Preparing for the Next Five Years of Persecution
Editor’s note: The following was written by China Partnership’s President following a meeting with key house church leaders. The meeting was an important time to assess the current political pressure on the house churches and to plan for ministry under the next five years in light of persecution becoming the new normal. All the pastors present agreed that this current round of persecution is God’s work to purify and strengthen the church and should not be feared. Rather, it is a time to grow in union with Christ as we await Christ’s return to his kingdom.
Over these few days, a few other ministers and I got together to pray, enjoy fellowship with each other, share meals together, swim and exercise, and envision the future and hope for Christ’s return. I would like to share a few reflections from our gathering to all the saints in Christ.
#1: Now is the time to prepare for the next five years of persecution
In light of China’s current national and religious policy, and the fact that policies in China tend to extend and fall behind, we must make medium- and long-term preparations. In the next 5 years, we will feel increasing pressure, and this will be our new norm. The model we used over the last 20 years cannot be repeated. We should not expect to continue to do ministry openly under a relatively lax religious environment after enduring a short period of persecution.
#2: Now is the time God has ordained for the Chinese church
Now is the time and opportunity God has ordained for the Chinese church, let us live out the gospel and the sanctified life in union with Christ in our time and situation. Let us use our individual and corporate lives, through following the cross and its way, and through living cruciform lives, to manifest the grace of the gospel in contemporary China. This is a special blessing for China from God, we cannot and should not simply continue to follow the practices of overseas churches. God has chosen us to follow him in this environment, to show forth the “already” of the kingdom of God in the church. This is also the era in which we can contribute theology and practical experience to the universal church through our discipleship, reflection, and ministry practice.
#3: Now is the time to be deeply-rooted in the gospel
The deepening of gospel theology among us is closely linked to the challenges we face under pressure and persecution.
A: We must die to ourselves and our idolatry
How do we deepen our union with Christ and follow him in our lives? This is sanctification according to the gospel; how do we follow the way of the cross, how do we follow the example of the older generation of house church [leaders], and not set our hearts on the standard of life we find among the Western middle-class? Jesus has died for us, we already have the life of sonship, how can we press forward, live out of the life we have, and make this our lifestyle? How do we love the law of God and live a life of righteousness?
God uses persecution to show our sin and unrighteousness; persecution is a discipline of God for us, in order to drive us to repentance. If we never move beyond our anger and polemics against the evil government and our own self-pity, we will waste this divinely given opportunity for our own purification and growth. We need to turn the focus on ourselves, to face our own sin, and to repent. The sooner we recognize this need, the sooner we examine ourselves, the sooner we will be blessed by God.
““God uses persecution to show our sin and unrighteousness; persecution is a discipline of God for us, in order to drive us to repentance. If we never move beyond our anger and polemics against the evil government and our own self-pity, we will waste this divinely given opportunity for our own purification and growth.”
We must admit our love for this life and this world that is made apparent by the persecution we experience. We will only have power when we admit to this sin, die to ourselves, and take up our cross and follow Christ. Only in this way can brothers and sisters in Christ dispel fear and ministers know how to lead their congregations. Otherwise, we may excuse our reaction on theological, circumstantial, or practical reasons; in this way, we would be lying to ourselves and will tend to judge each other. For ministers, the cost is greater under persecution because our churches can be symbols of our identity and our safety net.
Another temptation ministers have to face under persecution is our desire for control. Will we be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit even under persecution? Will we be willing to raise up new co-laborers, and to lead and nurture the church in new ways? The answers to these questions depend on the degree to which we can die to our idol of control.
B: We must raise up new leaders to replace us
Under persecution, gospel theology can illuminate the maturity of our ecclesiology and the practice of discipleship. Making disciples, proclaiming the gospel, discipleship training, planting new churches, are nonnegotiable components of the Great Commission. It has always been the case that if the church does not grow, it will inevitably decline. To coward before persecution or to shut the door and focus on internal pastoral care will only lead to death. This will not only waste God’s blessing for us in persecution, it will also lead to the decline of the church in the next few years.
The goal of the church is not simply to avoid becoming a part of the Three-Self Church or to maintain theological integrity, these are only the bottom line we cannot compromise on. We cannot set our bottom line as our goal. Many of Paul’s letters were written while he was in prison, but we get a feeling that he was writing as if he were a free man. He was not concerned about persecution or imprisonment, but the foundation and growth of the church. Our goal and focus is the continuous growth of the church. The focus of this persecution is the church, including her ecclesiology and pastoral practice, but this is also the focus of the gospel – God’s people who belong to God’s city, living in this world while preparing to welcome the return of Christ.
