By johninnc

John 5:24: Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

In recent months, we have seen first a trickle and now a parade of the architects of the covid response admitting to some of their errors. It’s kind of a dismissive “mistakes were made” kind of thing, that some make willingly, and others under compulsion. In any event, I have seen none of the perpetrators come straight out and admit that what they did was a complete fiasco that did not improve the outcome, but did eviscerate human rights and diminish trust in their institutions. Instead, what they are engaging in is known as a “limited hangout.”

From “wikipedia”:

A limited hangout or partial hangout is a tactic used in media relation, perception management, politics, and information management. The tactic originated as a technique in the espionage trade.

Concept

According to Victor Marchetti, a former special assistant to the Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), a limited hangout is “spy jargon for a favorite and frequently used gimmick of the clandestine professionals. When their veil of secrecy is shredded and they can no longer rely on a phony cover story to misinform the public, they resort to admitting—sometimes even volunteering—some of the truth while still managing to withhold the key and damaging facts in the case. The public, however, is usually so intrigued by the new information that it never thinks to pursue the matter further.” While used by the CIA and other intelligence organizations, the tactic has become popularized in the corporate and political spheres.

Note: I have removed links and footnote references.

While many of the people at the epicenter of either the disease or the official response to it are participating in a limited hangout, some of their adherents (“covidians”) are doubling down and insisting that the only failure in the response was not doing it earlier and with more forcefulness.

In the world of professing christendom, the false religion of Lordship “salvation” (LS) is a sort of limited hangout. That is, LS adherents will often rightfully concede that certain practices are not required to receive, retain, or provide evidence that one has received eternal life, while still hanging on to other unbiblical conditions.

So, what do I mean by LS?

LS is the unsupportable and unbiblical belief that the PERFORMANCE of good works, the PROMISE of good works, or the EVIDENCE of good works MUST accompany faith in Christ in order to establish, or provide evidence, that such faith has resulted in eternal life.

In diametrical opposition to LS, Jesus said that anyone who believes in Him has everlasting life as a present possession that can never be lost or forfeited, and that there is no need to look for performance-based assurance of eternal life.

Most religions claiming the name of Christ errantly imbed works either explicitly (Roman Catholicism, Church of Christ, etc.) or implicitly through LS (Southern Baptist, Billy Graham Evangelical Association, Presbyterian Church USA, etc.) into the gospel, thereby creating myriad false gospels. The ones that are most explicit are purists in their beliefs, while the others, either wittingly or unwittingly, are engaging in limited hangouts. There really is no difference in the various stripes – all roads lead to Rome, as they say.

I was reminded of this on a recent trip to Italy. While we were waiting in the airport for our return flight from Rome, there was a large, affable, gregarious young man chirping away to anyone with whom he could engage about his conversion to Roman Catholicism. I was unable to hear everything he said, but I did hear that he had grown up Southern Baptist (LS), had wanted to become a Southern Baptist pastor, but had converted to Roman Catholicism. He had jumped out of the frying pan into the friar, as it were (sorry for the pun). I also gleaned that he was particularly enamored with catholic artifacts and sacraments. I conjectured that this young man knew that Southern Baptist theology was errant, but like the covidians, he thought that doubling down on error might correct it. I hope that he will continue to search until he finds the right answer.