Author: China Partnership

In many, many ages God has raised up different people — Martin Luther, Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, Tim Keller — and it’s God’s heart to have those people. They are not perfect. In God’s eyes, they are all sinners, but they are faithful servants of God. They are sinners justified by God’s blood. They are just like a match; he is bringing the torch. Without the match the torch is there, but it never burns. They are just the match. We want to be the matches, to burn the torch.

People ask, ‘How can we build our church? How can we grow the numbers? What is trending?’ But the gospel has to drive our vision, not practice. Practice is the result of gospel vision. It can’t happen in reverse. When you think about the East Asian cultures with a strong Confucian work ethic — Japanese, Korean, and Chinese primarily — their thought patterns are ‘Let’s be efficient, let’s get things done and do it in a speedy manner and be diligent and hardworking.’

I heard godly American speakers conveying decades of acquired learning and wisdom, and the Chinese audience receiving it gladly.  But meanwhile I saw Americans and other foreigners being refreshed and re-centered by the vitality of our Chinese brothers and sisters.  In fact, I did not merely see this, I felt it.

The church in China can bless us through their testimony of God’s faithfulness to them and the sharing of their response to persecution. I believe that their example of sacrifice and courage will encourage many in our country to step out of their comfort zone to serve the Lord.

It is my belief that the Chinese church is mature and is finding its dependence on Christ, and does not require the assistance once provided by the church in America. The church in America needs to recognize the strengths and maturity of the Chinese church—the church in America needs to step back and release the Chinese church to be the church and serve without unneeded dependence on the American church.