Twenty Years of China Partnership: A Prisoner for the Lord, In Prison Or Out

Editor’s note: The president of China Partnership (for security reasons he remains unnamed) recently shared some thoughts on how CP’s work has grown over the years, particularly in the past decade. He reflected on how he has seen God move, and on how, in this season, God is calling him and the Chinese house church movement to cling to the gospel and run to Christ.

This is a gospel movement, and church planting is the result of that.

A Heart-Filled Church Planting Movement Driven by the Gospel

In 2012, after several years of travel and training, the leadership of China Partnership had to decide what our direction was. We decided that, if this movement was to continue, the focus must be on Chinese churches. All our efforts must be to help them grow. We wanted the gospel to drive a heart-filled church planting movement which was the result of the good news.

Near the end of 2012, we gathered with several Chinese pastors to determine what partnership might look like moving forward. These pastors formed a common consensus of a gospel framework. They decided it was good to stay together and move forward. That same day, they elected members and formed a council with core values and vision. God created that, and this was an epiphany moment in my life. This was God’s work.

““The focus must be on Chinese churches. All our efforts must be to help them grow. We wanted the gospel to drive a heart-filled church planting movement which was the result of the good news.”

Sharing in the Sufferings of the Resurrected Lord

A tough time for us happened a few years ago when a pastor in the movement was arrested. In the last several years, it has become more common for Chinese pastors and Christians to face opposition. This includes experiences like being placed under house arrest, taken to police stations for questioning, or even being arrested for fourteen days or longer than one month. In light of this, pastors and believers are learning what it means to share in the sufferings of the resurrected Lord, an experience they share with the first apostles.

As I have walked alongside pastors, the arrest of this pastor in particular struck me differently. Although we had all anticipated that he might be arrested, it was still shocking: one never fully knows if or when this will happen. My friend’s arrest was devastating to me; I couldn’t think for a day or two. When I returned home, I realized I had developed survivor’s guilt. I became very fragile and irritable. My wife, my brother whom I work with, and a counselor helped me out of that time. They helped me to clearly see my calling and to shift the weight of my calling onto Jesus, the Lord.

I realized that my friend had become a prisoner of the Lord in prison, but I am always a prisoner of the Lord: one who is, for the time being, out of prison. It is by God’s will that we are where we are, but we are all his bondservant.

We do not seek suffering to gain Christ; we seek to gain Christ, even though there is suffering. If we walk toward the cross, it is only because our Lord is there. We do not avoid the cross by shrinking away from our call. We always go toward our Lord and his calling. We follow Christ to the cross. No reserve; no retreat; no regrets.

The Gospel Points Us to a Person: Jesus, Our Friend

Why do we so stubbornly return again and again to the gospel? To be honest, I cannot think of another reason for us to do all that we do other than our Savior and dear friend, Jesus Christ. The gospel points us to a person: a saving, living, lifegiving being. He is the only reason. Other than him, there is no reason we would be willing to give up anything to do what we are doing today. We do this for this Savior and Lord who came, who died, who resurrected, and who ascended. Although that was in the past and we do not see him now, he is currently reigning in heaven. He is with us by the Spirit. On the day of Pentecost he came back to his church, and is still here leading us every day.

““My friend had become a prisoner of the Lord in prison, but I am always a prisoner of the Lord: one who is, for the time being, out of prison. It is by God’s will that we are where we are, but we are all his bondservant. We do not seek suffering to gain Christ; we seek to gain Christ, even though there is suffering. If we walk toward the cross, it is only because our Lord is there.”

With our human sinfulness, we tend to go astray from the gospel. It is so easy for us to default to articulating a different narrative of our own glory and to dethrone Christ. I know the temptation in our hearts; this is why I share again and again that we are here only for the Lord Jesus Christ. For him, we must again and again point ourselves and everyone around us to the center of the gospel, the dear friend and person of Jesus Christ.

To adore, to taste, to worship, and to serve this Christ is the lifegiving work of the Spirit. The gospel is the only message that is a life of communion with the living and lifegiving Lord. He is not only the center of our ministry, he is our dear friend who gives us life every day by the Spirit. That is the stubborn reason we always come back to the gospel.

This is a gospel movement, and church planting is the result of that.

CP’s president was born and raised in China and became a believer at a young age. After graduating from Beijing University, he came to the United States for post-graduate studies and worked in the technology industry for over a decade. He is an ordained minister in one of China’s first presbyteries, and received a Master of Arts in Religion at Westminster Theological Seminary outside of Philadelphia. He currently lives with his wife and children in New Jersey.