Soviet Evangelicals Since World War II, Walter Sawatsky, 1981

ament can offer a word of challenge and of comfort for such a time. In his relations with the Corinthian church, the Apostle Paul had been accused of wrong motives, had seen his actions mis- construed, and his words twisted. In reply he asserted that he did not act with deceit and proclaimed as his principle of operation: “In the full light of truth we live in God’s sight and try to commend ourselves to everyone’s good conscience” (2 Cor. 4:2, GNB). Perhaps the Russian evangelical leaders, like most of us, recognize the desirability of such a principle but still experience it primarily as a distant goal. Yet Paul added an important observation which should also apply when we assess Soviet evangelical The Evangelical in Soviet Society 473 leaders: “We who have this spiritual treasure are like common clay pots, in order to show that the supreme power belongs to God, not to us” (2 Corin- thians 4:7, GNB). Alexei Bychkov concluded his latest congress report with boldness and triumph. Socialism and atheism need not be married together, he declared, that was not just the opinion of Christians, but “of many progressive people and movements which are striving for peace and justice.” Millions of Chris- tians are living in socialist countries and his own church could bear witness to the fact that “in socialist countries there is adequate place for the activities of the churches.” In fact, quoting his predecessor, he affirmed: . The task of the Christian in atheist surroundings consists of showing to atheists the most appealing of the sons of men: Jesus Christ. To reveal him not only by preaching the Gospel but also in one’s daily life so that the atheist will come to believe in him, will bow the knee to him, and nee A unbelieving Thomas will say: ““My Lord and my God” (Jn. ‘ 1 The likelihood that state opposition against all believers, including the various evangelical groupings, will be resumed in the not too distant future remains high. At the moment, the Reform Baptists are again experiencing intense pressure, and there are signs that their union has been weakened. Once that union is eliminated, zealous atheistic authorities will see less need :to make concessions to the AUCECB. The average evangelical lives with the expectation that, as he puts it, the wind can change any day. But all evangelicals can affirm in triumph with Bychkov that “the present and fu- ture church is in the hands of Jesus Christ and delivers us from the de- pendence on the ideological superstructure of our society.” And so they pro- claim the enduring affirmation of the Apostle Paul: We are often troubled, but not crushed; sometimes in doubt, but never in despair; there are many enemies, but we are never without a friend; a badly hurt at times, we are not destroyed (2 Cor. 4:8-9, Note for Chapter 16 1. From the manuscript copy of “Report of the AUCECB to the 42nd All- ae ECB Congress,” by Gen. Sec. A. M. Bychkov,