situations are not easy to think about, but they require a believer to trust in Christ and have more fear of God than of man. I’ve personally witnessed such examples while spreading the Gospel in Western Africa. People there that profess faith in Christ face very real consequences. Their crops are burned, houses destroyed and families ostracized by their refusal to deny Christ and live in perpetual sin. Those people personify the type of denial Jesus is warning against. Sure, they could keep their faith private for their entire lives, publicly worshiping false gods while living as Christians at home. But Jesus prohibits this “undercover” version of Christianity and teaches the importance for believers to profess their faith openly and live in accordance with that profession. Calling in the big guns Reading through commentaries on the Gospel of Matthew from two of my favorite theologians provided helpful insight into understanding how we should live today as we constantly hear the words of Christ twisted. In a world openly hostile to Christian faith, the timeless words of Matthew Henry and John Calvin should provide some comfort as they address these verses . Matthew Henry: ”It is our duty, not only to believe in Christ, but to profess that faith, in suffering for him, when we are called to it, as well as in serving him. That denial of Christ only is here meant that which is persisted in.” John Calvin: ”In what place, at what time, with what degree of frequency, in what manner, and to what extent, we ought to profess our faith, cannot easily be determined by a fixed rule: but we must consider the occasion.” Sola Virtus? On a side note that might prove to be overkill, you can’t accept the fundamental teaching of Protestantism, which is salvation by faith alone, and then believe that your salvation also depends on your courage in the face of danger. You are either saved by faith alone or you are saved by your bravery and faith, but it can’t be both. There is no way to deduce from scripture that your salvation will be lost if you don’t know how to handle a hostage situation with enough fortitude. In case I didn’t clear anything up for you by rambling, let me summarize. If you are a Christian living in America today, and someone has a gun to your face telling you to deny Christ or be shot, then say whatever you need to say to go home safely to your family. Wake up the next Sunday, go to church, and hear the good news of the Gospel: The forgiveness of sin, any sin. There is no Biblical warrant, especially in this often twisted verse of scripture, to believe your eternal salvation rests on a forced response at gun point. After all, Peter was in a very similar situation when surrounded by a hostile crowd as Christ was being beaten and tortured. He not only denied Jesus once, but denounced him three times to escape persecution. Yet all was forgiven when Christ stepped out of that tomb. His death was the one time sacrifice that paid for all the sins of his people. Your death at the hands of a lunatic won’t add anything to that.
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