We ministers need to be prepared to be arrested and be intentional in raising new co-laborers and new leaders. We need to discover leaders who can replace us, and to make plans on how the church will go on after we are arrested, how it may continue to meet at a different location. We are not telling brothers and sisters to sing hymns more quietly, to protect ourselves; we want to encourage brothers and sisters to continue to proclaim and spread the gospel, to continue to bring people to the church, to continue living out our corporate witness in this fragmented society. We want to encourage brothers and sisters to continue gospel ministry, Sunday school, discipleship, and theological education in various different ways; continue raising up full-time ministers and planting new churches, prepare for the next 5, 10, and 20 years.
““We ministers need to be prepared to be arrested and be intentional in raising new co-laborers and new leaders. We need to discover leaders who can replace us, and to make plans on how the church will go on after we are arrested.”
We may be arrested, but Sunday worship cannot stop, proclamation and the spreading of the gospel cannot stop, discipleship training cannot stop, theological education cannot stop, training of full-time ministers cannot stop, church planting and missions cannot stop. It is our relationship with Christ, not the external circumstances, that will determine how heavy the cross is to bear and how we can carry it.
C: We must experience Christ daily
Relying on the grace of the gospel in the midst of persecution, being sanctified in union with Christ, fighting against the love of this life and the world, continuing to deepen our ecclesiology, planting churches, all of these have an intricate correlation with whether we can see and experience in the Spirit by faith the Heavenly Kingdom that is already in our midst. By the word of the gospel, the Holy Spirit has transferred us into the Kingdom of the beloved Son to experience the authority of the victorious Christ. Moreover, we are already resurrected in the Spirit, mysteriously and truly seated with Christ in Heaven. This is a Heaven created by God in the beginning, and it will be brought down by God onto the earth at the end, and now through the powerful work of the Holy Spirit in Christ it has been granted to us. We experience this daily by God's grace and faith. This is our central focus through all of life's experiences and persecution. Although we are on earth, we live before God in Heaven, serving and pleasing him. Only by this can we truly and completely face the temptation and persecution of the world, and only by this can preachers lead and shepherd the church. We are sojourners, strangers in this world. If we do not learn to live as sojourners of this world in the gospel, then Heaven and Christ will be strange to us.
"But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world… From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus." This is union with Christ, the eschatology according to the Bible, the core message of the gospel. We need to understand God's word more deeply and clearly, and let the way of God's life lead the pastors of the church.
#4: Now is the time for a new vision from the Lord
If this persecution lasts for 5 years, what will we hope and pray for? Why do we labor and sacrifice our lives? We hope and pray that more people will put faith in Christ, that the church will become more holistic and mature in its ecclesiology, that there will be more new churches planted, that the gospel of the eschatological kingdom will swallow up death, this life, and this world. Let us fight for 5 more years, if we can plant 10 more churches, maybe we can feel that we have repaid the city that nurtured us.
After finishing these reflections from the last few days, I happened to be listening to Lord, Give Me A Vision on the album Tan Cheng Hymns recorded by Early Rain Covenant Church. God has his loving will. Let this encouraging and resounding song continue to follow us through these years of persecution, to help us stand and shine for Christ.
Lord, give me a vision,
That not one would perish,
Teach me how to have your heart,
So I strive for the Gospel’s prevalence.
Oh, God, shatter my selfishness,
I am willing to give it all to you,
Looking upon the great love shown at Calvary,
How could I not love you in return.
Let not my life be lived in vain,
Here I offer the riches you grant,
My life and talents as well,
Savior, I am willing to be sent.
Oh, God, shatter my selfishness,
I am willing to give it all to you,
Looking upon the great love shown at Calvary,
How could I not love you in return.
Translation provided by Ryan and the China Partnership translation team.
FOR PRAYER AND REFLECTION
Pray for current leaders in China as they prepare for the next five years of persecution and beyond. Pray that they would let go of their idols and be deeply-rooted in the gospel, walking with Christ daily and raising up new leaders to replace them. Pray that they would have a vision from the Lord for a Christ-honoring church that would be like “a city on a hill” (Matthew 5:14), showing the glory of God to the world.
