At church this morning I was talking with a woman who is an Aussie missionary in China and who was reflecting on the massive and rapid expansion of the gospel in this country.
The rate at which people are coming to faith is quite phenomenal and she would suggest that at least for the time being the government are turning a blind eye because they are more preoccupied with the flourishing economy than with the flouting of communist law.
It got me wondering about the rapid expansion of the early church and the emperor Constantine’s ‘conversion’. Some would suggest it was a conversion of convenience as he saw the rapidly growing church as a political power base that he needed to align with.
It makes me wonder if the powers that be in China may one day see the growth of the church as a similar threat and if they may choose to act in a similar way. Unfortunately we all know that the institutionalizing of the church by Constantine was the beginning of the end for the fast growing movement that was the early church.
Just a wondering…
I am involved in quite a bit of ministry in China and also have a Chinese born and raised step mum.
Late last year China’s Communist Party members met at their National Congress in Beijing and President Hu Jintao added the word “religion” to the Communist Party constitution.
President Hu called the move an historic moment and challenged the party to view religion as a source of economic and social stability.
This is a massive move as it gives state acceptance to Christianity in China. Why are they doing this?
Back in 2002 atheist Zhao Xiao, a top Chinese economist visited America seeking to find out what made the US economy so successful. He argued convincingly in a paper called, ‘Market Economies with Churches and Market Economies without Churches’ that the key was to promote religion.
His paper has been hugely influential in the Chinese governments decisions. They want to be part of the global village, they want continued economic prosperity, therefore this includes promoting religion.
And later on, while studying the Bible, Zhao became a Christian!
So the day will come when the center of gravity for Christianity will move from Africa up to China and you and I will be hosting Chinese missionaries!
God bless,
Mark