His In China
New Member
Here in China, you can have independence, but it’s earned. One thing, which is forgotten by many in the Christian faith, is that with independence or liberty comes an equal responsibility for discretion and discernment. Once it’s used and put into practice one can have the same successes that Joseph, Erza, Nehemiah, Mordecai, Ester, Daniel and even Paul enjoyed when they were able to go before Kings concerning who and what they were.
Today many who arrive just want to preach without adding anything to the people. Joseph didn’t even preach but made the king great. Ezra and Nehemiah didn’t preach, but open doors for the future. Mordecai and Ester didn’t preach, yet there were some thing they were preparing for others to come, which was Daniel.
I do have a strong group established, but I’ve put as much, if not more time, in teaching Conversational English. Many of my past students are now teachers, and even now government workers. What does the future hold? I don’t know, but if a Christian comes to China, he needs to be prepared to work among the people before trying to preach to them. If not, it will look like “rice bowl” religion to them or a “Westernized religion” where the Westerners arrives to only promote a foreign religion among the poor Chinese. America has been unknowingly guilty of this.
Our seminaries properly prepare us for teaching the “good news”, but when presenting the good news cross culturally, we seem to fail miserably. There is a difference in preaching the Gospel to fellow citizens as to preaching the Gospel to those from other cultures.
The tragedies I’ve witness here in China are alarming. Many are baptized with little or no actual discipleship, little or no concerns given to their real understanding of Christianity, and sad to say, many who have arrived are just interested in reporting numbers back to the churches in America.
Christian’s sincere desire to help has actually become a greater wall to scale than the Great Wall of China. Let’s help with the right resources, right teaching methods and right heart and we will see more done and hear less of the stories of supposedly 25,000 being saved every day in China.
Today many who arrive just want to preach without adding anything to the people. Joseph didn’t even preach but made the king great. Ezra and Nehemiah didn’t preach, but open doors for the future. Mordecai and Ester didn’t preach, yet there were some thing they were preparing for others to come, which was Daniel.
I do have a strong group established, but I’ve put as much, if not more time, in teaching Conversational English. Many of my past students are now teachers, and even now government workers. What does the future hold? I don’t know, but if a Christian comes to China, he needs to be prepared to work among the people before trying to preach to them. If not, it will look like “rice bowl” religion to them or a “Westernized religion” where the Westerners arrives to only promote a foreign religion among the poor Chinese. America has been unknowingly guilty of this.
Our seminaries properly prepare us for teaching the “good news”, but when presenting the good news cross culturally, we seem to fail miserably. There is a difference in preaching the Gospel to fellow citizens as to preaching the Gospel to those from other cultures.
The tragedies I’ve witness here in China are alarming. Many are baptized with little or no actual discipleship, little or no concerns given to their real understanding of Christianity, and sad to say, many who have arrived are just interested in reporting numbers back to the churches in America.
Christian’s sincere desire to help has actually become a greater wall to scale than the Great Wall of China. Let’s help with the right resources, right teaching methods and right heart and we will see more done and hear less of the stories of supposedly 25,000 being saved every day in China.
