Persecution and Suffering Are a Part of the House Church’s Identity
For the contemporary, urban house church in China, suffering remains integral to its identity; but unlike in the West, there are no sharp divisions between political suffering and the suffering that has been brought to this world through the Covid-19 pandemic. In the theological legacy of Wang Mingdao, the house church generally believes that suffering and walking the way of the cross is integral to our union with Christ. Precisely because the Chinese church believes suffering is a foundational part of Christian discipleship, it does not make persecution by the state a bigger deal than it is.
