Advice for Living in a Non-Christian World
Advice for Living in a Non-Christian World
The Christian must always remember that personal piety and liturgical uniformity are by no means the marks of true religion.
The role Christianity plays in American life has been declining for some time now. In fact, according to Aaron Renn, it has all but eroded. We live in what he describes (here and here) as a “negative world.” American society no longer regards Christianity in a positive light. Nor is it ambivalent, as it was (in Renn’s argument) from about 1994 till 2014. American society now has an increasingly negative view of Christianity. “Being known as a Christian is a social negative, particularly in the elite domains of society. Christian morality is expressly repudiated and seen as a threat to the public good and the new public moral order.” The consequences of subscribing to a Christian vision of life and thereby violating the secular moral order can and will increasingly bring negative consequences.
Perhaps this was predictable and maybe even inevitable. After all, any number of worldviews have been working to displace and destroy Christian particularism ever since deism reared its mischievous head in the 18th century. Add to it the proliferation of materialism, postmodern deconstructionism, cultural Marxism, all the other isms that followed – not to mention the corruption of Christianity from within – and it’s no wonder that Christianity is facing tough times.
This is not unprecedented, though. In the century following Muhammad’s death, Christendom was all but extinguished when Muslim armies conquered Persia, Iraq, Syria, the Holy Land, North Africa, and Spain in less than a century. And yet, despite the changes in society and politics, which included the subjugation of Christians under the laws of dhimmitude, followers of Jesus persisted in their faith.
Meanwhile, as Christianity persisted amid Islamic culture during the early Middle Ages, western Christendom was built in Europe. And for centuries, ever since the days of Charlemagne (748-814), it remained practically uncontested. Things changed, however, towards the end of the Middle Ages when the Muslim armies of the Ottoman Empire extinguished what was left of eastern Christendom at the conquest of Constantinople in 1453. This sent shockwaves of disbelief and fear westward. For centuries, the old Byzantine capital stood as a bulwark against Islam in the east. Now, it was a city “full of Islam” (Islāmbūl) or, as it was pronounced, Istanbul—a massive and well-fortified city from which the Ottomans trained their sites on Western Christianity.
The major battles and the Islamization that ensued all happened during the early days of the Protestant Reformation. From Belgrade in 1521 to Hungary in 1526 and a failed attempt to take Vienna in 1529, the Turks were practically unstoppable. The Christians that survived the attacks were often deported and sold as slaves. Some were coerced into accepting Islam, and to rid the country of its Christian past, many of its churches were destroyed, except the massive Mathias Church (Mátyás Templom) in Budapest. It was converted into a mosque (not unlike the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople).
Martin Luther and Islam (which you can purchase for a mere $250) covers all this and more. What is particularly interesting in this story, though, is Luther’s advice for Christians facing a negative world under Islam. His advice was laid out in a little book that he published after the Siege of Vienna called A Muster Sermon against the Turk (which has not yet been published in English, though it has been translated for some time). In it, after describing the advance of Islam in apocalyptic terms and encouraging his German readers to fight to the death against the encroachment of the Ottomans (as a matter of just war and not a crusade), he dedicates the last several pages to an exhortation for “Germans who are already captive in the Turkish empire or who might still be taken captive.”
He began by setting expectations clearly and succinctly. Expect Christianity to be ridiculed there. There will be no one to preach the gospel to you. You will not have a pastor. You won’t even have access to Christian books. And you may even be tempted to convert, for there will be many outwardly impressive displays of religiosity and piety among Muslims. They lead earnest, disciplined lives, making our own pious clergy look like a “joke compared to them.” When they gather in their mosques for worship, they “pray with such discipline, reverence, and outwardly beautiful postures.” Our own churches cannot compare.
Even so, Luther counseled the Christian to always remember that personal piety and liturgical uniformity are by no means the marks of true religion. What matters most—what is essential—is the object of Christian faith: the person and work of Christ. So, Luther counseled:
Learn the Ten Commandments, your Lord’s Prayer, and the Creed now while you still have room and a place. Especially learn the article where we say, “And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and buried, descended into hell, on the third day rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, is seated at the right hand of God the Almighty Father from where He will come to judge the living and the dead,” etc.
The whole Christian faith “depends on this article” and “by this article our faith is distinguished from all other faiths on earth.” Jesus’ incarnation, life, death, and resurrection were and are accomplished facts. All claims to the contrary and the religions to which they are associated (e.g., the Qur’an’s claim that Jesus was not crucified, nor did he die) are therefore false.
To be sure there will be hardships and temptations. In fact, he continued, this is part of the Christian life. “It is good and useful…as your cross in which your faith is practiced and proven… You must brave and anticipate all of this along with us if you would like to be a Christian with us and confess Christ.”
Luther went so far as to advise Christians to accept their new lot in life under Islam. “If God allows you to be taken captive by the Turk…then be of the mindset that you accept and endure such misery and servitude…patiently and willingly for God’s sake.” Who knows? Your confession of Christ and your service to your neighbor may “adorn and glorify the gospel and the name of Christ…put the Turkish faith to shame and perhaps convert many.”
That doesn’t mean one should serve the Ottoman Islamic regime. They should be careful not to. They must serve their master’s household, but if forced to work against Christianity or fight against Christians, then the Christian “should not be obedient but rather suffer anything he can do to you, even death.”
This is tough advice from equally tough times, but there are some things Christians living in a very different negative world can learn from it. First, the truthfulness of Christianity is not contingent upon external political and social (or even religious) trappings. It’s dependent upon the person and work of Christ. The Christian faith rests upon and is ordered around his incarnation, atoning sacrifice on the cross, and victorious resurrection from the dead. Christians would do well to learn this and the rest of the faith now.
Secondly, Christians should not roll over and let non-Christian forces have their way. But when they find themselves surrounded by those who mock and make life difficult for them, even subjugating them in one way or another, they need not fret. Rather, consider it an opportunity to confess Christ and serve their non-Christian neighbor in a way that glorifies the one true God. God, in fact, is the one who arranges for Christians to be placed in such circumstances.
Much more could be said. And certainly, life in the secular negative world of today presents its own set of challenges. Despite the uncertainty of this world and the mistakes we are certain to make in navigating it, such a culture does present unique opportunities to speak the truth of the gospel and boldly pursue a life in service of those God has placed before us with the confidence and comfort that Jesus’ death and resurrection was both for us and for the whole world (1 John 2:2).
