Editor’s note: Like the rest of China, the economy is bad in Xuzhou, and young and middle-aged people face enormous amounts of pressure just trying to survive. Local pastors say the work is through, but they are trying to share a biblical value system that counteracts the stress and “rat race” in which most people seem to feel trapped.
China Partnership: What are some common challenges, fears, and struggles that you and your church encounter as you minister to people in your city? How can we pray about this?
“Most People Resist”
Brother Xu: Human nature has the same core: people are prideful and self-centered. When you share the gospel, deep down, most people resist. Some are willing to listen and receive, but most are hard-hearted. Some are outwardly polite and let you speak – but that’s all. We encounter people like this as we do social outreach and evangelism.
Evangelism has become much harder lately. We’ve tried all kinds of methods, but the results are bad. If you’re talking in public or with university students, lots of people think Christianity is a “Western religious invasion.””
As for believers, we also see self-centeredness among Christians, in serving and in learning. Even if you teach clearly, some who are in discipleship training still aren’t receptive.
This requires prayer, and God’s work.
“Evangelism Is Harder”
Lin Yukang: The broader environment affects us – hard-left ideology is on the rise. To me, a recent movie called “Dead to Rights” suggests that authorities are making a last-minute effort to brainwash public thinking. They want that to be their final human shield.
Xuzhou isn’t like coastal cities where people focus on the economy and making money. Here, it’s easy to find people who just take a more consumeristic approach. This directly impacts the gospel. Evangelism has become much harder lately. We’ve tried all kinds of methods, but the results are bad. If you’re talking in public or with university students, lots of people think Christianity is a “Western religious invasion” on China. That is our challenge.
After three years of Covid, all of China has been impacted. Our church members face the same pressures as everyone else. We all deal with the bad economy: stress over children’s education; uncertainty about the future; lack of confidence; and pressure at work – layoffs, pay cuts, and relentless competition and anxiety. We especially need prayer that robust, gospel-centered shepherding can keep pace with all this. Urban churches, especially churches focused on young and middle-aged families, have a lot of pressure dealing with family and work.
Our church members face the same pressures as everyone else… We especially need prayer that robust, gospel-centered shepherding can keep pace.
Many young people fear marriage, don’t want to get married, and don’t want children. This cultural trend is influencing the church – some people explicitly say they don’t want children. We need to pray for gospel transformation and renewal in these areas.
Trapped in the Rat Race
Wang Qingxi: For our generation of middle-aged people, the key word is still “involution” – it’s an exhausting, ever-tightening rat race.[1] It’s true of us, and it’s true of the people we serve. Whether children’s education, marriage, or work, people feel trapped. No one wants to compete, but they’re swept along, they have to.
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We try to reshape values through Scripture by preaching and sharing, but it’s not easy. I lead a “young adult” group – no one’s that young, most are in their 30s – but no matter the topic, it all goes back to “how to educate our kids.” Everyone knows the system is not ideal, but in public schools they don’t feel there is any choice, so each day they just keep their eyes fixed on schoolwork.
Right now we are at a youth summer camp hosted by Pastor Lin’s church. Our church joined, and we came and brought our kids. It’s mostly sports. As we’ve been here, I’ve talked with the kids and learned they don’t usually have PE class, so they hardly exercise. After a few days of exercise, we are all exhausted. All of us are in this cycle of “involution.” No matter how much you compete, there’s little gain, and everyone loses a lot of mental and physical health. This is true inside and outside the church.
We’re slowly helping people out of this trap through biblical teaching. First, we are changing their values and helping them see their children’s future is not controlled by the education system, but by God’s hand. We call them to faith in God. Some people are changing – but only a little. We might get together once or twice a week, but then they return to the same rhythms. Everyone knows this kind of studying doesn’t yield very much, but they keep doing it. Please pray for young parents, and for our children.
No matter how much you compete, there’s little gain, and everyone loses a lot of mental and physical health… We’re slowly helping people out of this trap through biblical teaching.
Marriage is another place where we have a lot of issues in pastoral care. People say they are Christians, but not many follow Scriptural patterns for husbands, wives, parents, and children. Please pray for marriages. The divorce rate is soaring across China, and Xuzhou is no exception.
The church itself has been strongly influenced by pietism and mysticism. People focus on feelings, not Scripture’s revealed truth. In actions, prayer, and service, people prioritize personal “impressions” and experiences. Even if these things conflict with biblical truth, they still trust feelings more than the Bible. A lot of people in our church – not everyone – have a superstitious, pragmatic mindset. They come to God seeking what he can give, and they relate to God with a utilitarian mind. This is common in many traditional house churches.
Pray we can help people turn from being self-centered to being God-centered. A lot of people come seeking what God can give them – but we must seek life in Christ, serve God, and embrace mission.
This is hard. Yet by God’s grace, there’s been real fruit.
[1] “Involution” (内卷 or neijuan) is a popular term in China. It describes the pointless, exhausting, “turned-in-on-itself” existence that many people feel trapped in as they struggle to stay afloat in modern society.
Lin Yukang, Brother Xu, and Wang Qingxi are pseudonyms for house church pastors in Xuzhou.
Pray for the people of Xuzhou to see that China’s rat race is not the only option; Christ’s yoke is easy and his burden is light.
