THE CHURCH AT WORK IN GERMANY

THE CHURCH AT WORK IN GERMANY THE CHURCH AT WORK IN GERMANY
Gottfried Reichel

One spring morning in the year 1945 I was awakened by the loud noise of a motor. When I first opened my eyes I was surprised to find myself in our basement, but soon I remembered that my family had slept there for several days to seek protection from the artillery fire which was hitting our town. In order to discover the cause of the motor-noise which had awakened me, I peered through the basement window and there on the street in front of our house stood a big American tank. The operators of the tank had opened the hatches and were looking around, so that I could see them. These men were Americans, people who had come with an army to overcome my fatherland, breaking every resistance with bullets and bombs. Yes, this American army fought with the physical sword to bring the German nation into sub-mission. For this I, as a member of the Hitler youth, hated them.

Three years later in 1948 I met again with American soldiers. I was very much surprised to find out that they were of a different type. One of them asked me to attend a church service of the Church of Christ. At first I hesitated, being a Lutheran, but finally I accepted the invitation. In the following month, being an escapee from behind the Iron Curtain without home, work, and food, I experienced an exemplification of Paul’s words: “Therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head” (Romans 12:20). Sergeant Carl W. McDaniel, reared in Boles Orphan Home, here in Texas, took me into his home, gave me to eat and to drink. He truly heaped coals of fire on my head, burning out the hate and prejudice against my former enemy. Through his teaching and Christian example, I was motivated to become his and your brother in Christ.

Through him, a sergeant of a secular American army, I was introduced to a spiritual army, also coming from the United States. This army likewise came with a sword, the sword of the spirit, to bring German people into submission, not under their own power, but under the authority of Christ. Love and not hate was the reaction of those they brought into submission to their King.

These soldiers of the cross were sent by you, Christians in America. It 'is the purpose of this address to inform you about the obstacles, the enemies and the victories of these missionaries. In 1947, the first small band of evangelists entered Germany. Like every army in a foreign country, they were confronted with obstacles, which needed to be overcome, before the enemy could successfully be at-tacked. To learn the German language was the first and one of the most difficult obstacles for the American workers to overcome. Almost all of them wrote their sermons in English, then had them translated into German and then read the translation to the German audience. I know it was a tremendous task, especially for the missionaries from the deep South to drawl out the German words, but as a German listener, I assure you that the task of understanding them was many times even greater. (At times one felt the desire to have a long pair of tongs available, to help the speaker by literally pulling out of his mouth some of the more difficult words he was using. Perhaps you would like to have a pair of tongs right now). However, at the present, I am happy to report that most of the missionaries have overcome the language barrier and are preaching in an effective way. A second obstacle consisted of the lack of adequate meeting places. Many German congregations started their meetings in taverns, no other places being available. I, as a former Lutheran, having been accustomed to elaborate church buildings, found it rather difficult to listen to the word of God in a hall in which just nine hours before the service, people drank, danced, and cursed.

Let me ask you Christians: Would you go to church, if it met in a beer hall? I am sure that most of you would, because you are not looking for a wonderful building, but the strength which comes out of Christian fellowship and the worship of the Almighty. But let me ask you another question: Would you, being a stranger to the simple gospel, look for the truth in such an establishment? No, and this has been just the answer of many German people when they were invited to the services of the Laim congregation of the church in Munich. But to a great extent also this obstacle has been overcome. At least this is true in three congregations whose own buildings were completed during the past year. The same thing will be true with four other congregations, whose buildings are already under con-struction and will be finished, we hope, in the near future. In Frankfurt after the completion of the new building between June and November thirty people were baptized. It is not the new building as such which helped them to decide, but it is the fact that a permanent church building shows the sincere willingness of the church to stay in Germany as long as God lets us stay there and that it is not merely an affair connected with the American occupation force. The German people after the times of war and uncertainty want security. Yes, security also in religion. You, our brethren in America have helped through your sacrifices to make possible those building programs proving to the German public the words of the missionaries: “The Church came to stay.” As a German I want to give you the thanks of my brethren, with the sincere prayer that God may help us to prove that these expressions of gratitude are not empty phrases. The obstacles any army has to face in a foreign country weakens its efficiency. But the greatest hin-drance to the accomplishment of any army’s mission is its enemy. Yes, the very purpose of an army is to overcome the enemy. Who was and is the enemy of this army of Christ in Germany? Friends, wherever the soldiers of Christianity might go, may it be to Japan or to Italy, to America, or to Germany, they have to fight against the same adversary, Satan. His goal is everywhere the same, to lead man into sin and therewith to spiritual death. Considering the forces of evil in Germany, one could say that the devil divided them into two groups.

One resembles the apparent sins, which almost every civilized man considers as such, even though he might not escape from them. General immorality, indifference towards eternal things and social injustice, which are usually the fruits of war, are some of the apparent enemies of the church. At times these forms of sin try to creep into the Lord’s body, but since they are easily discerned they are discovered and cast out. The second and more dangerous enemy of the church, stopping its progress more than anything else, is sin hidden under the disguise of Christianity. By this I think of the force which just one month ago caused the discontinuation of our radio broadcast over Saarbruecken. I mean the power which forced the radio-station-manager to write us the following- statement, and I quote:

I am sorry that I have to tell you that decision of government came through telling us that we are no longer allowed to broadcast the Church of Christ feature. I am hastening to tell you that yesterday, Friday, January 23, 1953, is your last time on the air. It would be useful if you could come to see the gentlemen in question who are responsible for this decision in order to talk to them and to try to convince them.

