The Wiser Refugees
TODAY there is steady stream of refugees entering West Germany from the Eastern zone. Of the many thousands that arrived at the West Berlin registration center for refugees during the first six months of 1958 were 124 university professors, 83 chemists, 483 physicians and 1,385 schoolteachers. It represents no small sacrifice for men such as these to become refugees. Not only do they lose all their property except what they can carry on their backs, but they also risk imprisonment.
Why do they take such a drastic step? Because of the intolerable conditions behind the Iron Curtain. Because they want justice, and freedom to speak the truth. In standing up for what is right they have shown themselves wiser and more noble than those who submitted to Communist coercion and stifled their consciences for the sake of material gain.
However, today there is a far more numerous class of refugees that are much wiser and more noble than those who have fled from totalitarian oppression. Who are they? They are the men and women who have made a break for spiritual freedom from this old world, which lies in bondage to Satan the Devil, “the god of this system of things.” (1 John 5:19; 2 Cor. 4:4) They have heeded God’s urgent call: “Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and provide escape each one for his own soul.”—Jer. 51:6, 9.
Where have these wiser, spiritual refugees fled? Not to any certain location, but to a condition of pure worship of Jehovah; to a “land” of freedom, justice and love, that God’s Word describes as having been brought forth in one day. (Isa. 66:8) These spiritual refugees have entered that “land” by gaining a knowledge of Jehovah God and his purposes as revealed in the Bible and then dedicating themselves to Jehovah.
To those who have gained this spiritual freedom might be applied the words that Paul directed to Christian slaves of his day: “In whatever state each one was called, let him remain in it. Were you called a slave? Do not let it worry you; but if you can also become free, rather seize the opportunity.”—1 Cor. 7:20-22.
Because this is so, these spiritual refugees who find themselves behind the Iron Curtain do not, as a rule, flee from behind it, but rather use their opportunities to tell others about God’s kingdom. In this way they wisely show true love of God and neighbor, risking physical freedom to help others gain spiritual freedom.