Love or an excuse for self-weakness?

     I'm still struggling with the question, did the priest apostatize to out of love or self-weakness? Endo was a masterful writer to leave the me and others contemplating this question.
     Rodrigues seems at first like a hero. For the first time he saw Jesus as not a strong suffering man, but a man weak from exhaustion, that said, "It's ok I love you anyways". So he trampled on the fumie. Was this apostasy?  He seems not to apostatize to save himself but the people slowly dying in The Pit. He seems to have sacrificial love for the people. After all isn't that what were suppose to do? Love God then people?
     However this brings another question to my mind...What about other martyrs that have died, refusing to apostatize, even when the lives of others were at stake? Did they not love the other people and put themselves above others? I don't think so. In Matthew 10:33 it says, "But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.". So what does this mean for the priest, or the people in the pit that have already apostatize. Are they condemned to hell? I don't think so either. There have been many martyrs that have apostatize during torture, but then recanted and returned to Christ to be living sacrifices, and eventually became martyrs. 
    But did Rodrigues do that? Did he continue to serve God with his life, or did he continue down a slippery slope? There are so many unanswered questions that Endo leaves me with. I still can't decide if it was love or self-weakness.