Editorial reflection and analysis on issues shaping Chinese Christianity.
This sermon was delivered at the Beijing Gangwashi Christian Church on May 22, 2011. Gangwashi Church is one of largest Three-Self Churches in Beijing. Established in 1863 by the London Missionary Society, it is also the oldest Protestant Church in the city.
As the new year began in China, the Mayan prediction that the world will end in 2012 was a hot topic of conversation, for both Christians and non-Christians alike. This article, published in the Gospel Times on January 6, 2012 addressed the question from a Biblical perspective.
A Weibo map of church locations in China.
At the end of 2011 the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life released the latest edition of their statistical report "Global Christianity" detailing the size and distribution of the Christian Church around the globe. Regardless of how one might regard their conclusions, you cannot help but conclude the church in China is growing. But, is the more important issue behind these figures whether this growing Christian this growing Christian population having a growing influence on Chinese society?
The following is a quotation from James Hudson Taylor, speaking to a gathering of field workers Pingyang, Shanxi in 1886.
Cross-cultural work is all about living between two poles and keeping them in juxtaposition. The problem is that modernity - our western Enlightenment culture - drives us to resolve that tension.
Persistent reports of Christians in China being harassed, fined, detained and oppressed through discriminatory policies often lead outside observers to conclude that the Chinese government is pursuing a concerted and consistent policy to restrict Christian activity and stem the growth of Christianity. While these troubling incidents remain a reality of life in China, a survey of the larger picture suggests that they are the exception rather than the rule, and that there may be room for cautious optimism concerning future policy toward China's Christians.
China has always been an anomaly. She is open to the gospel, she is resistant to the gospel. She is hungry for things modern and Western, she is stubbornly proud of things traditional and Chinese. How do we make sense of all this? More importantly, how do we gauge the mindset of China's intellectuals and leaders? How do they view Christianity as a religion, as a Western cultural construct, as a world and life view?
What will the future of China look like in the areas of politics, economics, education, society and culture? Here are some possible scenarios.