Yuri Sipko
A Yearning for Salvation and Peace
The Lord has appointed me to live in Russia and has given me love for our people, our land. The great plan of salvation in His heart includes all the nations of the earth, uniting in Him disparate and warring tribes, calling for peace among men and women, nations, and tribes, for whose sake He sacrificed His only beloved Son. I thank God for His boundless love and patience toward Russians. I also thank Christians around the world who, in accordance with the will of the Almighty, pray for the rebirth of the peoples of Russia and patiently wait for us to open up to freedom, to a civil society, and to a dignified role in the world community and the family of Christians.
Russia is in the initial stages of building a modern, democratic state and civil society. We as evangelical Christians have almost no influence over the state, but as part of society we are responsible for the strengthening of civic life and the proactive position of the church. The problem of democratization is not resolved by a presidential decree, although many people in Russia think so. Democratization begins with the reformation of each person, with the emergence of a unifying ideology, and peaceful and reciprocal relationships among people. This centuries-old dream of humankind is expressed in the words of the prophet: “They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Isaiah 2:4). Unfortunately, the rhetoric and mood in Russian society speaks about a state of war, not peace, and xenophobia, not dialogue and unity. And so our Christian task is the affirmation of divine peace in the hearts of people.
The Legacy of Autocracy and Atheism
A few words about our history: It was not until the second half of the nineteenth century, in 1861, that serfdom was abolished, and Russian society still lacks any concept of law and individual liberty. The specter of Communism wandering through Europe found lengthy refuge in Russia. Autocracy was swept away, and in exchange, the dictatorship of the proletariat was erected.
For over 70 years an atheistic regime, antithetical to its people, demolished the country’s civic institutions. Only the church was not destroyed. However, the Soviet state did manage to badly weaken and limit its place in society. Here are the primary characteristics of the Soviet regime: private property is a crime; civil liberties are criminal; religion is criminal. The authorities alone are sacrosanct and beyond judgment. The priest Alexander Men described the ascent to the throne of the tyranny of Stalin:
Steadily and deliberately, he erected the building of absolute dictatorship. With cold calculations he swept from his path everyone and everything that might have exhibited even a hint of a threat to his autocracy. No longer was it possible to separate from his personality and will either science, or art, or literature. Or even religion. But to preserve it even in a “tamed” form was risky. God must be the one in the Kremlin, and faith in Him is to become the dominant ideology of the state. The leader is the only oracle and bearer of truth. He is not constrained even by the Marxism he espouses, for the Leader himself fully embodies its doctrines....With the “cult of personality” state authority arrived at complete self-deification; it established itself as the only absolute value.
This description by a murdered priest accurately reflects not only the process of deification of the selfstyled autocrat, but also points to the characteristics of the proletarian state that have been passed on to the new Russia: the cult of the leader, hatred of freedom, collectivism, intolerance of dissent, and enslavement of the church.
In contrast, the socio-political program of the first Russian Baptists was to demand a “free church in a free state.” To this day, this still remains our desired ideal, our dream. To this day, the church is still fighting for its freedom. Our Christian views on freedom, dignity, and human rights are ahead of social development. The publicist Igor Yakovenko argues that in Russia, our civic consciousness has not developed a culture of responsibility among its citizens. On the contrary, what reigns is a culture of subjugation. “A culture of subjugation can be defined as a culture of submission, when one can make requests of the authorities, or even make demands, but the participation of the subjects in politics is taboo.” As Yuri Afanasiev writes, “For thousands of years, the vast majority of Russians have existed in a state of barely surviving. Such a state turns them into helpless creatures, submissive to fate, ready to die standing, without a fight, like the trees in the forest die.”
A Culture of Subjugation
These images conceal deep problems in the development of society. A lie is not considered a vice. Drunkenness is not considered a vice. Divorce and adultery are not considered vices. Tax evasion is not considered a vice. Furthermore, the art of deception is taken for valor. Thus, divorced men refuse to pay alimony. A moral violation, and on top of that a violation of the rules of criminal procedure, the laws of the country, and the Constitution, is seen as a matter of course.
It would appear that in the absence of civic engagement, growing religious activity should be regarded as a positive process, as a means of healing the ailments of atheism. However, currently, this is not at all the case. Society is dominated by intolerance of dissent. The conviction remains of the superiority of the collective over the private and personal. Rights and freedoms, including freedom of conscience, have not yet been grasped and assimilated by society. Hence, the suspicious attitude toward minorities, strict control over NGOs, and the subjugation of the media by the authorities. Here are the elements of the culture of subjugation fully manifested. Information is replaced with propaganda. Access to the national media for Protestant religious groups has been completely off limits for some time. A high degree of intolerance of dissent is observed even in the evangelical movement among different traditions. Such friction weakens the Protestant movement, marginalizing it, and costing it any sympathy from society. Protestants need to exert great efforts to find common ground before the public in order to present a common defense of religious liberty against the encroachments of the state.
Evangelical Charitable and Educational Work
State patronage is enjoyed by only one denomination, the Russian Orthodox Church. All the rest are in the category of foreign spies or destructive sects. Given such a situation, evangelical churches regard their main mission to be one of charity and educational activities, as these spheres are far removed from politics and for now remain relatively free. Evangelical Christian-Baptist churches and all Protestant communities are actively committed to charitable service in hospitals, orphanages, and in homes for the elderly. For many years, successful spiritual care has been rendered in areas where penitentiaries are located. Churches have established a network of rehabilitation centers providing material and spiritual assistance to those released from prison. A huge number of people suffer from alcohol and drug addiction. This is a disaster for families, the deaths of thousands of young people, and a problem of national importance. Government authorities are in no way able to manage this problem.
The second important aspect of the ministry of evangelical churches is education. Religious educational institutions have been created and have reached a certain maturity. The number of churches has multiplied in which highly educated pastors conduct their ministry. In many regions of Russia, such pastors are involved in public councils under the governor, providing an indirect impact on the atmosphere of relations among religious groups, and between the government and the church. Books are being published, and what is encouraging, books by local authors. In this difficult and important area of the spiritual health of society Peter Deyneka Russian Ministries [now Mission Eurasia] and Slavic Gospel Association (SGA) play an important role. This is labor with splendid prospects. Russia’s territory is a vast land, which is home to about 180 nationalities and linguistic and ethnic groups. No matter how bitter and hard the past, no matter how difficult the moment, evangelical churches look to the future, and selflessly invest themselves in the cause of God.
Our contribution to civil society and freedom in Russia is the Gospel and Christian participation. This alone can change the essence of our citizens and lay the spiritual foundations for public life, giving a Christian content to the concept of freedom and human rights.
The fruits are still ahead. But already today, the young people of Russia have the opportunity to see the world not in terms of the meaningless chaos of evolution, but a world order in which life has meaning and in which God bestows rights and responsibilities on every citizen on earth. This is still the period of sowing, but the shoots are maturing, and a generation of free people will grow up. “Therefore, brethren, be patient until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it, until it receives the early and the late rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand” (James 5:7-8). We believe, we labor, and we see the approach of a great awakening in Russia which will not include repression or any limitations on religious freedom.
Edited excerpts published with permission from an address presented at a U.S. Congress Briefing on Religious Freedom Issues in the Former Soviet Union/Eurasia, Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC, 5 February 2014.
Yuri Sipko is the former president of the Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists (2002- 2010) and former vice-president of the Baptist World Alliance (2005-2010).