Don’t Be Ashamed Of The Gospel

Mick Turner

Scripture tells us that we should not be ashamed of the gospel. I think this teaching is more relevant today than ever. Increasingly, our culture is becoming more hostile toward the Christian faith and many of us find it more and more difficult to stand up for what we believe in. From a personal perspective, I went through a time when I felt it better not to tell people I was a Christian, especially in my work environment. Journalism at times has strong prejudices toward certain things and the Christian faith is becoming one of those things. Still, by the grace of God, I have gone through that phase and now openly discuss my faith, even with those who are strongly opposed to it.

I think one of the reasons caring, sensitive Christians are increasingly reluctant to discuss their faith stems from the practitioners of the faith itself. The media focuses on those fringe elements of Christianity, especially those who do or say provacative things. An recent example is the Reverend Jeremiah Wright on the one fringe, and Pastor John Hagee on the other. I know there are other examples, such as a few years back when Pat Robertson voiced his belief that America should “take out” the President of Venezuela.

Recently, other voices are being raised and these voices are, as these other examples, casting a negative light over the faith. Ads in Christian publications are becoming more and more alarmist. For example, one recent ad that appeared in several widely read venues boldly declared that it was a “Call to Arms” and another used similar military terms like “Generals Unite.” These ads were aimed at fanning the flames of the culture wars and are part and parcel of the fundamentalist fringe that wants to take Christianity back to the Puritan age. I can give you example after example of people who have told me that they had wanted to be a part of our faith for a long time and were about to convert, until they read things like these ads. Believe me folks, these types of things drive more people away from us that any positve use they might have.

Let me give you an example of a time when I felt especially ashamed to be a Christian; not ashamed of the gospel, but ashamed to be a Christian.

While I was working in China, most major university had western English teachers who were closet missionaries, sent by various religious agencies in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. These teachers, including myself, felt called to China and were there to do two jobs – teach English and spread the message of the faith. The fact is, however, Christianity was not the only group represented. Most of the larger schools had Christians, Mormons, and Bahais on board. Probably, if one took an exact count, one would find more Mormons than anything else. In most cases, these groups got along quite well and even helped one another in adjusting to being in a foreign environment.

At the school where my wife and I were teaching, a family of Bahais lived across the hall from us and they were fine people. We never let our beliefs interfere with our relationship and we all grew quite close. At a school in a neighboring province, things didn’t go so smoothly.

At this school there were Christians and Bahais. Early on in the year, a student complained to the university leaders that the Christian teachers were being quite aggressive in trying to convert students. An investigation ensued. Of course, the Christian denied being overly aggressive and the Bahai people came to their defense. When interviewed, the Bahai “pioneers” said they had never witnessed any overt evangelizing by the Christian teachers. Soon, the whole thing died down and everything returned to normal.

After having been subjected to such an ordeal, you would have thought the Christians would be grateful to the Bahais for coming to their defense. Not so!

Figuring this episode was “a message to us from God” (this is what one of them told me), the group went on to hatch a plan to get rid of the Bahais, who the Christians felt were from Satan. About three months after the initial scandal, the Christians by-passed the university officials and went straight to the Public Security Bureau, stating that the Bahais were openly preaching to students about their faith and engaing in blatant disrespect for Chinese law. The result, the Bahais were rounded up and deported. The Christian group, meanwhile, gloated over the fact that they had been “peaceful as doves and wise as serpents.” This is the exact words they used in an email to me.

I was absolutely nauseated.

I don’t know where these “sold out believers” are today, but I openly wonder if they can sleep at night. What would Jesus do? I doubt he would have done what they did.

These are the kind of actions that taint the image of our faith. It destroys not only our image, but it destroys our effectiveness as witnesses. As another teacher friend told me after all this transpired, “All this makes me glad I’m an athiest.”

So, this was a time I was ashamed to be a Christian. The gospel remains true, but I don’t think this is the image Christ would want us to convey. As our world become increasingly inter-related due to globalization, our interaction with other faiths will grow more frequent. It is my hope that we can all behave a bit better than these folks did.

