Editor’s note: An urban house church pastor speaks frankly about human nature, the necessity of relying on the Holy Spirit as he navigates complicated church-state relations, and a God-centered approach to ministry.
Sinful Human Proclivities
People are sinners. They have tendencies towards atheism, pantheism, and polytheism. Humans also have tendencies toward relativism, secularism, and pluralism. This is the church’s biggest challenge.
The most fearful times are when we don’t look to God. For those of us who are called, fear should not be in our vocabulary. The only fear is when you lose focus. If I don’t look to Christ and pray, I become truly terrified. Everything seems dark.
Reformed churches have another struggle: the academization of truth. I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently. The profound study of Reformed theology – the study of history, languages, syntax, and so son – can easily lead to the academization of truth if we don’t maintain balance. Truth must be missional. Otherwise, the natural consequence is that faith becomes ritualized. Then, gradually, life becomes secularized.
If I don’t look to Christ and pray, I become truly terrified.
This is what history and reality have shown and taught us. Some people were very devout in service in China, but after studying at certain seminaries for a few years, they ended up losing their faith altogether. This is a great lesson for us.
Another struggle is our own personal weakness, the corruption of human nature. When training co-workers, I emphasize worldview, values, and outlook on life.
Tests in Ministry
Ministry must pass the tests of money, power, and sex. How do we handle these things? We must have open and transparent financial management; we have elders to provide checks and balances on power; and we must strengthen the building of covenant families. But the most important thing is that the Holy Spirit builds the lives of the saints through God’s word. Only then can we truly ensure that our ministry is sustainable, stable, and effective. This corruption of human nature is actually our biggest struggle. The key lies in the Holy Spirit, through God’s word, governing us.
On the other hand, we see the environment as God’s work, and God’s work is infinitely loving and infinitely just. He uses all things for the good of those who love him. The environment is not that big of a deal.
Ministry must pass the tests of money, power, and sex. How do we handle these things?
We cannot deviate from Christ for a moment. It’s easy to shift from a God-centered approach to a human-centered one, focusing on yourself, the effectiveness of your ministry, the number of people in the church. Our church advocates knowing what we ought to know and doing what we ought to do. Regardless of circumstances, you already know who you are, who and what you believe in, and what you should do – your calling, intentions, the purposes and goals of ministry and your methods of ministry. To complete the mission God has called us to, we focus on these. We know we are God’s servants, and stewards of various gifts.
In ministry, especially serving in a metropolis, we face many fears. If we don’t look to Christ, we will not be able to face these challenges and be freed from our struggles. I have personally experienced this: I cannot lose focus for a moment. As I pastor, I have had to deal with church-state relations for many years, as well as the process of ministry. If I do not pray constantly and have a relationship with God, I cannot lead brothers and sisters to have their own relationship with God. I also can’t face the challenges of dealing with the government or just the struggles of pastoral ministry, especially my own personal struggles.
What Kind of Gospel?
We must always remember that we are not just preaching the gospel – we must ask ourselves: what kind of gospel are we preaching? When we plant churches, we are not just planting churches, we are planting a certain kind of church.
In ministry, especially serving in a metropolis, we face many fears. If we don’t look to Christ, we will not be able to face these challenges and be freed from our struggles.
For example, once I was in [another country in southeast Asia]. Someone came to me and told me they would donate several million to build a church! I knew that money which comes in like this is very dangerous. So I said, “I’m very grateful, thank you very much. But when we plant a church, it is God who sends and leads. We don’t rely on chariots or horses, but on the Lord of hosts. We build the church according to his word. If you are willing to obey this and still want to give, no problem. But if we just build the church according to your design because you donated, then we cannot give an account to God.”
In the end, that person was actually just a nominal Christian. If we have not passed the tests of money, power, and sex, we can be easily tempted by this sudden influx of money. Ultimately, the power of decision would lie in the hands of the donor. We ask God to have special mercy on us, so our church may truly uphold, defend, and adhere to the truth – no matter the circumstances.
Jiang Aizhong is a pseudonym for a Chinese house church pastor.
Pray for Chinese churches to set in place wise safeguards against the ministry tests of money, power, and sex.
