True Christianity Is Improving Life in Sweden
SWEDEN provides its population with one of the world’s highest living standards. In addition to abundant food and housing space, cars, pleasure boats, television sets, and personal computers, Sweden’s inhabitants enjoy virtually free medical care, old-age and disability pensions, child allowances, and other government-backed services.
You might thus conclude that no one could possibly improve upon the quality of life in such a land. Nevertheless, for all its material advantages, Sweden has its share of problems: divorce, alcoholism, drug abuse, crime, and suicide. Religion, which might be expected to exert a powerful moral influence, is all but dead in Sweden. Over 90 percent of the nation’s citizens belong to the Lutheran State Church, but only 2.1 percent go to its services regularly. Charges one priest: “The Church lives in retirement. . . . It has lost its vital force and has disassociated itself from people’s needs.”
The failure of the church to improve life in Sweden, however, in no way amounts to a failure of true Christianity. Some 22,000 of Jehovah’s Witnesses in 331 congregations are finding success in helping people to apply Bible principles to their betterment. This work has not gone unnoticed.
“We must admire Jehovah’s Witnesses for their zeal in going out with their message!” says a teacher of religion in the nationwide Pentecostal newspaper Dagen (The Day). The article adds: “Jehovah’s Witnesses compose the group that wins the greatest number of new members every year and has the largest crowd of youths . . . We should learn from Jehovah’s Witnesses!”
Indeed, those really willing to learn from Jehovah’s Witnesses will discover something. What is that? How Bible truths can dramatically improve the quality of their lives.
Bible Knowledge Helps!
Consider a letter that the local branch office of the Watch Tower Society received from a young unwed mother. She wrote: “I want to express my appreciation for the good life I have been experiencing since I began to study with Jehovah’s Witnesses. I have a smoke-free home. I have come to appreciate the need to spend more time with my daughter. My financial situation has improved, although I have the same salary. I have fewer problems sleeping. I also have true friends to be happy about. Yes, I would not trade my present way of life for the one I had before.”
Another example involves the matter of divorce—very common in Sweden. However, the Bible helped a couple named Arne and Ketie. They had been married for 13 years and had two children when personal differences caused them to obtain a divorce. They hated each other.
Arne, who moved away to live by himself, was contacted by Jehovah’s Witnesses and began to study the Bible. He got so excited about what he learned that one day he rushed over to Ketie and tried to force her and the children to study too! When she refused, he threw her against the wall and said: “You study, or I’ll kill you!” Ketie called Jehovah’s Witnesses and complained, saying: “What kind of cruel God is that Jehovah?”
Ketie was patiently told that Jehovah is a loving God who does not force anyone. She became curious and wanted to learn more. As Arne gained further knowledge of godly principles, he calmed down and got back on speaking terms with Ketie. They regularly saw each other at meetings in the Kingdom Hall. The result? After both became baptized Witnesses, they were remarried! They have been married for eight years, and Arne serves as a congregation elder. “Our marriage has never been better than it is now,” they say. “We have so much to thank Jehovah for.”
Bible truths are also helping young people improve the quality of their lives. A young man named David recalls: “My parents were divorced, and everything seemed to go wrong in my life. I didn’t care about anything. I often skipped school and didn’t do any homework during the last three years. At times I found life not even worth living. I wore ragged jeans and old shoes. My hair went halfway down my back. I tried different life-styles, such as that of a punk rocker and a hard rocker. I smoked and drank and got involved in crime.
“In 1986 one of Jehovah’s Witnesses visited me. ‘Another of those shady religious types,’ I thought. ‘Let me ask him some questions that he won’t be able to answer.’ To my surprise, he did answer them. I went on one of his Bible studies and found that he had a logical answer to almost everything—that there was no hole in the truth. I attended an assembly and was amazed to see those neat, friendly people. I began to go to the meetings of Jehovah’s Witnesses and was surprised when so many came up and shook hands with me. What unity among these people!”
A year and a half later, David got baptized as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. His relatives, former friends, teachers, and others could hardly believe that this neatly dressed and well-groomed young man was the David they knew earlier.