Brethren Gatewood, Bennett, Mingle, and Casmir went to see these officials and urged them to allow our broadcast to continue. At my last information the broadcast has not continued, but the next Friday, when our program was due to be broadcast, the radio announced that because of technical difficulties our feature would no longer be heard at that time.

What power would forbid the broadcasting of the saving gospel of Christ? It could not be a power which truly serves God. It could not even be a power which believes in religious freedom, as it is stated in the constitution of the Saarland, where we broadcasted. But, brethren and friends, it is the same power which told children in Munich one and a half years ago: “Don’t go into the tent of the Church of Christ, because they believe not in the Christian God, but in the sun, the moon, and the stars.” It is the same power which in Heppenheim threatened a little girl to be flunked in school, if she continued in attending the Sunday Bible school of the church. It is the same power which just a few months ago caused the closing of the meeting places of the church in Italy. To prove to you that this is not merely a wild guess of my imagination, I am going to read to you a paragraph from a letter, written by an official of Radio Saarbruecken. I quote: “For your private information, the chief difficulty with starting the program lay in the power of the local Catholic Church which is not interested in any rival religious teachings in South Germany.” The Catholic church was not interest in seeing us start the broadcast, much less interested when she felt the sharp edge of the word of God, laying free the fallacy of its doctrine, tearing down this disguise of Christianity and exposing its real nature. And all this was not done through negative preaching, but, positive, merely proclaiming the teachings of the New Testament. But the Catholic hierarchy was not interested in any rival religious teaching, so we had to retreat. Has the fight of the church in Germany against its enemies always resulted in retreat? No, not by far. Wherever this spiritual army saw an opportunity to gain ground it did. It established forts in the land of the enemy. As most of you know through the religious papers of the brotherhood, fourteen German congregations have been established in ten major cities of my home country. I might mention the fact that one of these congregations already supports a full time worker. Others have taken full responsibility for all the expenses involved with their meeting places. I assure you that there is a sincere effort made among the German brethren to ease the financial burden which they are to their American brethren.
Eight English speaking congregations meet every Lord’s day in different sections of the American Zone. I know it is a great comfort for many Christian mothers and fathers to know that their sons and daughters, far away from home, exposed to the dangers of military life, have an opportunity to worship God with fellow Christians. At this point I should also mention that some of the missionaries have contacted three native established churches, trusting that there are others in the East and West Zones.

Including all the above mentioned congregations, we find that there are now twenty-six churches in Germany. This proves that your Christian soldiers have won many battles. A natural result of establishing new congregations throughout Germany, was the fact that it brought new soldiers to the cause. These new soldiers are natives, who know the country, the language, the people and are for this reason a great asset to the church in my homeland. Four of the eight young evangelists who are now active in the work were trained in the Bible Training School located in Frankfurt. I myself graduated from this school and owe its teachers a great debt. I think that this educational work of the church cannot be overemphasized. The future of the church jin Germany depends to a great extent on its leaders. If its leaders are well educated so that they are able not only to reach the average people, but also the intellectuals, the growth of the cause will be faster. At least this is the principle which German history has taught about many new movements.

Since we just mentioned history, let me go into American history to illustrate a point. In the great move westward, many forts were established by the United States Army. The security of these forts depends to the greatest extent on the supply which they received' from the home states. When the wagon-train' with supplies did not come through it meant often the destruction of the fort. These forts were only able to survive and later grow into self-supporting territories and states when the motherland kept up its support. Brethren, that is true of the forts and the frontier army of the gospel in Germany. They need your support.

I must have been seventeen years of age, still living in the Russian Zone, when my father told me a rather meaningful story, which I would like to pass on to you for its value of illustrating a vital point in the Christian faith. An artist was asked to paint a picture, which would express a dying church. The ais tist went to work and after he had finished he delivered it to the church officials, who had ordered it. After they had thrown a short glance on the picture they all were highly astonished and somewhat angry. The reason was that the artist had painted a majestic cathedral with its door wide open, so that you could see into the building. The house was filled with worshipping people, the preacher was reading the lesson. “Is this the picture of a dying church?” the church officials asked. The artist answered, “Yes, look on the door post at the small box.” The men saw a collection box, which bore the inscription, “Mission Work.” And over the box the artist had painted spider webs, to show that this box never received any attention, much less contributions. The artist realized that a church without any interest for the lost in all the world is a dying church.

Churches of Christ in America in the recent past and at present do not have their contribution plates designated for foreign mission work covered with spiderwebs of indifference.

I, therefore, don’t want to and do not have a right to scold you for not doing more. I am not here to scold, but to encourage you to continue and to do more in this work, which resulted in my hope of eternal life and the same hope of hundreds of my people.

However, foreign mission work resulted not only in the growth of the church in other nations, but in the great progress of the restoration movement in your own great nation. The church of our Lord is growing in your country, because it has come to realize that the great commission is not merely a welcome scripture to prove to some denominationalist that faith and baptism are required for salvation, but that Christ meant what he said: “Go ye therefore into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature’’ (Mark 16:15). Because you endeavored to carry out his great commission he has blessed you richly. That is why I urge you—do more of this work and God can and will bless you still more. The church has been established in Germany. We know that it is God’s will that his church grow every-where. If he is for us who could be against us, but our own lack of prayer, labor, and sacrifice. Therefore, it is in your hands, yes, it is in our hands, whether the country of the great Protestant Reformation will become a land of New Testament Restoration. That this may come true is my earnest prayer. Amen!