 

Further Reflections on the Chinese Church

Mick Turner

If you are a regular reader of this blog you are aware that I have a deep and abiding love for China, its people, and especially its church. I lived and worked in China for almost six years as a tent maker missionary and, as I have said before on these pages, these were the most rewarding years of my life on both a professional and a spiritual level. Moreover, my wife is Chinese and a Christian and through our years of marriage I have deepened my understanding of her homeland and its people.

As the 2008 Olympics rapidly approach, I have been thinking and praying about this fascinating country and thought I might share with you a bit about a book that explores the Church in China and the ramifications of its rapid growth. The book is by David Aikman and entitled, Jesus in Beijing. Aikman was Beijing Bureau Chief for Time Magazine for many years and has a unique perspective on the social and religious changes taking place in China as it transitions into a market economy. The book is highly informative, readable, and cuts to the chase as far as some of the main issues surrounding the church in contemporary China.

Based on the current growth figures, the book makes several thought-provoking statements early on. For example, consider this perspective:

Within the next thirty years, one-third of China’s population could be Christian, making China one of the largest Christian nations in the world. These Christians could also be China’s leaders, guiding the largest economy in the world…..What is happening in China is what happened in the Roman Empire nearly two millennia ago – a great power transforming itself. The results could be astonishing.

Indeed, the results could be quite astonishing. Is Aikman guilty of being overly-optimistic in his assessment of the potential influence of Christianity in China? Perhaps he is, at least in certain areas. Overall, however, I think his statements ring true in a number of ways. For example, Aikman discusses an important meeting that took place between a group of 18 American tourist and several key Chinese economists and sociologists. In particular, Aikman mentions a lecture attended by this group of tourist. During the lecture, the Chinese speaker said the following:

“One of the things we were asked to look into was what accounted for the success, in fact, the pre-eminence of the West all over the world,” said the lecturer. “We studied everything we could from the historical, political, economic, and cultural perspective. At first, we thought it was because you had more powerful guns than we had. Then we thought it was because you had the best political system. Next we focused on your economic system. But in the past twenty years, we have realized that the heart of your culture is your religion: Christianity. That is why the West has been so powerful. The Christian moral foundation of social and cultural life is what made possible the emergence of capitalism and then the successful transition to democratic politics. We don’t have any doubt about this.”

Standing alone, that statement itself should blow your socks off. Even more asounding, however, is the source. This was not some hard line evangelical Christian preacher from America speaking; it was not a pastor of the official Three Self Patriotic Movement or even a renegade house church organizer. The person speaking was a well-respected scholar from one of China’s most prestigious academic research institutes, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) in Beijing. Although always seeking to expand the arena of social science research in China, Aikman accurately points out that CASS is “hardly a viper’s nest of liberal dissent” in China. In fact, I had several dealings with CASS during my stay in China and found the scholars there to be cordial, helpful, but quite conservative.

The lecture, which took place in 2002, was delivered by a man who spoke excellent English, was quite knowledgeable about both Chinese and American history, and is representative of a growing number of highly educated academic elite in China who are becoming enamored with Christian thought in general and Christian morality in particular.

During my years in China, I noticed that many of my students were spiritual hungry and seeking answers to life’s important questions. Since the collapse of credibility in Maoist-Marxist teachings, more and more thoughtful people in China are turning to religion for answers. Many return to their family roots in Buddhism or Daoism. Large numbers are exploring other religious traditions, many of the New Age variety. The overwhelming majority of these spiritually famished seekers, however, are finding both hope and truth in Christianity.

It will be vitally important for Western Christians to keep abreast of the growth and progress of the Church in China. By sheer numbers alone, the Chinese Church will help forge to future directions of the global church. It is equally important that Christians in the West learn as much as possible about the Chinese Church, its history, its cultural underpinnings, and its ongoing relationship with the government. China as a nation is going to play a major role in the unfolding of history in the 21st Century and beyond. The Chinese Church will also play a significant role in the unfolding of Christian history as well. With these thoughts in mind, let us do all that we can to become better educated about this ever-growing circle of brothers and sisters all across China. A good place to begin is Aikman’s book.

And above all, lets remember to keep these consecrated and committed people in our prayers. They face, on a daily basis, challenges that we in the West never imagined.

