Feb
26
El Caballo out to pasture
Filed Under Culture, Current Events, Missions
Ailing Cuban dictator Fidel Castro has stepped down and handed over power to his brother Raul, and now seems ready to fade into history. The ‘revolution’ was nearly ten years old when I was born, so I know nothing of the Cuba of an older generation, who could travel there and speak first-hand of the beauty of its land and people–the Cuba of Ricky Ricardo and the delectable (albeit now illicit) cigars. The Cuba of my lifetime has been the Cuba of refugees clinging to flimsy boats off the coast of the Florida Keys, of the Soviet communist foothold in the Western Hemisphere, of Elian Gonzalez, of oppression–in short, the Cuba of El Comandante, the bearded supremo in the green fatigues. [Did you know that Forbes estimates that Castro's personal wealth is about twice that of Queen Elizabeth II?]
In 1996 I met a Cuban pastor at a ministers’ conference in Pennsylvania and gained new insight into the condition of the Church in Cuba. In his first two years in power, Castro ordered a confiscation of Bibles that the Cuban government claims resulted in the destruction of more than 100,000 copies. Hundreds of Protestant ministers were imprisoned and shot, and Protestant churches were bricked up or burned down under the pretense that they were CIA “front” organizations. Pope John XXIII excommunicated Castro in 1962.
However, in 1992 Castro eased restrictions on religious practices and welcomed a papal
visit in 1998, even ending a 30-year ban on the celebration of Christmas. Since 1992, there seems to be something of an accordion policy toward religious freedom in Cuba, with restrictions easing then tightening when the government fears that Christianity is flourishing too much, especially in the rural areas, where tens of thousands of house churches continue to thrive and grow.
For years Castro sympathizers have praised the high literacy rate in the Cuba (in reality, it seems to be no higher than it was prior to the 1959 revolution). But that literacy was and is now intended to be a literacy that enables the citizens to read what Castro wants them to read and know. A leading Roman Catholic prelate in Santiago recently commented, “Life in Cuba continues without the greater transformations.” And that is part of the beauty of the gospel. It does not require a particular form of government in order to prosper. It transcends cultural boundaries–and it transforms cultures.
Of course, that has always been part of the rub. The Roman Empire of the 1st century was quite willing to allow the existence of a Jewish reform movement that some were calling ‘The Way.’ Its adherents could say ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and there was no problem. The problem came when those folks would not say, ‘Caesar is Lord’ too. Then they were viewed as rebels who disrupted the unity of the state. For Rome, the goal of any true morality and piety was subordination of all things to the State. The Christian faith presented an alternative order and law and ultimate allegiance that quickly became interpreted as a treasonable faith and a menace to social and political order.
Joe recently reminded us in his opening sermon on 1 Thessalonians that we are on a mission of world conquest, make no mistake about it. It’s just that we are not doing so by force but by the death of discipleship, not for our own utopian dreams but for the worship of Christ Jesus, who is Lord of all, whom we acknowledge and serve everywhere at all times.
On one level, the oppression of the Church in Cuba seems ridiculous. And if Jesus is Lord in some, abstract, upper-story (as Francis Schaeffer would say), ‘religious’ sense, then persecution is silly. But at another, more fundamental level, Castro and dozens of others like him get it right. Cuban Christians confront Havana with the inflexible claim of Christ’s imperial authority. Jesus is God’s only-begotten Son; he is God; he is King; he is Savior. ‘Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him‘ [Psalm 2:10-12].
Back in the 18th century, John Howie wrote The Scots Worthies, a collection of biographical sketches of stalwart Scottish heroes of the Reformation and ‘the killing times’ of the late 17th century. The edition which the Banner of Truth Trust has reprinted does not include part of Howie’s original edition. The omitted section included sketches of some of the chief persecutors and enemies of the gospel, focusing on what painful and shameful deaths they suffered (how wonderfully Celtic!). Will Castro fade out quietly and peacefully, rather than brutally and violently? It does not matter. Will Cuba soon see ‘the greater transformations’? Who knows? There are thousands there who worship Christ and live for him daily. They are our brothers and sisters. They are more than conquerors through Christ. I’ll light a cigar to that, even if it’s ‘just’ a Dominican.
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