By Robert Dilday
Despite economic woes and continuing tension with Ukraine, Baptists in Russia are “busy binding up wounds, both the physical and the spiritual ones,” leaders said in a statement Dec. 22.
“We thank God when the guns in Eastern Ukraine are silent,” said the statement by the Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists. “But we are hoping for much more, for long-term peace. We love our brothers and sisters in Ukraine and long for the day when we can again relate to each other in a constructive fashion. We Russians and Ukrainians are from the same cultural and spiritual family, and the pain of parts of the family causes pain for the family in its entirety.”
The statement, signed by Vitaly Vlasenko, director of the union’s department for external church affairs, also refers to an 80-page document released Dec. 13 addressing a wide range of social, political and ethical issues.
The document, “The Social Concept of the Russian Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists,” decries xenophobia, racism, nationalism and anti-Semitism in Russia, while paying tribute to the “historical role of Russian Orthodoxy and other Christian denominations in the development of the country and stresses its desire not to offend those from other confessions. It even recommends cooperation with non-Christian religions in the defense of religious liberty.”
In its Dec. 22 statement, the union asserts Russian Baptists’ loyalty to their country. “We from the RUECB want to continue proving to our neighbors in the country that we too are a traditional Russian entity. We too are committed to the betterment of our society and people. We want the Russian nation and its churches to thrive.”
But, the statement adds, such patriotism “is not nationalistic — it dare not harm and reject other societies and countries. We love our nation, which does not mean that we are allowed to hate or harm other ones.”
“We do not live on packed suitcases. Our commitment is to remain in Russia and work for God’s kingdom here. It is no coincidence that we were born in Russia or the former Soviet Union. God had good reasons for placing us here. Escape, both in its internal and external forms, are not an alternative which God usually blesses.
“When we make mistakes, when we offend others, we as individuals or as a union want to ask for forgiveness.”
According to the Baptist World Alliance, the RUECB includes about 76,000 baptized members in about 1,800 churches.