1.7.3 The Search for Respectability
An oppressed community that is deprived of the respect it deserves in society as a whole may slowly develop a kind of inferiority complex which is a characteristic of many minorities and is a mere expression of human pride.
Another expression of this pathology of societal rejection, and of the implicit isolationism that it nurtures, is the risk of a secret, subconscious search for acceptability and respectability.
This inclination may be expressed in more subtle ways, and consequently be more difficult to detect, when the community in question is under pressure, but it becomes very obvious whenever the situation becomes less tense and even more so after religious freedom has been granted.
We have detected this problem in all the post-communist societies that we know. It carries with it a willingness to make more or less important compromises in terms of Christian values and lifestyle, in order to receive the respect and appreciation that we think we rightly deserve and of which we have been illegitimately deprived under oppression.
A clear understanding and acceptance of our biblically defined identity as a community of pilgrims could protect us from this vain search for human recognition and instead point us to God, the one who will richly reward us for accepting the humble position of being small and unimportant in the eyes of the world.
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