According to an article published by People's Network on August 06, 2014, the number of Christians in China was between 23 million and 40 million by 2014, accounting to 1.7% -2.9% of the total population in China.
However, some pastors said that the church of the 21st century still hasn't met the requirements of God. In the past, we had problems such as limited number of pastoral staff, lack of pastoral equipment and the unstable base of believers. Nowadays, those problems still cause challenges to the church.
Where is the future direction of the church in China heading today? The vision of Chinese church is a missionary China. Pastor H from Shanghai has recently shared some experience with China Christian Daily regarding the issue. He has been a pastor for more than a decade.
Pastor H first mentioned that the domestic church has experienced five periods of transformation since the Gospel was introduced in China:
1. Gospel was introduced in China.
2. Gospel in China.
3. Gospel in the countryside.
4. Gospel in the city
5. Gospel in enterprises.
"These five periods of transition have taken nearly two thousand years to grow." said Pastor H. "The Gospel was introduced into China more than 1,000 years ago. However, the Gospel didn't take root in China at that time. Missionaries left China and the Gospel also went away."
Why? The real reason is that the Chinese didn't accept the Gospel. "Many foreigners think its difficult for the Chinese to accept the Gospel. Later on, a British missionary, Robert Morrison, found out that the real reason for the low support for the Gospel is that foreigners didn't recognize the basic situation of China. There are 1.200 ethnic groups in the world and the largest one is located in China, the Han people.
"Han has its own culture, characteristics and language. When foreign pastors came to China, they took out an English Bible to preach Jesus. They didn't let people of Han to learn about Jesus through their own words and culture. "So, at that time, it was hard for the Gospel to take root in China. Morrison spent his first 20 years in China translating the English Bible into a Chinese version instead of preaching the Gospel. "
The second period "Gospel in China" just started from the translation of the Bible. After that, Gospel began to officially settle down in China.
"From 1808 to 1978, the Gospel continuously developed in China." However, the Gospel was repelled by Empress Dowager Cixi and Boxer in the late Qing Dynasty. Some foreign pastors were expelled from China, and some of them were killed. During the Cultural Revolution, some pastors were resisted by the public and the churches were closed. However, the church had really taken root in those 170 years."
The third period is Gospel in the countryside. "In 1979, the national policy of reform and opening up was launched. The Chinese have enjoyed religious freedom since then. The Gospel grew rapidly in rural areas. Although there were still some limitations in the countryside at the end of the twentieth century, Christians could gather at random in the countryside. "
The fourth period is Gospel in the city. "At the end of the twentieth century, Great changes have taken place in China. China was transformed from an agricultural nation to an industrial nation, which was like the renaissance of the church in England during the 15th century. What was the advantage of the transition? It brought many farmers to the city."
Pastor H said that the idea "surrounding the city from the countryside" changed many pastors at that time. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, a new slogan was popular in rural churches in China: Evangelism of Immigration, which means migrant workers flew into the city. It is the fourth transformation of the Chinese Church. Pastor H thought it was God's efforts which made this slogan in China.
"I didn't know why I needed to enter the city before. However, when I was really in the city, I found several good intentions of God."
1. Enhancing rural Christians' quality of life, including the construction of life and better words and deeds. - We are citizens of God's kingdom so our quality of life should be improved.
2. Unity of the church. - Whether it is the three-self church or the family church, we share the same truth and Gospel.
God has also brought us a greater mission. He let us learn about the knowledge we didn't know before in the city.
When we were in the countryside, our horizon was limited. I often met with bottleneck perceptions when I used to preach the Gospel. The road of evangelism also became narrow. We should make a breakthrough.
How shall we make a breakthrough?
"The breakthrough requires people's efforts and effective suggestions. However, we have neither of them. We still lack vision. So God secretly made a wonderful job."
In 2011, Pastor H was invited to preach the Gospel in a fellow group of a private enterprises on Thanksgiving Day. He met many young mothers who had just given birth to babies there. Pastor H said: "It is very wonderful. Many of them are married women with children. The economic situation of their families is very good. Most of them have tens of millions of assets. Some of them are even billionaires. However, they still believed in Jesus."
At that time, Rev. H was awakened and realized that God had an anxious heart to spread the Gospel. "The Gospel entered China in 1700 AD. It has developed in China for more than 170 years since then. In the next 30 years, the Gospel went from rural areas to the city. During this period, I also contacted with many college students in China. "
In 2005, Pastor H came back from the field, where 20 people were enrolled in the city. In 2006, the number was 200. In 2007, more than 1,000 people were developed." So this is the fifth transformation of Chinese Church-infiltration among white collared workers, private enterprises and college students.
After the five periods of transformation, the Chinese church will face seven revivals in the next period. He said: "The seven revivals contain the individual, family, country, nationality, city, church and the times we are in."
We must know the way of the Chinese church's revival. Pastor H clarified the development of Chinese church with the theory of "Three in One".
1. The three-self church and family church (or house Church) should agree with each other in truth. "I used to have discontent with the three-self church; but now, I have a good impression on it. Many brothers and sisters in the three-self church may love God more than us.
2. Fundamentalists and Charismatics should unite with each other in the understanding of truth. The two factions have different priorities in their faith. They should learn from each other and achieve a balance.
3. Different teams should unite with each other in the kingdom of God. "It is allowed to build pastors' own team. However, if he destroys another brother's team, he is just undermining the foundation of others. "
We must respect the church of other brothers. Although we are not in the same team, we are all united in the kingdom of God.
The New Testament says in chapter 1 verse 28: "We proclaimed God to bring all men in front of him." In recent years, as the church resources gradually accumulate, the church has also devoted more time and energy into the mission. It pays closer attention to the training of future pastors.
"Before the Liberation of China, some missionary couples crossed the Silk Road. They started from Xinjiang and went through 16 countries in the Middle East. At last, they brought the Gospel back to Jerusalem and returned to China from the same route. However, the door was closed when they were at the national border.
Pastor H said: "In the past, there were 1,200 ethnic groups in the world. Nearly one-third of the world's ethnic minorities were in China at that time. However, the missionary couples didn't realize that many ethnic minorities in their own country hadn't received the Gospel. So God closed the door and let them start from the inside of China.
Pastor H went to Yunnan and gradually understood how the evangelism of church should take using the following four paths:
1. The Silk Road. From Xinjiang to the Palestinian territory and through the 16 countries in the Middle East. This is the road used to evangelize Muslims.
2. From Yunnan and Tibet to the southwest. That's the road to evangelize Buddhists.
3. Across the Yalu River to the Northeast Asia. That's the road to evangelize in North Korea.
4. Across the southeast coast and evangelize in Japan.
"Above is the future development direction of the church in China." Finally, Pastor H summed up: "Chinese church must make efforts to realize the 'Three in One' and take on the four paths of evangelism."
Translated by Emma Ma
