An internet acquaintance (How do you really talk about para-social relationships? People you don’t really know in real life, but with whom you interact with over social media almost daily? I know they say there is nothing new under the sun, but that really might be something new. Of course you could just not have them, which is probably much smarter, but when have we ever been morally smart? Sometimes I try to imagine Jesus in a social media world and it just doesn’t work.) Anyway, an internet acquaintance observed that he thought the Protestant and Catholic understanding of martyrdom had drifted apart. And of course the first reading for this week is the martyrdom of Stephen, the first martyr. Call it providence.
The conversation came about from a silly “trolley problem” type question that took over social media. There are two buttons: red and blue. Everyone in the world must press one of them. If 50% or more press blue, everyone lives. If 50% or more press red, those who press red live, those who pressed blue die. And a great argument arose. Of course if everyone just pushes red, everyone is ok. Everyone has it within their power to be safe. Yet, lots of people insisted that blue was the only moral choice. You must stand with staving everyone because toddlers and others might not understand what they are pressing.
It really is an ingenious hypothetical question. Do you throw yourself into a blender hoping that at least 50% of people jump in the blender also so it doesn’t get turned on, or do you just not jump in the blender? And that restatement helps, but I don’t think it really gets at the core. Pressing blue/jumping the blender is taking on the vocation of Christ. I will save the world by doing this. And that gets at the question of the role of martyrdom. Can one actively choose martyrdom or is martyrdom something that chooses you?
And this was my internet acquaintance’s observation. Modern Roman Catholicism puts forward people like Maxmillian Kolbe. If you know the story it is definitely inspiring. Kolbe was a Franciscan priest in Auschwitz. Another man was picked for an experimental death by starvation, and Kolbe volunteered himself to take his place. If you don’t know the rest I’d recommend looking it up. And the way that modern Roman Catholicism puts forward martyrs like this is as in persona Christi – in the person of Christ. Pressing the blue button is putting oneself in persona Christi.
My observation in return had three points which I think are very Protestant. The first is that none of us are called to be Christ. There in one Christ. And his one sacrifice for all. We do not re-sacrifice Christ as certain strains of Roman eucharistic theology would say. And putting yourself into that space is just as likely to be a vainglorious usurpation as a noble deed. The second observation is that martyrdom is forced upon us, it is not chosen. You don’t have another choice that gets you out with your soul intact. Now in the case of Kolbe, you can easily say that he could not see his soul intact if he did not volunteer. Likewise you could argue that for pushing the blue button. And while I would not put this on Kolbe, there is a sneaky pride in this. By saying “I push the blue button” I am asserting I am a moral person and care about others. But that is not a pure “good work.” You are not doing it for your neighbor so much as doing it to look good in the eyes of your neighbor. In the problem nobody needs to be a martyr. Just push the red button. Stephen is martyred just for going about his call as a deacon. They stoned him because he spoke the truth. But lying would have cost his soul.
The last observation might sound like a close shave, but instead of being in persona Christi, a protestant understanding of martyrdom is a sharing in the sufferings of Christ (Philippians 3:10, 1 Peter 4:13). It would be a making full the sufferings of Christ (Colossian 1:24). The world hated him, and it will hate his people. Sometimes unto death. A protestant martyr isn’t a second Christ or an image of Christ, but a witness to the power of the resurrection. And that is the original meaning of martyr – witness. You might kill this body. But I do not fear you. I fear the one who can kill the soul.