Carol Kinney Student ID 928059 Ethics PHI2016 Professor Petersen Persecution and the Kingdom Response Wyndy Corbin Reuschling says “to preach the Christ of the New Testament is to preach the entirety of Jesus’ life and its implications for the Christian life” (109). The Bible tells us that part of the entirety of Jesus’ life and the implications for Christians involves persecution (c.f. John 15:20). While the Bible recounts cases of persecution of God’s people from Genesis to Revelation, it is my personal experience, in the five years that I have been involved with aiding persecuted Christians, that this is not a subject that too many Christians in the West like to think about or become involved with. Not only do western Christians dislike thinking about the possibility of persecution for themselves, Utilitarian thinking encourages them to ignore the fact that “over 100 million Christians worldwide suffer interrogation, arrest and even death for their faith, with millions more facing discrimination and alienation” (Open Doors USA). The other classical ethical theories that are predominate in the churches, the deontological approach of the past and the liberal ethics of the upcoming generations, both contribute to the lack of concern for persecution and the persecuted. I have been involved in the persecuted church for nearly six years, and in those years, I have experienced apathy and ignorance from fellow Christians when I have spoken about persecution. Unless it involves a highly publicized case, a majority will listen about the plight of persecuted Christians, but will rarely put this knowledge into action to help. Recently I began a mission and ministry group dedicated to praying for the persecuted, the nations of this world,
and to do small but meaningful projects for persecuted Christians. Fifty letters to fifty different churches were sent out, as well as personal invitations were given to Christians that I knew. At the first meeting, nine people, not including myself, showed up and four of them were my family members and only one came from another church. This apathy for the persecuted by Christians in the West can even be seen when the cases make national news. This past fall, Pastor Youcef, an Iranian Christian, was sentenced to death for refusing to deny Christ and for a brief period of time, most of the major media outlets reported the case, which was not only heard by Christians, but non-believers alike. The sentence is expected to be carried out mid-December (Harp, Update) and from the time of sentencing in early fall, several petitions are circulating on Youcef’s behalf, but the response has not been overwhelming. One of those petitions, sent to Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State, by the American Center for Law and Justice, has only received about 200,000 signatures thus far, although about 44,000 have liked the cause on Facebook. Another action purposed on behalf of another pastor held captive in Iran through Voice of the Martyrs, is a letter writing campaign to encourage the pastor while he awaits the final verdict of his case. The goal was to reach one-thousand letters by the end of November; sadly they did not meet that goal (Harp, Letters). It is time to change our moral response to persecuted Christians and persecution in general. Each of these instances shows that while 78.4 percent of all Americans claim to be Christian (Lugo 5), only a small percentage has responded to appeals to help their persecuted brothers in another country. The questions that arise in regards to the plight of these two pastors are if the majority of Christians do not come to their aid, then how is the value of God and Christianity
shown to the Iranian government? And if Christians around the world do not stand up for their so-called brothers, then what is the value of these two pastor’s lives to the Iranians? Utilitarian, deontological and virtue ethics have not addressed the need for free Christians in the West to respond wholeheartedly to the needs of the persecuted, nor have they given Western Christians any reason to believe that persecution should exist for them as well. Additionally, these ethical theories have not given the world a chance to see the unity of the body of Christ so that the glory of God may be known to all the nations. God does not need us to show his power and glory to the world, yet he chooses to use us in this manner and the vehicle for that witness is often persecution (c.f. Mark 13:9-13). Lack of action on behalf of the persecuted results in lack of participation in the gospel message, lack of preparation for whatever persecution may arise in the western church in the future, and gives more concern for our own ambitions. Not only is this of serious concern for individual Christians, but it is a tremendous error of the church. One solution to the problem is to accept Evangelical Ethics as Reuschling proposes. By examining the failures of the three classic ethic theories that the western church has adopted to address the problem of ignorance of persecution, and comparing key scriptures, Evangelical Ethics is shown to be a more realistic and favorable approach to rectifying the problem. Deontology is an “uncomplicated” (Reuschling 65) choice for many in the church. Deontology tends “to focus upon duties . . . and intentions” (Burnor 152), rather than action. For many Christians, especially past generations, a deontology approach uses the Bible more as a rule book that must be followed in order to live out their faith (Reuschling 65-72). However, in regards to persecution this approach to Christian ethics has not served the church well.
