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No Part of the World?

BY AWAKE! CORRESPONDENT IN GERMANY

“THEY are no part of the world, just as I am no part of the world.” (John 17:16) With these words Jesus described the absolute neutrality of his followers toward political affairs. Do professed Christians today measure up to this standard?

Consider the following press comments regarding Christendom’s involvement in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR), which until its dissolution in 1990 had been governed by a Communist regime.

• “Now that the Lutheran Church in the GDR has basked in glory for a short time as mother of the peaceful revolution, its public rating seems to be sinking rapidly. To many it appears to have been more a pillar of support for the regime and a playground for the Stasi (State Security Service).”​—Die Zeit, November 1991.

• “Various provincial Lutheran Churches . . . have expressed bewilderment at involvement of church workers and parishioners with the Stasi.”​—Evangelische Kommentare, January 1991.

• “[Lutheran] Church leaders hear complaints that priests were no longer caring for their people as they used to, as they are active in politics.”​—Süddeutsche Zeitung, February 1990.

• “Weizsäcker [former president of the Federal Republic of Germany] said that the [Lutheran] Church had always played a helpful role in the political relationship of the two German States.”​—Wetterauer Zeitung, February 1992.

Political meddling was by no means limited to the Lutheran Church. “Virtually every [Protestant] church grouping was infiltrated by Stasi agents,” reported The European. Manfred Stolpe, whom The European describes as “the protestant church’s chief negotiator with the communist authorities,” said in his defense: “I would have shaken hands with the Devil if it had furthered our cause.”

The Guardian of London reported on the close relationship between the clergy and the Mafia in Italy. It stated: “Church and Cosa Nostra have cohabited peacefully for so long that the church is frequently accused of complicity.”

The Toronto Star carried an article on the collaboration of some Russian Orthodox priests with the former KGB. The report states: “The disclosures about church collaboration with the communist regime represent the most shattering blow. . . . Material from KGB archives . . . suggests that senior church officials not only betrayed their own principles but were willing to compromise religious leaders abroad.”

While the churches of Christendom continue to meddle in politics, genuine Christianity adheres to Jesus’ injunction to be no part of the world.