German evangelical leader says political influence brings opportunity — and danger, emphasizes need to 'keep our hearts pure'

Evangelicals have moved into positions of political influence in recent years, particularly in the United States. Reinhardt Schink, head of the Evangelical Alliance in Germany, is concerned about the consequences.

In an exclusive interview with Christian Daily International on the sidelines of the European Congress on Evangelism in Berlin in May — hosted by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association — Schink discussed the need for Christian leaders and politicians to be accountable to one another, to preserve unity rooted in genuine fellowship, and to maintain a childlike faith in the face of potential existential threats such as war.

“If you compare it to the years before Trump and now, so many evangelicals had the opportunity to take responsibility within society, and with the responsibility came a mandate. And with the mandate, there came political influence, which is power,” Schink said.

Opportunities and dangers of influence

Schink reflected on the rapid shift from evangelicals often being a minority voice ignored by secular society to having influence on laws and public debates about morality, gender and abortion — matters he describes as questions of “what is right and what is wrong.”

“Suddenly our voice is being heard and there’s an opportunity to shape society, to have influence within the lawmaking process,” he said. “On the other hand, it’s so easy to be compromised by the possibilities and by the power which you have. And I think this might be not only an opportunity but also a danger, to Christians in these positions; also to ministries, to try not to play power games just like the world does.”

He urged believers in positions of authority to approach opportunities with “the right attitude and the right heart” and to avoid adopting the same self-serving tactics as secular politics.

Concerns over Christian nationalism

Schink acknowledged wider concerns about the rise of Christian nationalism, echoing comments made just days earlier by Jeff Fountain, former European director of Youth With a Mission and now director of the Schuman Centre for European Studies in Amsterdam. Speaking to the Swiss Evangelical Alliance, Fountain warned that Christian nationalist ideologies distort Jesus’ teachings and compromise the faith’s integrity.

Schink agreed. “When we look into history, whenever believers tried to establish the kingdom of God with human power, it didn’t end well,” he said.

The challenge, he argued, is to be thankful for influence while keeping a pure heart and the right mindset. “It’s really about Christ,” Schink said. “It’s not about us, and we can’t do ‘it’ at the end of the day.”

Power modeled after Christ

To understand the right approach to power, Schink pointed to the example of Jesus, who demonstrated both great authority — “casting out demons, healing, speaking a word, and stilling the storm” — and great humility, as when He washed His disciples’ feet.

“We need to hold these two aspects together,” Schink said, noting Paul’s warning in Romans 12 “not to conform to the pattern of this world.”

The danger of “lone ranger” leaders

Another of Schink’s concerns is about leaders who seek prominence without accountability — “cowboy-style,” as he described it — aiming to be the “big leader” or keynote speaker without submitting to the oversight of fellow believers.

He warned that isolation and pride can lead to backsliding. “It’s all about me and what I do for the Lord — and suddenly it shifts from the Lord to what I’m doing,” he said. Power and money, he cautioned, can corrupt.

For evangelicals in political positions, Schink recommended discipleship structures rooted in both local fellowship and peer accountability. “To make this decision, ‘I’m accountable to God,’ also means accountability to my fellow believers,” he said.

Daily quiet time before the Lord is also “crucial,” he said, referring to Mary sitting at Jesus’ feet and to the prayer of Psalm 139:23-24: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”

“We need to have people on our side whom we allow to say, if they see something critical in our lives, to correct us,” he said. “And probably we need to learn to enjoy it if someone else is blessed and not us.”

Beyond left and right

Schink said it is “inappropriate” for Christians, as citizens of heaven, to strongly align with any extreme — right or left — noting the difficulty in even defining where “extreme” begins and ends. The same caution, he said, applies to theological divisions such as charismatic versus non-charismatic.

Labels, he argued, distract from focusing on shared goals. “What we are standing for” should take precedence, he said, leaving room for different strategies to achieve those goals.

He offered prostitution and modern slavery as examples. While Christians agree these practices violate biblical values, they may differ on approaches — for example, whether to adopt the Nordic Model, which penalizes clients and pimps but not sex workers.

“If the ‘what’ is clear, we can leave the ‘how’ to the political discourse,” Schink said. “Because we are still brothers and sisters even if we do not agree which way … would be the best.”

Learning from the first disciples

Schink said disagreements should not prevent fellowship. He imagines the first disciples — from tax collectors to fishermen to those sympathetic to armed resistance — debating local politics and other issues yet remaining together because of their shared love for Jesus.

He compared this to the story in Luke 24 of the disciples on the road to Emmaus, where Jesus began the conversation with a question. Evangelicals today, he said, are “so seldom asking questions,” even though dialogue can open hearts.

The moment of recognition came not in theological debate but when the disciples’ hearts “came together with Jesus” as they broke bread. Looking back, they said, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:32)

For Schink, the story shows that while theology is important — “Jesus started the journey by discussing theology” — it cannot replace relationship, and relationship cannot replace theology. “It needs to come together,” he said.

Fellowship before agreement

Schink warned against the evangelical tendency to wait for full theological agreement before pursuing fellowship. That approach, he said, “would mean to limit Jesus Christ and his resurrection power in what we understand from our theological thinking.”

Instead, he said, “If we say that Jesus is Lord about everything … then this fellowship is the current basis upon which we will then understand.”

This balance between theological dialogue and relational fellowship, he added, is deeply relevant to how evangelicals navigate political influence.

Grace in challenging times

Schink believes evangelicals are living in both “interesting” and “challenging” times, yet also in a season of grace. He has seen believers drawing closer together than in the past two decades and values the intimacy with Christ that has grown in this period.

“There’s grace in the challenging situations we are facing right now,” he said. “The Lord is speaking to his people.”

With the war in Ukraine reshaping Europe, Schink agreed with Franklin Graham’s call to pray and emphasized learning from the Lord “the very simple truths of the faith” in this moment.

Quoting the apostle Paul, he said believers should remember that God starts and completes their faith: “‘Lord, you start my faith … you are the one who guarantees that I can finish it, due to your grace.’ To proclaim this simple truth over my life really brings us a new kind of peace.”

Whether facing political power, armed conflict or ministry challenges, Schink said the church can trust Christ’s promise: “‘You said that the gates of hell won’t overcome your church. This is what I believe even when … everything tells me we have no future.’”

“In times like these,” he concluded, “we don’t need huge, deep thoughts … we just need this simple faith and stick to it. This sentence of simple faith is the power that brings us through these very terrible times.”