Scriptural texts such as Hebrews 13:3, which says “Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; those who are tortured, as though you yourselves were being tortured” are clear about how the church ought to respond to those who are persecuted. However, in light of the statistical response of all Christians in the western church, this sense of duty to obey scriptural commands has not served the persecuted well, for if it had, every single Christian would be involved in mission and prayer on behalf of those persecuted. Additionally, the deontological approach to the persecuted church does not place much value on the lives of those who are persecuted. The deontological approach to ethics does not provide a personal connection between Christians in the West and those who are persecuted throughout the world, which is necessary for the expression of heartfelt prayers. The lack of connection, as spelled out in Hebrews 13:3, does not allow for us to become personally involved in the stories of those who are persecuted; to feel their pain and suffering. We begin to think of our relationship with the persecuted in terms of “us and them,” as opposed to one united Body of Christ, our brothers and sistersfamily. It may be argued that an obligatory involvement in mission for the persecuted is better than none, yet this is incomplete and leads to another classical ethical theory: Utilitarianism. John Piper says that “Until you know that life is war, you cannot know what prayer is for. Prayer is for the accomplishment of a wartime mission . . . But what have millions of Christians done? We have stopped believing that we are in a war. No urgency, no watching, no vigilance . . . Just easy peace and prosperity . . . to ask for more comforts . . . (49).” Utilitarianism, with its emphasis on happiness seeking while seeking the greater good for the greatest number of people (Reuchling 92) approach to ethics, has done nothing to show the
ethical advantages of seeking a connection with the persecuted or to encourage exploration into the subject. Reuschling asserts that Utilitarianism has not fostered a unity in the entire church, does not fully appreciate salvation, does not seek to serve those in need, and measures success of Christian efforts by the numbers (92-93). Piper and Reuschling both recognize a huge problem with Utilitarianism for Christians. This is especially true for addressing the needs of our persecuted brothers and sisters. Because so many Christians in the west have chosen Utilitarianism as their ethical theory, then comfort, safety, and prosperity becomes the goal, instead of tending to the needs of the entire church body, including those who are persecuted. Prayer becomes nothing more than a way for us to seek our own interests, instead of desiring God’s Kingdom ethics. It places a high value on nationalism over God’s Kingdom (Reuschling 160), and this is detrimental to the Western church. Utilitarianism allows Christians to take pride in national efforts of war because it protects our own selfish interests, and allows us to ignore the needs of our persecuted brothers and sisters. Helping the persecuted goes against Utilitarianism because there is no personal gain, it serves no national interest to help Christians in parts of the world who cannot offer us anything in return, and we cannot see how helping would serve the greater good. We cannot measure the success of our mission to the persecuted, because the reality is that until Christ returns, persecution will always exist and most of the persecuted that we help, will still end up dying and we cannot see the worth of dying for one’s faith because it serves no personal interest. Furthermore, when we do not raise to the challenges that ministry to the persecuted sets before us, it tells the persecuting nations of this world that there is no benefit to Christianity because the lives of those who are persecuted do not outweigh the selfish needs of those who
are not persecuted. This does not encourage the persecuted so that they may be strong witnesses to the nations. Would you be able to carry on under harsh circumstances if you thought no one cared? There is nothing about persecution that is pretty, safe, comfortable. When persecution is ignored, it cannot threaten our self interests and we assume that we are acting on behalf of the greater good. However, this is not the case. The Western Church is relatively small compared to the church in other parts of the world. Operation World reports that there are about 105 million Christians in China (215) and over 500 million Christians in Africa (32), while America has a little over 250 million Christians and Canada has about 24 million (194). Since Utilitarian ethics within the church says that we should be acting on behalf of the greater good, it makes no sense that the western church, which is smaller in numbers than that of other parts of the world where persecution exists, does not overwhelmingly run to the aid of the persecuted. That is the incompleteness of this ethical choice for the church; it fails to move the