Counting Trial a Privilege

A Christian politician in Finland, Parliament Member Päivi Räsänen, was charged with three counts of ethnic agitation and was interrogated by police about her stance on marriage and sexuality. Räsänen authored a booklet in 2004 in which she described marriage as between one man and one woman. She expressed the same view later on a 2019 radio show.

Päivi Räsänen, Photo by SOPPAKANUUNA under CC BY-SA 3.0

After being questioned for over 13 hours concerning her beliefs on marriage and sexuality, Räsänen said, “I thought it was quite a privilege to have these kinds of discussions with the police.” During her interrogation, she was able to tell the police “the message of the gospel, what the Bible teaches about the value of human beings, that all people are created in the image of God and that is why they all are valuable.”

Räsänen faced the possibility of six years in prison for voicing her biblical beliefs, until she was cleared of the charges by a Finnish district court in March 2022. The verdict has since been appealed, but Räsänen’s example of resolve will last. May we be willing to stand for biblical truth, even when it’s an unpopular opinion—and, what’s more, to “count it all joy” when we face trials, knowing that “the testing of your faith produces steadfastness” (James 1:2–3).