The Global Church

CHRISTIANS living around the world
by Kurt Selles

Photo by Jordan Jarvis

On the afternoon of July 29 of this year in Hangzhou, an ancient cultural and political capital on China’s prosperous eastern seaboard, hundreds of uniformed and plainclothes policemen swarmed on a site in the suburbs where Christians were building a church. Claiming that it was an “illegal structure,” the police cleared a path through the crowd of several hundred Christians and used a few drill-equipped backhoes to flatten the almost-completed structure. When some of the Christians at the site resisted the demolition, the scene quickly turned ugly. According to eyewitnesses, the police used truncheons to beat the Christians, sending a number of them to the hospital.

The destruction of the unregistered church in Hangzhou took place on a Saturday afternoon. The next day on Sunday, July 30, millions of Chinese worshipped openly in thousands of churches spread across the country. In some places, Christians met in apartments to sing, pray, and share the story of the Bible. In other places, lines formed outside church buildings as thousands waited to worship, to openly profess their faith, and to hear God’s word preached.

Which of the above two scenarios more accurately represents what’s taking place in the Christian movement in China today? Is it a persecuted church under attack by a hostile government as reported in Time (Aug. 28, 2006), or is it a religious movement blossoming and flourishing across the country?

Both are true, though, fortunately, governmental pressure is lessening while the number of Christians and churches continues to grow.

At one time, China’s militantly atheistic government attempted to wipe out all religion because it was seen as the “opiate of the people.” Christianity, with the taint of its close association with Western imperialism, was singled out as a chief target. Over time, and especially since the early 1980s and China’s dramatic opening to economic development, the government’s policy toward religious practice has softened and become much more pragmatic. Though government pressure still exists, as Nicholas Kristof, a New York Times editorialist said in September 2006, “it tends to be somewhat localized. Your average Christian in China hasn't been threatened, doesn't know anybody who's been beaten up”. As with many areas of personal freedom in China today, as long as activity is not perceived as political, almost anything goes.

While some pressures still exist, the overall trends for the Christian movement in China appear positive. The same Time article that reported the church demolition in Hangzhou also noted that as many as 1,000 Chinese per day are becoming Christians. And as more and more churches dot the landscape, Christians are growing more confident in asserting their presence in the country and claiming the religious freedoms guaranteed in the Chinese constitution.

What does the burgeoning Chinese Christian movement look like? Twenty-five years ago when churches were reopening their doors after the chaos and disaster of the Cultural Revolution, the church was predominantly rural, elderly, female, and uneducated. Today church attendance cuts across all walks of life. Though the church is still larger in the countryside, the church in Chinese cities has witnessed explosive growth, too. Today more women than men attend church, though the number of men coming is also growing. Among the newcomers are older people, middle-aged people, young people, and even a growing number of children. And despite the persistent stereotype of being an underclass movement, the church is drawing doctors, lawyers, teachers, and many other professionals.

Other things have changed for the Chinese church, too. Whereas once outside pressures dominated the life of the church, today the movement is faced with a number of pressing internal challenges. As new believers come from all regions and walks of life, this new diversity presents Christians with the challenge of getting along. The explosive numerical growth has rendered many church facilities woefully inadequate to house their congregations, and in some places church facilities are rundown to the point of being safety hazards. Perhaps the biggest challenge facing the church is the lack of trained leaders; in some provinces it is estimated that there is one ordained pastor for every twenty thousand Christians.

Despite these significant challenges facing the Chinese church, its prospects for the future have profound implications for the worldwide church. As China takes its place on the world stage, so too will the Chinese church. Already many in the Chinese church are awakening to the potential contribution of Chinese Christians to the global missionary task of the twenty-first century. And as this process of participating in missions expands, so too will the maturity of the Chinese church.