western churches and individual Christians away from nationalistic efforts, and into Kingdom efforts as given to us in scripture. It does not leave room for persecution to be preached to the congregations for fear that it would be too far out of the congregants comfort zones to hear of the torture and killings being taken place to other Christians; surely the Western Church is too concerned about self preservation and safety to stomach such atrocities. And since there is no preaching and teaching actively and continuously being done, and then the Western Church will be like the five unprepared virgins of Matthew 25. It allows us to ignore the fact that there exist such places on Earth, such as Maldives, that there are virtually no countable Christians due to extreme persecution, and that means that the fullness of God is not being carried out in those
places because there is no one there to present the Gospel hope to unbelievers. Utilitarian ethics fails to address far too many issues than what is allowed for in this paper concerning persecution, and so like Deontology, it is not a wise ethical theory for the church to adopt. Then on the other hand, neither is Virtue Ethics. Reuschling points out that the virtue ethics that Aristotle advocated for is based upon human standards of what is good and virtuous (116). Virtue Ethics places an emphasis on human efforts and removes God’s will and sovereignty from the mix. When we do that, we tend to label others as “good” and “bad” based upon those human values, without regard for the uniqueness of Christ, and this takes away from the communal relationship that is given to specifically to the body of Christ (Acts 2). We also tend to become more concerned with our own individual virtues, rather than becoming concerned with common virtues for church. We adopt an “as long as I am doing the right thing, I don’t have to worry about what others are doing” attitude (Reuschling 124-131). So while Virtue Ethics may propel us into service for the persecuted, we do not become concerned with whether or not the church as a whole is doing the same. Neither do we strongly advocate on behalf of the persecuted because it does not matter what others are doing. Virtue Ethics also focuses on the good of humankind, as opposed to the work of God and the fullness of the Gospel message, which includes the existence of persecution. If we accept Virtue Ethics on its face value, we become more concerned with physical needs of the persecuted than their spiritual needs and we fail to pray for them and fail to deliver the spiritual food that they desperately need. Virtue Ethics tells us to concentrate on providing earthly homes, food, clothing, medical attention, and legal needs instead of focusing on helping to keep them strong in God’s Kingdom work. There is nothing wrong with helping the persecuted
in physical ways, but there is so much more to the kind of kingdom ethics that will truly help the persecuted. The Evangelical Ethics in which Reuschling proposes advocates for a fullness of the Gospel for Christians. In regards to drawing more Western Christians into active service on behalf of the persecuted, it is a preferable theory to adopt. When we no longer look at scriptures as merely a set of rules to be obeyed out of moral obligation (Reuschling 67-72), we are free to emotionally place ourselves in the biblical narrative and to find an emotional connection to the words. This benefits the work done on behalf of the persecuted, because it provides a sense of community that the Bible speaks of in The Book of Acts, not just to our own congregations, but to the entire body of Christ. When we begin to think of in terms of God’s Kingdom, we begin to strip away the nationalistic pride and we will then begin to recognize that prayer is a weapon to be used to fight persecution, as well as remove the focus on our selfish desires and place it upon helping the persecuted, even though we may or may not see earthly results. And when we focus on spiritual aspects, rather than the intentions of humans, we begin to “strive first for the kingdom of God, and his righteousness (Matt. 6:33a) without regard to what is in it for ourselves or our glory. Only when we see the fullness of Christ and His Kingdom work, can we understand the benefits of helping our Christian brothers and sisters-for their sake, for the world’s sake, and for our sake. And only then will we see multitudes of Christians working with the persecuted, side by side, as Christian brothers and sisters, instead of foreigners to whom we have no connection.
Note: Professor P, I could only begin to touch upon this subject within the parameters of this paper. I could use the Reuschling’s Evangelical Ethics to present a whole volume regarding persecution, but as it was, I went way over the limit of the paper. I hope that you will find that while I did not agree with her entirely on certain points that she made, I have developed an appreciation for her theory and can definitely see how this is a better way.
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