Lausanne World Pulse – Themed Articles – Time to Shine: The Chinese Church, Church Planting, and World Missions

By Peter Sung
August 2008

They are part of the nation’s emerging middle and upper class. They feel comfortable in international settings. They’re sophisticated and tech savvy. And they’re spiritually hungry. While different from their rural brothers and sisters in many ways, the growth rate of their churches is reminiscent of the gospel’s advance in China’s countryside in previous decades.

“However big the place you meet, the place will be filled with Christians,” said John*, a leader in one of these churches. “It’s just a matter of time.” This new demographic hopes to, perhaps, bring a new structure to China’s Protestants. Most Chinese believers are either members of the government-approved Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM) or the unregistered, not legally recognized, house church. The majority of China’s Christians attend the latter.

But some urban house churches are attempting to obtain another kind of status. In March 2005, the Chinese government issued new religious regulations that seemed to make it possible to legally register as a house church apart from the government-controlled TSPM.

With the conviction that the church should operate in a legal manner, some Chinese urban believers have quietly looked into this new legal standing. They like the thought of being within the confines of civil law, but apart from the government-controlled TSPM; similar to the churches in Hong Kong and most developed countries. However, few churches have been able to test the new law as the government thus far has been cautious to implement it.

Still, the Chinese government could be warming to the idea that Christianity can play a positive role in their goal of building a “harmonious society.” Similarly, urban intellectual believers are saying it’s time for China’s house churches to come “above ground” and “shine” the light of the Lord on China and the world. If this idea of a legal, yet free from government control, church moves forward, it could be a breakthrough and, hopefully, a win-win situation for both sides.

“We should shine on the whole society, the whole country, so that we can reform society, not in a political way, but in a spiritual way,” John encourages. Urban Chinese believers hope Christianity can make a positive contribution to China’s emergence on the world scene. By doing so, they hope to bring Christianity into the greater Chinese public’s consciousness. Controlled by neither foreigners nor the government, China’s urban house churches dream of starting their own seminaries, forming missions-training structures, and providing holistic, social ministries to benefit China’s people and the world.

One encouraging development in recent months has been a greater collaboration among China’s urban house churches. Last fall, urban church leaders from all over China met in Shanghai to discuss the future of the Chinese Church. On New Year’s Eve, several of Beijing’s urban house church networks participated in an all-night prayer gathering. Those same networks have organized a 24-hour, seven days a week prayer chain among their members. Their topic: Revival in Beijing and China.

“The Lord is doing his unifying work,” John exclaims. While the shows of unity are encouraging, they haven’t gone without notice from China’s government. John says some urban house church leaders have been questioned by police. Having seen the role of Christianity in the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe, China’s government is sensitive to unified, organized, and committed groups of individuals such as churches.

However, most church leaders have no political motives and have openly dialogued with the authorities in an attempt to alleviate their concerns. The good news is that, at least for now, the authorities seem to be listening. Currently, the urban house churches, in general, are experiencing little outright persecution.

This year, with the Olympics in August, authorities in Beijing are taking a “watch and wait” approach. What the authorities will do after the Games is still unclear. So while this year could be a good year for church growth and expansion, next year—when the Olympics are over and some of the international attention on China has subsided—could be a “willing to be persecuted” year, according to some house church leaders.

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Peter Sung (pseudonym) works in and around China with Chinese intellectuals and business leaders.