Loyalty to God is associated with love for Him, and love is associated with living according to His commandments
Christ calls fidelity one of the qualities that His disciples must possess. For example, in the parable of the talents (Matthew 25 :14-30) He speaks of a master who praises his servants, who have increased the silver entrusted to them, precisely for their loyalty: You have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things; enter into the joy of your master (Matthew 25:21 ). The Apostle Paul says that this is an absolutely necessary quality for ministers of the Church: Everyone should understand us as ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. What is required of stewards is that everyone be found faithful (1 Cor 4 :1-2). Christians of the first centuries called each other “faithful,” and they called the most important part of the divine service, during which bread and wine are transformed into the Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, “the liturgy of the faithful.”
The word “fidelity” immediately gives rise to an association with the concept of “marriage”. And in the Bible these concepts are also related. Making fidelity to Himself a necessary condition for salvation (Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life; Rev. 2:10 ), the Lord often calls Himself a bridegroom (Mark 2:19 , etc.), and likens those who do not remain faithful to Him to a wife cheating on her husband. The Prophet Ezekiel (VII–VI centuries BC), speaking about the apostasy of Jerusalem, represents it in the image of a woman who was abandoned by her parents as a child, and the Lord took him in, washed her, dressed her in the best clothes, surrounded her with care and love , entered into a marriage alliance with her (who had grown up and become prettier); she turned out to be an unfaithful wife and went into all kinds of bad things (Ezek 16 :1-41). Ezekiel compares faithfulness to God to a happy family union, and apostasy from Him to adultery.
The association with marriage is not accidental: you can only be truly faithful, faithful to the end, only to the one you love. But to love is not just to treat well, to “nourish tender feelings.” True love - both for man and for God - is proven by deeds. And Christ Himself clearly says which ones: If you have My commandments and keep them, this is you who love Me (John 14:21 ). (In the Russian translation, the emphasis is somewhat smoothed out: He who has My commandments and keeps them, he loves Me). The Apostle John the Theologian will repeat the same thing later: ... this is love for God, so that we keep His commandments (1 John 5 :3).
Living according to the commandments is not at all easy; it really requires great love and deep trust in God: after all, even the Old Testament commandments are not limited to the external imperatives “Thou shalt not kill,” “Thou shalt not steal,” and “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” How about, for example, not coveting anything your neighbor has—that is, not envying? And what can we say about the Gospel commandments: deny yourself (Mark 8:34 ), love your enemies (Matthew 5:44 ), whoever hits you on your right cheek, turn to him the other (Matthew 5:39 )! As Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh aptly notes, even “when we finally decide to turn the other cheek, we actually expect to subdue the enemy and arouse his admiration. But if instead we receive another slap in the face, we are usually very surprised or indignant, as if God had involved us in something completely impossible.”
But that’s the point, Bishop Anthony continues, that “we must... be ready to fulfill God’s will and pay for it in full. If we are not willing to pay, we are just wasting our time.” This willingness to pay, that is, to suffer, living in strict accordance with the commandments, is what tests our devotion to God. And if, in spite of everything, we do not deviate from the commandments, if we recognize their absolute supremacy over ourselves, if we consider them a value that is much more valuable than a comfortable and well-fed life, then we remain faithful to Christ.
Well, what is the betrayal of Christ? After all, it is not so rare for believers to make such a terrible accusation against each other. The reason for calling another “traitor” can be almost anything: from a person’s political views and his attitude towards Christians of other faiths to his attitude towards wearing masks and vaccinations. Well, let's talk about betrayal in more detail.
Thesis 2.
Is there a difference between treason and betrayal?
Photo by Pavel Danilyuk: Pexels
It is impossible to answer this question unambiguously. It depends on the conditions on which the relationship between a man and a woman is built. It happens that initially the family was perceived as an economic project. There are open relationships in which partners do not owe each other anything. They can freely “walk to the left.”
But the agreement on this must take place “on the shore”, at the mutual desire of both men and women. Betrayal is perceived with internal attachment to a person. This question is key to our sense of security.
It is a basic need. In this case, not only physical betrayal, but also correspondence, flirting, and an affair threaten our security. This entails a loss of emotional connection and is regarded as betrayal.
“Isn’t it me, Lord?” - this is the question that a Christian must constantly ask himself
At what point did Judas betray Christ completely and irrevocably? Obviously, when he brought a detachment of guards to Gethsemane and showed them who Jesus was by coming up and kissing Him. But this betrayal would not have taken place if a few days earlier Judas had not come to the high priests and offered them his services: What will you give me, and I will betray Him to you? (Matthew 26:15 ). And his trip to the high priests, in turn, would not have taken place if a certain revolution had not occurred in the soul of Judas, turning him into a traitor even before committing the betrayal.
