An often overlooked element of Christian witness is holy stubbornness—the unbending refusal to go along with what the world says, no matter the cultural pressures or ramifications.
We don’t usually think of being obstinate as something good. A harmonious home life is impossible if there’s no “give and take,” no opportunity for conversation and compromise. The workplace suffers when coworkers come to loggerheads, unwilling to look for common ground. The pursuit of societal cohesion becomes more difficult when an individual or group won’t countenance the thought of “meeting in the middle” in building a peaceful commonwealth.
To be sure, stubbornness in these and similar situations can be a sign of pride. Obstinacy can be unwise and counterproductive, especially when the stakes are low. Rigidity isn’t necessarily righteous. Flexibility can be faithful.
But sometimes the Christian community is called to be an irritant to polite society. It’s good and right for the church to become a threat to social harmony if the intended aims of a culture are evil. (Think of the resistance of Le Chambon, the small village in France that defied the Nazis.) Obstinacy, the refusal to “go along to get along,” has long been part of a Christian’s witness.
Crime of Obstinacy
The early Christians were seen as a threat to the Roman Empire’s social order not only because of their strange beliefs and practices but also because they were guilty of the crime of contumacia, “obstinacy.” In his letter to Trajan, Pliny writes,
Whatever the nature of their admission, I am convinced that their stubbornness and unshakeable obstinacy ought not to go unpunished.
Christopher Hall points out how common this charge of obstinacy was in martyr narratives. “Since they remained unbending, obstinate, I have condemned them,” said one Roman magistrate.
The Roman community was perplexed by the Christian refusal to engage in certain practices. Why not sacrifice your pinch of incense on the pagan altar to the Roman emperor? Why not demonstrate your loyalty to the Roman way of doing things? Why not show tolerance and appropriate respect for your neighbors? Roman leaders at the time were puzzled, irritated, then angered by the stubbornness on display among Christians who repudiated the Roman religions, renouncing worldliness and vice.
Saintly Stubbornness
The roots of this stubbornness go back to the Old Testament, perhaps seen most clearly in the example of Daniel and his friends. Here we find servants of the king who truly seek the benefit of their rulers and the good of the empire that sought to strip them of their identity and heritage. When forbidden food is set before them, they ask politely to be exempted from the meal (and their request is granted).
But as the king arrogates more and more power, the occasions requiring defiance multiply. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego will not bow down with everyone else to the statue, even if it means facing a fiery furnace. Daniel will not stop praying to the one true God, even if it means a night in a lions’ den.
In the case of Daniel and his friends, God comes to the rescue. But in the intertestamental literature, the seven Maccabean brothers experience torture and are put to death. In the early centuries of the church, when sporadic outbreaks of persecution swept over the Roman Empire, we see similar testimonies of faith under fire. “Stand fast in the faith,” Perpetua told her brother just before entering the arena.
Even today, Christians must sometimes embrace our role as holy irritants, not because we’re jerks who hate our neighbors or despise our country but because faithfulness to Christ means we cannot “get with the program”—whatever the trajectory may be politically, socially, or morally. We aren’t cranks, digging in our heels. We’re simply standing, with a smile of faith and the dogged determination that we will not be moved.
Obstinate Witness
It doesn’t matter how kind or winsome our approach may be. There will be times when our polite refusal to go along will be seen as a threat to societal cohesion. When we refuse to name good evil and evil good, or be complicit in certain forms of injustice, or deny the nature of bodily givenness, or go along with a lie simply because it’s socially acceptable, or say the lesser of two evils is somehow good, or sacrifice key principles as we engage in public and political life, or deny the core teachings of Christianity when they’re unpopular, our quiet “no” will be scandalous.
But, some say, such stubbornness will hinder our witness. To that we reply, in certain cases, stubbornness is our witness.
There are times when all attempts at living in social harmony with the world around us will fall by the wayside. Our allegiance to King Jesus must always outstrip any earthly authority. There’s no triumphalist attitude here, no chest-thumping on social media that somehow showcases our virtue or righteousness. Obstinacy isn’t part of a pragmatic plan for changing the culture. Stubbornness isn’t practical. Sometimes it ends in ostracism, not tolerance; marginalization, not acceptance; political defeat, not victory; the loss of influence, not its gain; the Gulag, not the palace. On occasion, obstinacy ends in death, literal martyrdom.
Yes, it’ll take wisdom and prudence to know where and when holy stubbornness is required. Not every line is one that must never be crossed. Not every hill requires a martyr. But in those cases where the call of Jesus requires faithful firmness, we take our place in a long line of stubborn saints who pledge allegiance to Christ the King, no matter the cost.
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