 

Have a Safe and Happy Holiday

I just wanted to take a few moments to wish each and every one of you a safe and happy Fourth of July. In addition to great food, fireworks, and other plans you may have, I would also like to encourage you to spend time reflecting on and expressing your gratitude to God for the freedoms that you have. I am especially thinking about the freedom to worship openly.

After spending five-plus years in China, the issue of freedom to worship is particularly on my heart every Fourth of July. Although China has come a long way in terms of allowing Christians to gather and worship the Lord, these new-found freedoms remain inconsistent and persecution is still a daily reality in the Middle Kingdom. I know this from things I witnessed while living over there. In some areas, believers had little trouble from the authorities while in other locales, Christians were jailed on a regular basis.

In your prayer time today, please remember your brothers and sisters in China and in other nations where the freedoms we often take for granted are only a pipe dream.

Have a blessed day,

Mick

 

The Church in China: Perspectives on the Future

Mick Turner

I walked slowly down the steep hillside that overlooked the Taiwan Straits. Located just off shore from Mainland China, Nan Ao Island is a singular place of beauty. As I sat on a large boulder I could sense something very special about this place. Maybe it was what the Celts called a “thin spot,” one of the unique locales where the seen and the unseen worlds intersect. I sat there for over an hour, alternating times of prayer with times of silence; times of conversing with God and times of just being still and sensing the wind against my face. At such a time it was very easy for me to understand why, in so many languages, the words for wind, breath, and spirit are the same.

 

I suspect it is only fitting that this place would be a thin spot, which separates one reality from the next. In our physical world it does the same thing in many ways. This narrow body of water is like a membrane between two worlds, the one on Taiwan and the other on the Mainland. In one world Christians are free to practice their faith without fear of government repercussions; in the other, although things are much more open than in the past, there is still the chance of persecution and incarceration.

 

As regular readers of this site may recall, I spent five-plus years working as a tent-maker missionary in China. These years were without a doubt the most rewarding and fulfilling years of my life on just about every level. Always fascinated by China and its 5,000 year old culture, these years gave me the opportunity to experience first hand many of the remarkable changes that are taking place. In addition, it also gave me a chance to be a witness for the Lord through my interactions with the many Chinese friends I made during my years there.

 

One of the most obvious things I observed was just how spiritually hungry the Chinese people are. With the collapse of the Marxist and Maoist world view and the transition to a market economy, many Chinese are searching for something to hold on to, something that will not only give their life a sense of meaning and purpose, but also, something that will give them a sense of traction in a society that is literally changing from one day to the next. I think it is this very spiritual hunger that is fueling the phenomenal growth of the Protestant Church in China.

 

Here in the West we have heard about this rapid growth of Christianity in China and we welcome it. It is highly correct that we do so and we should do all that we can to enable that growth to continue, whether it be by financial support, going on our own missions, or engaging in consistent prayer for this vital church body. What is even more important is that believers in the West come to understand the potential significance of what is happening with the church in China. Events unfolding now in the Middle Kingdom, especially in regards to the growth of the church, will without a doubt have an impact on the world at large during the 21^st Century. Whether this impact is of a positive nature or a negative character remains to be seen. What is certain is the fact that the church, in spite of decades of severe persecution, has grown dramatically.

 

Efforts at ascertaining an accurate number of professing Christians in China are wrought with difficulty. This is due in large part to the reluctance on the part of many true believers to publicly identify themselves as such. And, with the horrid history of severe persecution, who can blame them? Further, the numbers proffered by the government cannot be trusted as they normally include only statistics from the officially sanction Three Self Patriotic Movement churches. Independent researchers come up with varying figures as well. Keeping all this in mind, the most reliable counts put the number of Christians in China at somewhere between 80 and 110 million.

 

A recent report by the National Catholic Reporter’s veteran writer John Allen stated that 10,000 Chinese become Christian every day. If this figure can be trusted, and other researchers affirm that it can, this would mean that by mid-century there will be at least 200 million Christians in China. It boggles the mind and the ramifications are tremendous. Whereas for centuries the Christian faith has been a largely western phenomenon, in just a couple of generations, Christianity may well be “Sino-centric.”