We don't know what exactly happened. But it is clear that at some point he ceased to perceive Christ as the One who was vital to follow. And this means that we Christians are in a particularly dangerous position.
Let us pay attention: after all, Judas was not some kind of stranger to Christ. On the contrary, he was one of the people closest to Him! Christ trusted him; it was Judas who carried the box with coins that people donated to the apostolic community. Only the other eleven apostles knew Christ as closely as Judas did! And when, during the Last Supper, the Savior suddenly unexpectedly announced to them: “Truly I say to you, that one of you will betray Me,” each of them shuddered inwardly and asked: “Is it not I, Lord?” (Mt. 26:21–22).
Of course, none of the apostles (except Judas himself) knew exactly what kind of betrayal we were talking about. But isn’t it amazing that each of them tried on the words of Christ for themselves: was it not me, Lord? This means that none of them (even self-confident Peter!) trusted themselves completely. Everyone feared that he personally might become a traitor.
That is why none of us who bear the name of Christ must let our guard down. If we regularly go to church, participate in church sacraments, read the Gospel, know the patristic writings, then we have greater responsibility before God. And it is we who risk becoming apostates, not even by renouncing Him in words, but simply by cooling down, “burning out,” and ceasing to be guided in daily life by His commandments.
Some will say: exaggeration! But don’t we, Christians, retreat from Christ when they turn to us for help, and we can provide it, but we don’t? Or have we forgotten the words: Give to him who asks you (Matthew 5:42 )? Don't we ignore Christ when we slander our superiors and, in general, anyone who does things differently from us? Do we not remember: Who... will say to his brother: “raká” [Heb. “nonentity”, “empty man”. — Approx. ed.], subject to the Sanhedrin The Sanhedrin is the supreme court of justice in Judea. — Approx. ed.; and whoever says, “You fool,” is subject to fiery hell (Matthew 5:22 )? Are we not betraying Christ Himself when we accuse other Christians of treason who think a little differently than we do?
“Isn’t it me, Lord?” “Everyone can and should ask,” Archpriest Alexey Uminsky writes in his book “What Christ Says.” “The apostles asked this question because they were sincere, because their conscience did not allow them to remain silent, and they did it for good reason. When the most terrible hour came, each of them betrayed Christ in his own way, each fled from Him, each became cowardly and hid. This circumstance once again emphasizes how similar they were to us, but it also means that we, in some ways, may turn out to be similar to them.”
Father Alexey means that even having fallen away from Christ, we can still find the strength in ourselves to return to Him and follow Him to the very end - like the apostles. But to do this, you need to turn all your attention to Christ. To realize that He, the Lord and Savior, came to earth, died and rose again precisely in order to fill our missing strengths and our unfaithfulness with His Divine power and unshakable faith in man. Even if some were unfaithful, would their unfaithfulness destroy the faithfulness of God? - asks the Apostle Paul and answers: - No way. God is faithful, but every man is a liar (Rom. 3:3–4).
Thesis 4.
The Lord has made it clear more than once: the real deeds of a person are more important to Him than verbal declarations
The new martyrs of the 20th century, as a rule, did not have to renounce Christ verbally. They ended up in prisons and camps, of course, for their Christian beliefs, but they were charged with charges that had nothing to do with religion. Most often they were charged with “counter-revolutionary activities”, “espionage for foreign states” and other absurd things. And they offered to “atone” by cooperating with the investigation—in other words, to “snitch” on your neighbors.
A characteristic episode is in the memoirs of Valeria Dmitrievna Liorko, who later married the writer Mikhail Prishvin. In the 1930s, she had the opportunity to visit both prison and a colony.
“The boss walks in front of me and looks at me with curiosity. <…>
“I won’t hide it from you - your friends and my fellow communists are working for you.” They vouch for you and are ready to bail you out. I am an experienced security officer and I see that they have grounds. You are a white crow who accidentally flew into a black flock. We'll change you. But I myself am bound by the law, and in order to free you, I must also provide sufficient grounds for the “troika”, which decides everything. The basis may be your written consent to work for us.
— To be a spyFiler is the name given back in Russia at the end of the 19th century to secret police agents. The word comes from the French filer, to stalk. — Approx. ed.*?
- How abrupt! - he winces. - Besides, it is called differently and is not considered shameful. But I won’t force you to do this work: you are too naive and straightforward. I give you my word as a communist that this is only a formal pretext for your release. Is it decided? — He extends his hand to me. (Prisoners are not given hands!)
