A Changing Church

Posted on 16 March 2010.

The face of the church in China is changing. "The house church movement is moving away from existing as an invisible secret body," reports China Source.

"For the last 60 years, the Chinese church has been on the defensive. The house church went underground in order to survive times of persecution by adopting core values of being low-key, cautious, quiet and closed. Through the Lord's doing, this strategy not only kept the church alive but caused her to thrive and increase a hundred fold."

Today, however, the picture of a house church as a small group of people gathering to worship and pray behind closed doors is no longer completely accurate. In cities across China, Christians are also gathering in their hundreds in rented apartments and hotel conference rooms. Often the authorities know exactly where they are meeting and sometimes they have regular contact with the church leaders.

That is not to say that there is complete religious freedom in China today. That is by no means the case. But fellowships in many different parts of the country are testing the limits of the government's tolerance. Sometimes they find they can continue to meet undisturbed; sometimes the authorities decide to crack down, arrest or fine the church leaders, and force the meetings to stop.

In another change to previous norms, Chinese Christians are increasingly getting involved in tackling problems in society - caring for the elderly, working with drug addicts, looking after orphaned and abandoned children, reaching out to the homeless, etc. A large number of those involved longer-term in relief work following the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan have been believers.

And another important development is a growing vision among Chinese believers to reach out cross-culturally, both within China to other ethnic groups and also overseas. A major need in that regard is for Chinese Christians to become more aware of the importance of being culturally sensitive. One China-based worker described how hard it is for Chinese believers to understand this requirement within their own country. He explained that their attitude is, "We are all Chinese; we all speak standard Mandarin; we don't need really to learn other cultures and other languages." However, this is not the case. Those reaching out to Tibetans in China, for example, "need to learn Tibetan; they need to understand and respect Tibetan culture and background." This requires a major change in the thinking of the average Chinese person.

China Source believes that, "We are witnessing in the Chinese church the greatest movement of God in the 21st century. The church in China is on the offensive... It is a church maturing from a position of receiving to giving, becoming a church poised for global impact."

We at AM-CCSM will continue to join with Christians such as yourselves across the world to stand with the church in China during this time of change, as we seek to fulfil our God-given mandate to serve, strengthen and support the church and people of China.

Give thanks to God that the church in China is growing and maturing, increasingly reaching out to unreached people groups with the Gospel, seeking to help tackle societal problems and to be a more visible light to the people of China.

Pray for protection over house churches as they meet in ever-greater numbers and test the tolerance of the authorities with their more open activities.

Pray for God-given wisdom and for abundant blessing as Christian believers seek to care for those forgotten and neglected by society.

Pray for a growing cultural awareness and understanding as Han Chinese believers reach out to other ethnic groups.

Pray for AM-CCSM as we continue to stand with the Chinese church during this time of change. And pray for yourself that you will clearly hear what part the Lord is calling you to play in supporting your Chinese brothers and sisters at this crucial time.