China
has a complex, confusing, and convoluted religious structure; however, it is
having one of the greatest revivals in history. Chinese Christians have been
crushed since the Reds took over (with the help of the U.S. State Department!)
in 1949. Persecution usually produces fruit. Could the absence of persecution of
U.S. churches be one reason we aren't seeing much fruit in our churches?
Could another reason be that most U.S. churches are also registered, in
that they are incorporated and thereby are “creatures of the state”? Is a
sovereign God pleased that His blood-bought church is a “creature of the state”?
Are U.S. church leaders bowing down to the golden calf of tax deductibility, and
how will church leaders and committed laymen react when that “privilege” is
taken away?
The Chinese leaders are atheists and hate the churches but
realize that it is impossible to wipe out all Christians, so they are trying to
control them through registration. The Religious Affairs Bureau controls all
religion and insists that all churches register with the Three Self Patriotic
Movement (TSPM). Three Self refers to self supporting, self propagating and self
governing.
The Communist leadership permits registered churches to exist
but doesn't permit worship outside of the approved churches and their designated
hours. It is illegal to teach children the Bible in Sunday schools or youth
groups before they are age 18. Preaching "excessively" about the Second Coming
of Christ and other eschatological issues is also frowned upon. The TSPM has
many dedicated Christians and many evangelical pastors; however, they are
controlled in many areas of religious activities. And the control varies from
city to city.
To qualify as a "registered" church they must have a
committee of five to run the church and the committee must be approved by the
Religious Affairs Bureau. All TSPM pastors must have the approval of the TSPM,
are on the government payroll receiving better than average salaries.
Alex Buchan says there are three formal restrictions called the "three
designates" that govern the churches. They are: "designated pastor, designated
place of worship, and designated sphere of ministry." In some provinces an
approved church must have a preacher's certificate, a baptism certificate and a
registration certificate, all issued by the Three Self Patriotic Movement! They
must also use only books that are government approved.
All thinking
Christians would conclude that these restrictions are outrageous; however,
Chinese Christians in the government-approved churches defend them as progress!
They are quick to point out that official churches did not exist 25 years ago,
and since 1990, they have increased from 6,000 to more than 13,000 under state
control. Their membership during that time has increased from 5 million to
almost 28 million. So what's the big deal about some state control? American and
Chinese pastors seem to ask the same question! American pastors say, “Being
incorporated doesn’t affect us—much.”
While there are many committed
Chinese Christians in the registered churches (as there are in U.S. incorporated
churches) there are still massive problems, not the least is the Scriptural
position of Christ as Lord of His church. If the government (any government) is
head of the church, it is impossible for Christ to be. After all, anything with
two heads is a monstrosity and it never reproduces!
One pastor told of
Religious Affairs Bureau officials who came to his church and sat in the front
where they drank beer, smoked and talked while church leaders treated them
royally and almost kissed their rings. As a result, numerous laymen left the
church to join with illegal "house church" Christians.
Millions of
dedicated Christians have done the same thing: They refuse to be identified with
registered churches and have fled them to serve Christ and worship in illegal
"house churches," and to suffer the consequences. Americans are following their
Chinese brethren into house churches and unincorporated churches.
Many
Chinese Christians attend an official church and an illegal house church and
there are even incidents of TSPM churches permitting house churches to meet in
their building. The illegal house-church movement has about 80 million
worshippers nationwide, experts agree, more than twice those in the registered
churches! That is one reason for resentment and suspicion between house churches
and some state-controlled congregations. In fact, there have been many cases of
TSPM pastors who have turned in their pastor/brethren across town who serve in
illegal churches! WORLD magazine reported that "government crackdowns on local
house-church networks often begins after a registered church official complains
to local authorities about the underground worship activity." What a tragedy,
but that mentality is prevalent today in the U.S.
Not only do
unregistered church pastors get pressure from the Communist officials and TSPM
pastors but evangelicals in the Free World are pressuring them to not be so
"hard headed" and join the registered churches. It is said that the TSPM is not
as bad as it used to be and Chinese Christians, especially the older ones, have
been influenced too much by American hard-liners–Fundamentalists! It is
interesting that the Roman Catholic Church also has registered and unregistered
churches with comparable persecution to the TSPM churches.
The issue is
not how bad the movement is or how bad the officials are. The question always
comes back to, who is head of the church? Is it possible to serve two
masters?
My research confirms that the registered churches in China
(TSPM) are a caged bird. They only have the relative freedom that Communist
masters (whip-wielders) are willing to permit for public relations purposes in
the free world. Is that what is ahead of us in America?
Thousands of
Chinese church leaders have been imprisoned in recent years, some for more than
ten years. Samuel Lamb is a 70-year-old leader of an unregistered church in
Canton who keeps a black case by his bed. It is packed with clothes and a
toothbrush. He said, "If they want me to register, I just pick up the case and
say, 'take me to jail, I'm ready….I will never register.' " In fact, these
courageous leaders consider jail as their seminary training!
George Chen
is almost 70 years old. After the 1949 Communist revolution, Chen's work grew
increasingly dangerous. He was jailed for religious activities in the 1950s, and
in 1960, he was sentenced to hard labor at a prison in Anhui Province in eastern
China. His wife and son were still in Shanghai, and he saw little hope for
survival. They tried to make things very bad for him by putting him to work in
the cesspool. Timothy Morgan, in a Christianity Today article quotes Chen as
saying, "I spent my days deep in human waste, turning it with a shovel to make
compost. They thought I'd be miserable, but actually I was happy. It smelled so
bad that no one would come near me, so I could pray and sing aloud all day." In
1978 Chen was finally released, and discovered that the churches he planted had
grown to 5,000 from the original 300! He spent all that time in prison because
he would not be controlled by the state!
Question: How soon will American
churches be controlled through threat of losing tax exemption and being forced
to adhere to “public policy”? How many pastors are willing to lose their pulpits
and all the perks and be content, even happy, to stir human waste all day? Just
asking?
Advice to U.S. pastors of registered churches: “Public policy”
(refusing to hire homosexuals, not ordaining women, etc.) will be your undoing
so keep a “black case” by the bed just in case or at least a tooth brush. And
pastors of unregistered churches are also in the crosshairs of government
control fanatics as they will use “hate” crime legislation to close you down if
you don’t follow “public policy.” And the church moves on as it always
has!
(Dr. Don Boys is
a former member of the Indiana House of Representatives, author of 13 books,
frequent guest on television and radio talk shows, and wrote columns for USA
Today for 8 years His book, ISLAM: America's Trojan Horse! was published
last year. His website is cstnews.com.)
Copyright, 2000, Don Boys, Ph.D
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