Editor’s note: What does “dying and rising with Jesus” look like? J-Curve: Dying and Rising with Jesus in Everyday Life, a 2019 book by Paul Miller, seeks to answer that question. Today we are continuing our series on the J-Curve through a conversation with Lily, a Chinese Christian leader.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
China Partnership: I’ve heard you talk about how the J-Curve is so beautiful to the Chinese church because, while Chinese believers accept suffering as a part of Christian life, the resurrection is hard to believe in. Sometimes, Americans immediately think that, for Chinese Christians, suffering means being sent to jail. For some people, that is true. But there is a wide variety of experiences. Could you talk about the experience of suffering in the Chinese house church?
Suffering Alongside the World
Lily: In the Chinese church, the first step is to accept the difficulties in life. In China, when we believe in Christ, most people believe that this God is the sovereign, almighty Lord. We confess this way. He created the heavens and the earth, and is so powerful. He also loves us so much. Why doesn’t God just give me what I want?
As a Christian, we have a lot of hardships and difficulties in our lives that are the same situation as non-Christians face. We have economic pressure, and pressure for the kids’ education. We have bad relationships with our parents, and bad relationships with our kids. We also have work pressure. Both Christians and non-Christians experience these hardships. Our experiences are nearly the same. Then Christians ask: “Why are we in the same situation as unbelievers? What is the difference between us?”
As a Christian, we have a lot of hardships and difficulties in our lives that are the same situation as non-Christians face.
One of my best friends spent a lot of money to buy a house in [a large Chinese city]. They bought the house so they could send their children to school in that area. The house is old and poor, and they had to spend a lot of money to redecorate. But just a few years later, we experienced Covid, and the Chinese economy began to enter a very cold time.
They had to pay a very high price for this house, and then they also realized that the house cannot solve the problem of their kids’ education. They had gotten the wrong information, and the policy changed, so now the house is nothing. They cannot sell the house, and they also have to keep paying high loans which give them a lot of pressure. Now, their children go to a Christian school which is very, very far away. They have to drive them there, and it’s very difficult for my friend.
She asked me, “Why did God give her this situation?” She raised this question before I gave her the J-Curve. I told her, this is the situation God gives us. He allows these kinds of difficulties so we can suffer with him, and also so we can suffer with the world – because we are in the world. You can choose whether you suffer in the world only, or if you suffer with God and with Jesus.
We took a few minutes and talked about Jesus’s life in our earth. He was not born into a rich family, but into a very hard situation. Throughout his life, he didn’t take earthly power or a good situation for himself. He suffered for us, and now we are in the same situation as him. In his everyday suffering, he is with his Father.
How about you? Pray. Be with your Father, and know he is with you. He knows your situation. Accept your difficulties and walk with your Lord. God didn’t leave you alone in difficulty, he wants you to go and follow him.
They are suffering in the same situation as many others – but we are also different, because non-Christians do not have the Lord with them. They cannot experience satisfaction in their present situation. But we believers can trust God, that he will supply everything we need.
After I shared, my friend was comforted. She also shared this with her husband, because he is the one taking the biggest burden. They accepted that they are suffering in the same situation as many others – but we are also different, because non-Christians do not have the Lord with them. They cannot experience satisfaction in their present situation. But we believers can trust God, that he will supply everything we need.
We don’t need to have a big house or a lot of money in the bank. We can just trust him. I don’t need to rely on a house to solve the problem of my kids’ education; I can rely on God. This is the first kind of difficulty, the suffering of difficulties in this world.
Suffering for Faith
Another kind of suffering for Chinese Christians is that, because of the government, Chinese Christians experience more difficulties [than others]. Because you are not a Party member, you will lose a lot of opportunities in the workplace.[1] You have a Christian ethic; even if something is obviously wrong, non-Christians will just do it; it doesn’t matter. But Christians have to refuse, so this is very hard.[2] In the workplace, people have to overwork. Having to work on Sundays is very normal. But Christians have Sunday worship, and need to say no to their boss. This is not easy.
So Christians experience extra pressure in the workplace. Students, especially, have extra pressure from the government. All this is because of government pressure.
Because of the government, Chinese Christians experience more difficulties… Believers receive pressure from society, socially and in their relationships.
Another issue is the pressure of society. The government has influenced society, so people have the attitude, “You Christians are good people, but you are not welcomed.” Especially in recent years, no matter whether in school or in other places, the government will not allow Christians to enter college campuses. They also shut down churches. People can see that the government does not support Christianity, so society has an attitude toward Christians of, “You are different from us.”
Believers receive pressure from society, socially and in their relationships. If they hear you are a Christian, they might say, “Oh, you are a strange person. Don’t talk about your beliefs with me. We can share anything but your Christianity.”
This is the social suffering for Christians in China.
[1] In China, members of the Communist Party find it easier to rise through the ranks in school and in the workplace. They have more opportunities than non-Party members, and receive special privileges.
[2] Christianity prohibits believers from cutting certain moral corners that most of Chinese society views as simply the price of doing business.
Lily is a pseudonym for a Chinese Christian leader. She and her husband have two sons, and are serving in their first year as missionaries.
Pray that Chinese Christians will be able to bring their sufferings to Jesus, and see the meaning in their difficulties. Pray they will not suffer as the world suffers, but will have hope in their troubles.
