Christians

Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.

These words from the 37th Psalm are a stock saying for Germans in Martin Luther's translation: "Stay in your country and earn an honest living."/- They had a special relevance when the psalm was read this month in 4,705 Evangelical Union churches of East Germany. For they were followed by a statement read from all pulpits, in which the Evangelical Union Church Synod called upon East German Protestants not to defect to West Germany but to stay under Communist rule.

"Pastors and all other church officials: God will bless your remaining." the letter began. "You become guilty before God if you neglect your duties here or abandon them by your own decision. Physicians: consider if you are not sinning against God if you abandon your patients in the face of the crying need for doctors. Teachers, instructors and professors: think of the young people placed in your hands and ask yourselves if for their sakes you must not continue to bear the special burdens of your profession. All in productive work in city and country: consider whether in the cooperatives and factories you cannot still live to the honor of God and the use of your fellow men. To parents and their children: do not break family bonds without gravest necessity . . . Trust in God. He can preserve the faith of your children even in a Socialist school."

The Winnowing. The letter dramatized a crisis few non-Germans have been aware of. The steady flow of refugees from the Communists across the border into West Germany has been greeted by Western propaganda as an impressive "vote with the feet" against the Red regime, in which the Communists are losing some of their most valuable citizens. But there is a long-range drawback to it from a Western point of view: though the steady drain of skilled and professional people works a hardship on the German Communists, the process also consolidates the East German government by winnowing out dissidents. And the winnowing is on a giant scale. In an average month, about 20,000 refugees cross the border.

Last week mutterings were heard on both sides of the border against the Evangelical hierarchy's stern dictum. Editorialized the respected West German Protestant weekly, Christ und Welt: "Nobody of the Evangelical Church can . . . replace the decision of the individual's conscience, and it must continue to be expected that even serious Christians will see no other way out of their troubles but flight." Said one pastor with many East Zone contacts: "The reaction of the faithful ranges from surprise to skepticism to outright rejection. The appeal shows how few people in the West realize what a daily struggle Christian life is in the East Zone. History proves that sometimes remaining is impossible. Take the Huguenots--they left their country. Martin Luther taught us that councils and bishops can err."

But councils and bishops are quick to recall Martin Luther's admonition to his followers in Wittenberg not to flee popish pressure but stand their ground. "If you are thinking of fleeing and settling somewhere else," he wrote them, "don't do it, but stay where you are. Do not move your dwelling for the enemy's sake, but sustain yourselves with faith."

/- Bleibe im Land und naehre dich redlich.

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