"The church is the light, just as Jesus said, the light should shine in front of the people. In facing the present generation, the church has a responsibility to shine for the Lord and to turn the generation around,” urged a Chinese pastor.
During a recent conversation with the Christian Times, an online Chinese Christian newspaper, a pastor L stated, "The church is not isolated, It's not an ivory tower, nor is it hidden from the people. "
When it comes to the church, most Chinese people have the impression that it is a group of old, feeble people with few pursuits who sing and gather together and give no special help to others, and have little ability to make any contribution to society.
This stereotype also reflects the problem that people in the world see the church as if through frosted glass, they cannot see clearly, and the church really has little influence and positive testimony to society.
However, it was not like this when Jesus came to this earth. The early church had many positive impacts on the Roman Empire, such as the prohibition of infanticide and the abandonment of infants.
Pastor L said that a problem with the church today is that "the church is eager to leave the darkness of the world". But this was not the case when Jesus came to this earth, and on the contrary, "Jesus came to the world because of the darkness of the world." We need to pray to God "to help us to experience the incarnate love of Jesus Christ."
Therefore, we should live like Jesus, so that the light in us may be set before men. It is through our good deeds that the glorious light of Christ can shine, he noted.
"If we want to have an influence upon society, we have to pay the price of love, the price of good deeds." Pastor L said, "The world won't feel our love and God’s love if we only study the Bible and pray inside the church."
"Faith without deeds is dead. If faith only meets personal needs, it is easy to fall into mysticism and legalism. God's love can be felt by all when we serve people outside the church,” he concluded.
- Translated by Richard Zou
