You’ve probably heard this one before: a masked gunman bursts into church one day and fires a few rounds into the ceiling. “Everyone who believes in Jesus is getting shot today! Everyone who wants to deny Him can leave!” He gives the terrified congregation a minute to sort themselves out, with the apostates running for the door as he clears the pews, demanding to know if those who are staying truly believes. After only the tearful true believers remain, he announces: “Hey pastor, I got rid of all the hypocrites for you. Have a great service!”
In Shusaku Endo’s novel Silence, a pair of missionary priests are sent to Japan during one of the worst persecutions in Christian history. The priests serve many underground Christians, but the most memorable of them is an alcoholic named Kichijiro. Kichijiro is a conflicted Judas figure, waffling between worshiping with the priests and betraying them to the authorities as he denies Christ.
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