I'm a sister born in the post-90 and I am currently studying in a training institution in Hangzhou. There are two Christians in my class, including me. One day my teacher saw the book Created to Be His Help Meet on the other sister's desk and asked curiosity what the book was. I happened to be standing next to her and answered that it was a Christian book and it belonged to my classmate. I also told him she was a Christian and so was I. Suddenly he became very interested and asked "So you are Christians, very nice, Christians have good character. I have been to church before and which church do you go to?" Just like this, he asked more questions and his words were full of affirmation.
It can be said that my teacher is a decent and cynical elder. He studied many philosophies intensively such as Buddhism, Tantrism, Zen Training, I-Ching, Taoism, Christianity, and so on. In a word, according to him, it was very complicated. He said that there was a student who frequently took him to church and also gave him a Bible. The student also encouraged him to be baptized, but he found himself not believing. In fact, he didn't believe in any of the philosophies he had studied. Because he only studied it as a philosophy it didn't become a belief.
However, he was very positive when it comes to Christianity. During many discussions, there were always some students who showed interests and joined the discussion. Among them there was a young man, born in 1994, expressing curiosity for Christianity. He asked us if he could go to church to see what it was like. The teacher beat us saying "Of course, Christianity is the most tolerant religion."
That Saturday afternoon I was very happy when the young man told me that he wanted to go to church that weekend. The teacher overheard us and told him "You should go and it feels really nice. Sitting in the back of the church you'll feel very peaceful and comfortable." With this, we each pulled a stool and started talking.
The teacher said that "Christianity is really tolerant because everyone can go to church and it is for free. But if you go to a temple they will charge you. Compared to the scumbags in society, Christians have better character and they are simpler. The divorce rate is so high in China with many people acting decent in the day but committing adultery at night. Christians are not allowed to divorce or cheat on their spouses. If half a billion people believe in Jesus many problems will be solved. And when you go to church they will greet you 'Jesus loves you' and they call each other brothers and sisters. They also assist each other, even when many times it is even impossible for families. In my opinion, Christians are the backbone of China."
When I heard that I felt very touched and warm. If it weren't for believers who love the Lord and lived out the life of God, and if it weren't for the touch of the Holy Spirit, how could the non-believers see this? Even though my teacher hasn't been baptized nor truly converted. I believe with prayer and trust it will happen.
Indeed, just like my teacher said, many believers truly love God. They practice God's love in families, careers, life and school work. Be the light and salt, glorify God, benefit man, and live in the style Christians are supposed to live. However, undoubtedly men are sinful and weak and Satan will disturb and cause all kinds of sin. Sometimes they leave negative impressions on their non-believer friends and in that way they underestimate us and our faith. So we should bear this burden as Christians: to always keep watch and have careful thoughts to our ways. If we commit any sin, we should come to our Lord Jesus immediately to repent and promise never to commit it again.
Actions speak louder than words. As Christians, we want to spread the gospel eagerly. However, we need to realize that if our actions don't match our words, the result of the gospel would be discounted. Only when our deeds match our words, living and practicing love, imitating God, being the light and salt, glorifying God and benefiting man will the torch of the gospel flourish.
(The author is a sister from Hangzhou.)
