The attention of American Christians was wide spread this week. Global terrorism, police shootings, VP Picks and the RNC dominated our headlines. Sadly, what did not get our attention was Russia’s new law banning evangelism, which went into effect Wednesday, July 20th.
President Vladimir Putin and Russian law makers rammed the new law through Parliament in their last session before summer break. The disturbing law is called, The Yarovaya Package, named after its author, Iris Yarovaya, a member of the United Russia Party. The law was originally proposed in 2015 as an anti-terrorism law. It is the government’s attempt to curb Islamic extremists in Russia. However, the new law can potentially have a devastating effect on Christian Churches leading to new levels of suspicion and persecution, levels not been seen since the Soviet Union days.
What the Law Prohibits
While some restrictions have been on the Russian Church since 2002, the Yarovaya Package is far more aggressive. The new law states that religious activity must take place in government recognized church buildings. Therefore, sharing one’s faith will now be restricted to members of registered organizations. How will the Church share the gospel with the lost? The law is saying that you cannot share your faith with unbelievers, only with those who are “registered members” of your religious organization.
The new law goes even further. Discussions about faith will only be able to take place in registered religious buildings. This means sharing your faith with a neighbor, friend or co-worker is now illegal. If you wanted to take a co-worker to lunch to share the gospel with them, you would be breaking the law.
All sharing of faith will be forbidden in homes, informal witnessing between individuals is not allowed. Imagine how this will affect the 1,000’s of house churches in Russia. On one hand the government says a Church can gather if they are recognized as a Church. But what happens so often is that new church plants register to become a Church only to be denied by the same government. This is their attempt to stall the growth of the Church, and it happens in many countries that are hostile toward Christianity. So for the 1,000 of house churches that will gather this Sunday, they are gathering illegally.
The law prohibits evangelism through e-mail or social media outlets. Can you imagine not being able to share an event, prayer gathering or teaching from your pastor on social media, or to send an email inviting a friend to Church? As you can see, the implications from this new law are very serious for our Russian brothers and sisters.
Lastly, the new law greatly affects missionaries and missionary organizations. Unless missionaries are given a work visa to do religious activity, they will be deported. The problem is that Russia is already denying missionary visas.
Consequences for Breaking the Law
Joel Griffith from the Slavic Gospel Association has wisely said, “There are potentially very wide-sweeping ramifications to this law. It just depends on, again, how it is going to be enforced and that is a very huge question mark.”
Should Russian authorities crack down heavily on the 1% of the Russian population that are Evangelical Christians, individuals can be fined up to $780 USD. Churches and organizations can be fined up to $15,500 USD.
Why This Law Impacts Christians and the Church
While the government considers this an anti-terrorism law, it is in direct conflict with the command Christ gives His Church to “go and make disciples of all nations” Matthew 28:19. How can the Church be silenced in spreading the gospel? Jesus says we are a, “city set on a hill that cannot be hid” Matthew 5:14.
Russian pastors fear this new law will force them to disobey their authorities. They are making appeals to the Russian government that they do not want to disobey their government. Romans 13 teaches believers to respect, honor and obey governmental authority, the Bible also teaches that God is a higher authority. Peter boldly told the law makers of his day, “We must obey God rather than man” Acts 5:29.
John Piper helps us understand Paul’s command to preachers in 2 Timothy 4:2, “Preach the Word.” Piper explains, “the word for ‘preach’ is a word for ‘herald’ or ‘announce’ or ‘proclaim’. It is not a simple word for teach or explain. It is what a town crier did: ‘Hear ye, Hear ye, Hear ye! The King has a proclamation of good news for all those who swear allegiance to his throne. Be it known to you that he will give eternal life to all who trust and love and love his Son.’ I call this ‘exultation.’ Preaching is a public exultation over the truth that it brings. It is not disinterested or cool or neutral. It is passionate about what it says.” (http://www.desiringgod.org/messages…)
Christ has called His Church to evangelize. It is our purpose on the earth, and for Russian believers, our purpose is now in direct violation of the law! It is Evangelical Church, not the Russian Orthodox Church that will be the most effected. Most Russian’s are Orthodox, and the Orthodox do not evangelize. Evangelical Christians make up only 1% of Russia’s population.
How You Can Pray
Charisma News reports that currently there are 7,000 Russian Churches praying and fasting together as the new law became effective this Wednesday. You can join the prayer movement by praying for the Christians of Russia to stand united, to trust in the Lord and to continue to share their faith even in the midst of these threats.
Organizations to Follow
Friends of the Gospel
Open Doors USA
Russia’s Baptist Council of Churches
European Evangelical Alliance
Slavic Gospel Association
Russian Evangelical Alliance
Slavic Center for Law & Justice