A Ripple Effect
Preaching from door to door in Sweden can at times be discouraging. The Swede zealously guards his privacy. When the doorbell rings, he may look through a peephole, and many doors remain closed to Jehovah’s Witnesses. But they do not lose heart. The Witnesses know that the angels can locate righteously disposed individuals. (Revelation 14:6; compare Matthew 13:41.) Once the truth enters into such a person’s life, it often spreads—like ripples on the water—to relatives and friends.
A woman in Stockholm recalls sitting at her kitchen table weeping about the misery of her life. “I was desperate,” she said. “Suddenly, I began to pray: ‘God, I want to talk with you about life.’ The doorbell rang. Through the peephole, I saw a well-dressed man, so I opened the door. He said he wanted to share some encouraging thoughts from God’s Word. He was one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. I asked if he had called on the other people on my floor. ‘No,’ he said, ‘I was on my way home from a Bible study when I decided to make some calls. I happened to start here.’ I was astounded because I lived a couple of floors up. I liked what he showed me.”
Soon this woman started to study the Bible. Enthusiastically, she began sharing what she learned with relatives and friends. She distributed 28 Bibles and 96 books. The result? Her husband, two of her sisters, her niece and nephew, her brother-in-law, her father and mother, her husband’s son from a previous marriage, her workmate, and her husband’s fellow worker and his wife were soon studying the Bible and getting ready for baptism. So far, 13 persons have had the opportunity to improve the quality of their life through one call at a door by one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. This woman says: “Conforming to Jehovah’s will has done so much good in our lives that we should thank him on our knees every day!”
Witnessing in School
There are serious disciplinary problems in many schools in Sweden. But young Witnesses are proving to be a positive influence by sharing Bible truths with teachers and fellow students. For example, young Jorgen openly told his teachers and classmates that he was one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. He was respected for his frankness and fine conduct. Jorgen always answered even provocative questions politely and with references to the Bible. This made a deep impression on his classmates. Reports Jorgen:
“A year after finishing school, I met Peter, a former classmate. After some discussions, I began to conduct a Bible study with him. As his mother was opposed, we studied on the beach. Peter was baptized in March 1988. His mother noticed that her son had changed for the better, so she also began to study. After some time, she got baptized.
“Another former classmate, Torbjorn, began to study the Bible. So did his mother. They too are now baptized.” Altogether, four of Jorgen’s classmates began studying the Bible, and a fifth one has expressed interest. “I hope this experience will encourage young Witnesses in school not to hold back,” concludes Jorgen. “Their Christian conduct and firm stand for the truth may sow seeds that may later bear fine fruit.”
Fighting for Religious Freedom
Jehovah’s Witnesses have also played a key role in establishing basic religious freedom in Sweden. This has worked to the benefit of everyone.
For example, as in all other lands, Jehovah’s Witnesses in Sweden have decided individually to maintain Christian neutrality. (John 17:16) As a result, many were sentenced to long prison terms. But in 1966 a blow was struck for religious freedom when the authorities decided that pending individual investigation, Witnesses would not be called up for military service. (Isaiah 2:2-4) Sweden’s religious tolerance has served as a model for other governments.
Another matter involved the rights of patients. Jehovah’s Witnesses take seriously the Bible’s command to ‘abstain from blood’ and therefore refuse blood transfusions. (Acts 15:28, 29) Though not all doctors and medical personnel have respected this Scriptural position, the most prominent medical journal in Sweden recently announced in a headline: “No to Blood Transfusion Should Be Respected if the Patient Is Aware of Consequences.”
These words headed a report on a meeting of the National Board of Health and Welfare and the Delegation for Medical Ethics of the Swedish Society of Medicine. After discussing the situation of Jehovah’s Witnesses, these authorities decided to urge all doctors to comply when a legally competent patient—from 15 years of age and older—refuses to accept a blood transfusion. They recognized that there is now greater restraint about giving blood transfusions because of the risk of transmitting diseases. More important, however, their enlightened decision supports the basic right of any patient to refuse a particular form of medical treatment.
Most of Sweden’s inhabitants do, indeed, enjoy a good life materially. But many need to be upbuilt morally and spiritually. Unquestionably, true Christians in that land are helping to improve the lives of all who are willing to learn and apply God’s Word. Such responsive individuals also enjoy the prospect of life eternal in God’s coming new world.—John 17:3; 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:3, 4.
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