China Is Complicated
Anyone who hangs around me even a little has heard me say, in response to almost any question about China, “It’s complicated.”
Anyone who hangs around me even a little has heard me say, in response to almost any question about China, “It’s complicated.”
What we fundamentally believe about China’s church goes a long way toward determining how we will choose to engage, how we view what is desirable, and what is possible.
But for me, the striking thing was the homogeneity of the churches over time and place. The churches and their pastors simply went faithfully about their business, the business of sharing and teaching their faith, and leading the people in worship—doing what the church is called to do.
In the ten years between 1966 and 1976, it was difficult for some believers as well as house churches in certain areas to gather. And so they met in some unusual places—caves, cellers, tunnels, forests, and more.
Unified with the historic Christ who humbled himself, the church should be humble and suffering in this generation, bearing witness for the gospel. Only such a path is the true path of the cross of the Chinese church.
"I agree with the principle of separation of church and state. However, this is simply a concept. It is not sufficient to help us face complicated church-state relationships. We must carefully, diligently study the Bible. How is the church to exist in this world?"
Over the past year, prominent house churches in China were shut down by government authorities stirring up questions about how the church and state in China should interact. How can the church be the church in this environment? Where is the line between the church and the state?
A look at some of the creative ways Christians are praying in China.
Four challenges that indigenous researchers face in researching the church in China.
Why is it so hard to estimate congregation size in China?
Very few returnees are informed realistically about the situations and challenges they will face both in the broader context and in the culture of the church when they return to China. This book can help.
Chinese pastors share personal stories of how God has worked in their lives and through their ministries.