Editor’s note: This is part two of our two-part series on An Ning, a venerated Chinese Christian from Guizhou who recently passed away. Part one is available here.

This is the second article we have published this fall mourning the passing of the older generation of Chinese Christian leaders, the believers who steered the Chinese church through the dark days of the Cultural Revolution and severe suppression of their faith. Many of these believers spent years in jail for their faith, and younger Chinese Christians look up to them for their sincerity, piety, and faithfulness as they walked the road of the cross and followed Jesus through suffering. Still, even as this generation honors their elders, they also want to make some changes in how they follow Christ and seek to impact China.

An Ning’s World

Although I didn’t know him personally, I became involved in An Ning’s life in the 1980s. Back then, I worked in the Religious Affairs Bureau for Guizhou Province. I was in charge of overseeing Christian affairs. One day, officers from the Public Security Bureau came to our department to discuss a case. A free preacher named An Ning was traveling around, spreading the gospel and distributing Bibles from outside the country, along with Bible players, to churches.

That was a period of rapid growth for Christianity in China, and the “infiltration of hostile foreign forces” and the “proliferation of free preachers” were key concerns for religious management. An Ning’s case touched on both.

A free preacher named An Ning was traveling around, spreading the gospel and distributing Bibles from outside the country, along with Bible players, to churches.

As we discussed whether or not to prosecute, the atmosphere was heavy. I was new to the job. This was my first encounter with a case like this, but my position was clear: we should decide whether to prosecute based on law, not politics, because politically motivated prosecution had led to countless miscarriages of justice.

All this happened during Hu Yaobang’s era, a time of “rectifying chaos and restoring order.”[1] During that time, efforts were made, in many different areas, to correct the injustices of past political campaigns. Because of this, An Ning avoided another prison sentence.

Why?

I finally met Elder An more than two decades later. By then, I had long since left the government. After many moves, I had become a member of Living Stone Church in Guiyang. We often visited Elder An in his home, hoping to draw spiritual nourishment from him. Brothers and sisters from other churches who visited Guiyang also visited Elder An, and we locals often accompanied them. Through these repeated visits, my understanding of Elder An deepened. I was left with a multitude of “whys?”

Why was holiness the only thing I sensed from Elder An? As a “local emperor,” he could easily have indulged in a life of luxury and excess.

Why was humility all I sensed from him? As an alumnus of Peking University, he could have been arrogant and condescending.

Why was submission all I sensed from him? As the descendant of “revolutionaries,” he should have inherited a rebellious spirit.

We often visited Elder An in his home, hoping to draw spiritual nourishment from him… Through these repeated visits, my understanding of Elder An deepened. I was left with a multitude of “whys?””

Why was forgiveness all I sensed from him? He made it a point to pray daily for those in authority! Yet as the descendant of “counter-revolutionaries” (more than 20 of his family members had been executed by the regime), it seemed he should have harbored hatred.

Why was love all I sensed from him, not hate? As a “veteran” of 25 years of wrongful imprisonment, it seemed he should have been filled with resentment.

Why was spiritual humility all I sensed from him? As an “elder in the faith,” he could have been spiritually prideful.

At the time, I could not understand how so many contrasting qualities could be embodied in one person. Now I do. Elder An had encountered God, been born again, and radiated the fragrance of the Holy Spirit. Because the Holy Spirit dwelt within him, his life was lived in the Lord’s world. He could completely disregard the world outside.

The Post-An Ning World

I want to talk about the world after An Ning.

The faith tradition of Chinese Christianity – especially for those in the house church movement – has been handed down from spiritual forefathers like Wang Mingdao, Watchman Nee, and An Ning. These elders were characterized by their unwavering personal faith. Decades of imprisonment could not erode their beliefs.

This led to a unique phenomenon: cities where these released prisoners of faith lived experienced a surge in evangelical fervor. This fervor was a relay baton and accelerator for the strategy to “surround the cities from the countryside.”[2] In the 1960s and 1970s, Christianity came from the Chinese countryside to municipal areas, laying the foundation for the establishment and growth of new urban churches.

But this spiritual perspective of Wang Mingdao, Watchman Nee, and An Ning was very “fundamentalist.” They mistakenly emphasized endurance over spiritual warfare, and advocated a passive theology of suffering. These elders believed suffering was the only path to experiencing God, and trusted that being “subject to the governing authorities” did not require the authorities to operate from a premise of justice. While this spiritual perspective fostered strong personal faith, it did not protect the church from worldly oppression. It also did not enable the church to act as “salt and light” in society. This was one of the reasons for the tragic near-annihilation of the Chinese church during the Three-Self Patriotic Movement.

We inherit their legacy. We must carry on their steadfast faith and holy lives – but we need to update their individualistic, rapture-focused doctrine of salvation with a Kingdom perspective of collective redemption.

Elder An was the last of these elders of the faith, and a quintessential representative of their group. His passing symbolizes the end of one era and the dawn of a new one. We inherit their legacy. We must carry on their steadfast faith and holy lives – but we need to update their individualistic, rapture-focused doctrine of salvation with a Kingdom perspective of collective redemption.

May we one day meet again in our heavenly home, and may we once more listen to Elder An’s teachings.

[1] In Chinese, the phrase used is 拨乱反正 (boluan fanzheng), a political slogan used to talk about correcting the mistakes of the Cultural Revolution.

[2] “Surround the cities from the countryside” was Mao Zedong’s strategy during the Chinese Revolution. Here, it is taken out of that context of Communist history, and applied to how Christianity spread across China.

Zhang Tan is a Chinese Christian who lives outside of China, and describes himself as a weak servant of Jesus.

Pray for modern Chinese Christians to have discernment as they figure out how to relate to government and society in the present day. Pray they will learn from their elders, and also have wisdom to understand the current times.