Päivi Räsänen: ‘Don’t be afraid. God takes special care of you when you are persecuted’

As Päivi Räsänen sat through 13 hours of interrogation at her local police station, the irony was not lost on her that she once oversaw the police force now taking action against her.

Räsänen’s distinguished political career has spanned more than 30 years, including eleven as chair of Finland’s Christian Democrats party. She was elected to parliament in 2011 and joined the cabinet as minister of the interior. For four years, she oversaw national security, counterterrorism, border control and the emergency services – including policing.

Then, in 2019, Räsänen suddenly and unexpectedly found herself on the wrong side of the laws that she had spent so long debating, voting on and implementing. Her crime? A post on Twitter (now X) that read: “The #church has announced that it is the official partner of #seta in #Pride2019. How does the church’s doctrinal foundation, the #Bible, align with elevating shame and sin as a matter of pride?”

Räsänen tells me that her comments were directed towards the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland – the denomination in which her husband was ministering as a pastor and she had been a lifelong member – in response to their announcement that it was joining forces with Finnish LGBT charity, Seta, in supporting Helsinki’s Pride event. 

The politician was heartbroken about the decision, she says, and considered leaving the church. But, during her prayer time, felt convicted instead to call out her denomination’s departure from the orthodox biblical position on sexuality and marriage. Her aim was “that those who were sleeping would awaken”.

Alongside the text, she posted a photo of her Bible, specifically Romans 1:24-27, which reads: “Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator – who is for ever praised. Amen. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.”

If you get some opposition, criticism or even persecution, these are the moments when God takes especially loving care of you

For these 163 characters and the accompanying image of an open Bible, she was arrested. Her past publications, TV and radio appearances were raked over. Finland’s prosecutor general charged Räsänen with inciting hatred – a charge that carries a substantial prison sentence. When she was acquitted in the district court, the prosecutor took the case to the Court of Appeal. When she was once again victorious, the case was referred to the Supreme Court. By the time you’re reading this, Räsänen may well be at the end of her legal journey. Her hearing has been scheduled for 30 October (keep an eye on premierchristian.news for updates on her case). 

Considering all that she has endured over the past six years, you might expect Räsänen to be angry, stressed or demoralised. Instead, when we speak at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association’s European Congress on Evangelism in Berlin, she is kind, warm and utterly unfazed by the allegations levied at her.

Räsänen was not raised in a particularly devout home, she tells me, but she attended Sunday school and experienced “enormous joy” when she asked Jesus into her life aged just six years old. She grew up near the prison where her father worked and, almost instinctively as a young child, understood that she needed God’s grace just as much as her neighbours on the inside. 

It seems she was an evangelist from the outset – even stopping the prison director as he cycled past their house one day to ask whether he believed in Jesus. “If you do not believe in Jesus, you can’t go to heaven,” she added earnestly. The director was shocked – and told her mother she should stop letting young Päivi go to church if it filled her head with such thoughts.

A doctor by training, Räsänen was drawn to politics by the same desires that inspired her to pursue medicine – a heart to help and compassion for the most vulnerable, particularly the unborn child. Throughout her career, she has been an outspoken opponent of abortion and assisted suicide. She’s the first to admit that this has resulted in some criticism, and considers it miraculous she’s now serving her eighth term in parliament, winning her seat at the last election with a bigger majority than ever.

For much of the past two of these terms, Räsänen has also been fighting an intense legal battle. Her kind eyes dance with laughter as she tells me how good God has been to her throughout her trial. How many opportunities he has given her to share the gospel, whether in the police station, the courthouse or during the many, many TV and radio interviews she has given. 

The most dangerous restriction is self-censorship. Christians are too afraid to express their faith

Sure, it’s been tough at times. But Räsänen’s unshakeable faith that God uses every difficulty we face for his kingdom purposes is both inspiring and uplifting. When she gently but firmly challenges all believers to remain steadfastly unashamed of the gospel, the weight of what she has walked through brings added gravitas – and reassurance. God is faithful, she says. Her own experience proves it. 

During the six years that these charges have hung over you, you’ve also been working as an MP. How do you manage that? Has it ever caused you to stumble in your faith? 

It has taken a lot of my time, of course, and there have been some dark moments. It has been painful when people who are close to you say that you should be silent. But I have got so much love and prayers from Christians – and also support from many people who say that they disagree with me but still think that I have a right to express my convictions.

