This article is Part 7 of a seven-part series adapted from a lecture delivered at Harvard Law School on May 1, 2025, at the Program on Biblical Law and Christian Legal Studies. It is reproduced with permission from Dr. Ruth Okediji, faculty director.
In Part 6, I reconsidered the West. Finally, I turn to the Chinese diaspora and offer several scenarios for the years ahead—ending where I began: with questions, not forecasts.
When the periphery shapes the center
Peripheries feed centers. The Chinese diaspora—students and scholars, entrepreneurs and workers, pastors and artists—forms feedback loops: translating ideas, building institutions, raising families in new contexts, and then sending back practices, networks, and language. Those loops reshape worship, scholarship, counseling, youth ministry, and public engagement on both sides.
What diaspora can give (and receive)
Diaspora communities can offer bandwidth: space to write and mentor; training in theology and counseling; durable funding models; bilingual bridges; hospitable networks for students and newcomers. At the same time, the diaspora must receive—listening to local wisdom, refusing to prescribe from afar, and standing in solidarity when local friends bear higher costs.
Four scenarios toward the 2040s (signposts, not certainties)
- Managed pluralism
Limited civic space persists with predictable guardrails.
Signposts: steady regulation; local variation; practical room for mercy and education.
Church posture: wise as serpents, innocent as doves; steady service; leadership formation; patient public virtue. - Tight nationalism / civil religion
Ideological consolidation narrows space; foreign ties draw suspicion.
Signposts: sharper rhetoric; scrutiny of associations; tighter data regimes; reputational costs for networks.
Church posture: smaller footprints; deeper catechesis; resilient households and small groups; integrity under pressure. - Consumerist apathy
Economic recovery or distraction dilutes interest in big ideas; mobility thins community bonds.
Signposts: spiritual fatigue; high churn; transactional relationships.
Church posture: patient discipleship; neighbor love; credible witness at work and home; practices that rebuild community. - Spiritual renewal
Unexpected hunger opens new doors.
Signposts: testimonies; student movements; public moral conversation; curiosity about Scripture and prayer.
Church posture: humble proclamation; clear teaching; hospitable communities; accountability amid growth.
Scenarios can overlap or rotate. The point is not to predict a winner but to cultivate response muscles for each.
Practical counsel for the diaspora and friends
- Invest in people, not just projects. Mentoring, apprenticeships, and long partnerships outlast swings.
- Publish and translate wisely. Bilingual resources, careful editing, and context-aware examples help ideas travel without distortion.
- Strengthen the quiet work. Counseling, family ministries, and care for students and migrants rarely trend, yet they heal the social fabric.
- Model integrity. Financial transparency, mutual accountability, and servant leadership speak loudly across borders.
The watch post, again
I end where the prophet stood: “I will take my stand at my watch post,” Habakkuk 2:1 (ESV). To watch is not to wait passively. It is to pray and labor; to build schools and shelters; to write carefully and love concretely; to repent where we have chased power; and to rejoice where mercy takes root. If, as I have said, everything you can say about China and the Chinese church has an opposite that is also true, then the call is to be faithful in the tension—with courageous hope and practical love.
Thank you for reading this series. For earlier parts, see Part 1 (Four Questions for the 2040s), Part 2 (Traditional China Meets Christianity), Part 3 (Crisis and Critique), Part 4 (Two Tracks), Part 5 (Since 1949), and Part 6 (The West Reconsidered).
