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Historical Kingdom Christian Movements  /  The Lollards  /  Discussion Questions
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Question 10
Bercot describes “Satan’s one?two deadly punch”: persecution that weakens a kingdom movement, followed by governmental favor that seduces it into compromise (Diocletian ? Constantine; Waldensians; then Lollards absorbed into the English Reformation); what would it look like for a present?day congregation to resist the second punch—accepting relief and even public respect without surrendering Jesus’ teachings on two kingdoms, nonresistance, wealth, and enemy?love?
Another way to ask: How could a church accept freedom and public respect without selling out Jesus’ teachings on two kingdoms, nonresistance, wealth, and loving enemies? What would resisting that kind of “easy compromise” look like today?

Direct Answer Based on Bercot’s warning, resisting the “second punch” would mean receiving relief without merging with state power or letting public approval reshape discipleship. A congregation would keep Jesus’ kingdom distinct from national identity, and continue practicing nonresistance, enemy-love, and freedom from wealth’s snare even when it becomes socially advantageous to compromise.

Support from Transcript:

  • Bercot’s “one-two punch”: persecution weakens the movement, then “the government…now wants to bless you,” and the church “let[s] down their guard” and “end up losing what they had preserved.”
  • Constantine example: after Diocletian’s persecution, Constantine “embracing them…showering them with gifts, and money” led to loss of faithfulness.
  • Waldensians: reformers offered protection so they wouldn’t “meet in secret,” and it looked like “an answer to our prayers,” but led to compromise.
  • Lollards: “surviving lawlords were essentially drawn into the English Reformation and its Augustinian theology,” and then “we hear nothing more about them.”
  • Bercot names the kingdom teachings at stake: two kingdoms (no state church), “non-resistance,” “loving your enemies,” and wealth as “a snare.”
Discussion Follow-ups The transcript is a warning more than a step-by-step plan. It suggests a practical question for churches: what kinds of “gifts,” access, or respect would tempt us to mute teachings that are “out of harmony with contemporary life”?

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