At this time, a telephone call interrupts our conversation. The boss, beaming with a kind smile, talks on the phone with the child:
- So we're going tomorrow? Just remember to do your homework in the evening.
He hangs up. Almost shy:
- This is me and my daughter... You see what the weather is like - May! We are going to a dacha outside the city. (Meaning between the words: “and you could do the same...”) So, it’s decided? Mother is also waiting for you. (That means mom is free!) Sit here in the corridor. My assistant will call you and arrange everything. And my last name is Tuchkov.
<…> ...The little gloomy man makes a sign to me with his hand. I get up and enter his office. This is Tuchkov’s assistant. He gives me a kind smile, but his eyes do not change their gloomy expression. He reads the paper prepared in advance - the text of my agreement to cooperate with them. With every word I feel that I am drowning and there is no longer any salvation for me. <…> I automatically, but with complete determination, reach out my hand, grab the terrible sheet lying between me and the investigator, and tear it into the smallest pieces.
The investigator angrily bangs his fist and showers me with curses and threats. But now even threats against my mother don’t bother me. I repeat to myself: it’s better for us both to suffer for the rest of our days than..."
What - what? Valeria Dmitrievna left the phrase unfinished, but we can continue: it’s better than becoming a traitor. The victims of Stalin's repressions - and the "church members" too - were offered exactly this: freedom (of course, under the watchful eye of the security officers) in exchange for agreement to inform the authorities about people of interest to them. Most believers interpreted this proposal unambiguously - as a betrayal of Christ Himself, who said: just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me (Matthew 25:40 ). More than half a century later, members of the church commission for the canonization of Russian new martyrs and confessors looked at the situation in exactly the same way. One of the most important reasons for glorifying those who suffered during the years of persecution was their refusal to testify against other people. And vice versa: if it turned out that someone had “betrayed” their neighbor, such a person was immediately excluded from candidates for canonization. Even if his death was a martyr’s and he did not renounce Christ.
In one of the places in the Gospel, the Lord says: Whoever confesses Me before men, him will I also confess before My Heavenly Father; But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven (Matthew 10 :32-33). At first glance, this seems to be talking about verbal renunciation* (*FOOTNOTE: Not really. The original Greek text of the Gospel of Matthew uses the words ὁμολογήσει: this means not so much “to confess in words” as “to confess” - and ἀρνήσηταί: not so much “renounce”, how much “reject”.). But if you read the Gospel in its entirety, it becomes clear that first of all it is about deeds. In the parable of the Last Judgment (Matthew 25 :31–46) we see people who would certainly show mercy to their neighbors if they only knew that Christ Himself was before them. But they did not know this - and remained indifferent to the misfortune of their neighbor, for which they will go into eternal torment. They did not deny Christ in word, but they denied Him in deed.
So who is more at risk of becoming a traitor to Christ than others?
First of all, he who, according to the word of the Apostle Paul, has all faith, but does not have love (cf. 1 Cor 13 :2). Who sees “traitors”, “heretics”, “ecumenists” and other apostates from the faith everywhere? This is also said about him: If ... your eye is evil, then your whole body will be dark (Matthew 6:23 ). And such “darkening” can turn out to be very dangerous, because a person will not even suspect that he is going against the entire Gospel.
The Apostle Paul speaks clearly and clearly: love is higher than all gifts, even higher than faith (which is also God’s gift to man) (1 Cor 13:13 ). This does not mean that you can do without faith at all. It is impossible to do without faith, but still the commandment of love is the very first, and, according to the word of the Lord, love for God and neighbor are inextricably linked (Matthew 22 :37-39). Why this is so, the Apostle John the Theologian explains well: He who says: “I love God,” but hates his brother, is a liar: for he who does not love his brother whom he sees, how can he love God whom he does not see? (1 John 4:20 ).
One of the motives for rebuking a person who does not act according to faith may, probably, be my desire to warn him against making a mistake. But then I must act according to the word of Christ: go and convict him between you and him alone (Matthew 18:15 ), that is, turn to him personally. And reach out with love. And also - be ready to admit that it is I who am mistaken, not him. This means that words such as “traitor” - in relation not to myself, but to another person, my neighbor - should not even occur to me.
Parable of the Snake
The legend teaches people that you cannot change your nature even under the influence of pain and betrayal.
One day a man saw a snake dying in fire. He decided to pull the reptile out of the flames. The man tried to save the snake. But she bit him painfully. The man threw the reptile back into the fire. But then he took an iron pole and pulled out the snake. A passerby asked the man why it was necessary to save an animal, risking himself. The man replied that the reptile's habit of biting should not deprive him of the desire to help others.
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