 

Research into the makeup of the Chinese church is also somewhat difficult for the same reasons that accurate numbers are hard to collect. Still, several trends are readily discerned. First, the growth rate in the church is increasingly occurring among the nation’s intellectuals and on its university campuses. This is a significant trend in that it is these very people who will increasingly occupy leadership roles within the apparatus of the state. The more Christians occupying positions of influence, the more these believers may be able to guide the direction of the country.

 

Interestingly, the Chinese Church, especially in the house churches, is overwhelmingly Pentecostal. Some studies report that as many as 95 percent of believers in the non-official church bodies are Pentecostal and/or charismatic in their expressions of faith, including speaking in tongues, signs and wonders, emphasis on healing.

 

The Pentecostal makeup of the church is fascinating, considering what was just said about the fact that the church’s most rapid growth is coming in intellectual and university settings. In America, in the immediate aftermath of the Asuza Street outpouring, the early Pentecostal movement grew rapidly among the lower classes and, to a large extent, uneducated people. It would seem that whatever the Holy Spirit is doing in China, it is of a different flavor that its American counterpart.

 

/to be continued/

 

© L.D. Turner 2008/All Rights Reserved

 

 

Strange Peas in a Pod: Sharon Stone and John Hagee

Mick Turner

The recent comments by Sharon Stone regarding the Dalai Lama, Karma, and the earthquake in China has got my dander up just a tad. If you are familiar with this blog, you know that I have a strong affection for and connection with the Chinese people. I served on the mission field over there for five-plus years; my wife is Chinese; and we have family and friends all over China.

In case you didn’t hear her brick-headed comments, actress Sharon Stone suggested that the suffering caused by the recent earthquake in Sichuan Province was the result of “karma”, gleaned from the fact that the Chinese government “has not been nice to my friend the Dalai Lama.” Good Grief!!!!

What Ms. Stone fails to understand is that, even if one subscribes to the notion of karma, it doesn’t work quite the way she states it. First of all, it is the Chinese government, not the Chinese people who have a problem with the Dalai Lama and the whole Tibetan issue. The central government didn’t suffer so much as a result of the disaster, but the Chinese people surely did. At last count, over 69,000 dead and the toll is still rising. Also, in her myopic vision, Ms. Stone also fails to realize that, outside of Tibet, the largest population of Tibetans in China is in the mountain areas of Sichuan, the very epicenter of the earthquake. I dare say that there were quite a few Tibetans in those 69,000.

In the wake of her comments, the people of China are in an uproar. Movie theaters in China now refuse to carry her movies, and she has I think three or four new releases coming out over the next two years. So now, Ms. Stone will not profit from the largest population of movie goers in the world. Now that, my friends, is karma!

Stone’s comments are similar to those made by John Hagee on the heels of Hurricane Katrina. Hagee said that the disaster was a result of God’s wrath over an upcoming parade celebrating homosexuality. I find it ironic that Jesus, who Hagee says is his Lord, stated that “if you have seen me you have seen the Father.” Hmmmm. Let’s see, I don’t recall Jesus unleashing a hurricane on the woman caught in adultry or the Samaritan woman at the well. No, he exhibited a God of grace, not a God of retribution.

Do you see the similarities between Stone and Hagee? Both are suggesting that these disasters came about as a result of some sort of cosmic retribution. In Hagee’s case, it was God who was miffed. In the case of Stone, it was an impersonal but equally nasty force at work.

In either case, I am saddened by these comments. It is a shame, really it is.

 

Pray For Earthquake Victims

I humbly ask that you pray for victims of the tragic and massive earthquake that hit central China a few days back. The death toll is already over 12,000 and rising by the hour. Many victims were children. As some of you know, I worked in China for over five years and my wife is also Chinese. We have friends who were impacted by this, though none lived in the area of the epicenter. My wife’s family lives about 700 miles away and they felt the quake in their area as well but there was little damage.

Also, keep in mind that there are many Christian brothers and sisters in Sichuan Province who may be suffering loss, grief, and pain at this time. Please keep them in your prayers  if you are led to do so.

Thanks,

Mick