[In court], when I speak about biblical doctrines and issues, it has given me an enormous opportunity to share the gospel, and to share the solution to the problem of sin – that Jesus died on the cross, and we all are sinners in need of grace. I have a very strong feeling that this whole process is in God’s hand. There is a purpose for this. It has given me an opportunity to bring the teachings of the Bible about gender and marriage – and, what is more important, the message of the gospel – to the public in Finland. 

Our secular media have printed these Bible verses in the newspaper. I have had live broadcasts from the courthouse and press conferences. [In those broadcasts] I have also given the invitation: if you do not yet know Jesus, you can pray, and he comes into your life. Many have told me that after [listening to] that radio programme, they have prayed, and Jesus has come into their life! 

So, I think that when God gives this kind of hardship, he has some purpose to it. It is a vehicle he can use for his own purposes, to give the gospel to people who have not yet heard it. 

Could you paint us a brief picture of the political landscape in Finland in terms of Christian freedoms?

When I was young, about 90 per cent of people belonged to the Lutheran Church. Of course, they were not all believers in their heart, but still, we have historically respected Christianity and Christian values. But in the last 30 years, the atmosphere has changed. 

There has been a breaking of these Christian values, a war against them. I would also say that the LGBT advocates and networks are very, very strong, and they are challenging the Christian view. Young people nowadays do not know who they are. What is it to be a human being? What is it to be a man or woman?

If we think about freedom of religion, we have these freedoms in our Constitution, so in my [court] defence, I am able to appeal to these freedoms. But in practice, the most dangerous restriction is self-censorship. Christians are too silent. They are afraid to express their faith. That’s why I want to encourage them. Now it is time to speak. It is time to be open about your faith and share the gospel whenever possible. 

In the Lutheran Church, I would say that our bishops are very liberal-minded. They support same-sex marriage and do not believe in the Bible in such a way that is quite worrying. But we also have ‘revival movements’ – organisations born during revivals in our history – and they work quite independently. We have our own pastors and our own Sunday services. I suppose that the Finnish Lutheran Church will divide, because there are such strong contradictions inside the Church nowadays.

As a public figure, did you ever question whether you should speak out on this issue? Has there been any negative reaction to you as a politician?

When I went into politics, the most important thing for me was to fight for Christian values. As a medical doctor, the issue of abortion was the reason that I went into politics. So, from the beginning of my career, I have defended Christian values, the value of life, family politics and so on. There have been times when I have got criticism. For example, some have thought that it damages the reputation of the party, and they have asked me to be silent. 

When God gives this kind of hardship, he has some purpose to it

But from the beginning, I have had a very strong feeling that this is my calling. I have trusted that God takes care of the consequences. And I have to say that it is a miracle that I’m still in parliament! This is my eighth term and, when I started, I thought that it would be only one term and then I would be out. But in the last elections, I got more votes than ever before, even though I was in the legal process!

In the UK, there’s a lot of talk about the ‘quiet revival’ – an uptick in interest in Christianity, particularly among young men. Do you see anything similar happening in Finland?

Yes, yes. It is marvellous that something like that is also happening in Finland. I think that it must be God’s time now, in these countries that have gone so far from the gospel. I’m quite often invited to youth events to speak about issues, and nowadays there are a lot of young people, and especially young men.

Podcasts and YouTube are also very popular in Finland. We have many secular podcast producers, and they often ask me to speak. They are so interested. They want to hear about the Bible. They want to hear about the gospel and salvation – and this is another channel that has opened up. Some of these young men are only 17 or 18, and their listeners have sent me messages to tell me that they have found Jesus. 

I think that this is a very peculiar, wonderful time in Europe. I hope that there is some kind of revival coming.

If you had a word of encouragement to share with Christians who may be worried about standing up for their faith, what would that be?

I would encourage Christians to be open about their faith. If you get some opposition, criticism or even persecution, these are the moments when God takes especially loving care of you. He has given us such wonderful promises: “If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you” [1 Peter 4:14].

When I was young, and I read in Matthew where Jesus says: “beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts” [10:17, ESV], I couldn’t [imagine] that something like that would happen in my life. But God uses these situations – when you are opposed and you share the gospel – for his purposes. So, we don’t have to be afraid. Trust God, and whatever the consequences are, they are in his hands.   

To hear the full interview listen to The Profile podcast.