Editor’s note: Lately, the news has been full of stories about China’s declining population, and its need to boost its aging population. But for decades before that, from 1979 to 2015, China famously enforced a
Hopefully we will keep on planting churches over the next three to five years. My long-term vision is that in ten years, the city of Shanghai will have a church planting center to help people plant churches. At least we can be a model and continue planting churches. I am against the mindset that a church needs to be healthy enough to plant. I think planting churches is the biblical way. In Scripture, there is no church that is healthy enough to plant another. Instead, continuing to plant churches makes the church healthy.
Last weekend, Sunday was a work day. Next door to a church is a law firm, which would be working during the service. Our church wants to be a good neighbor, and not be too loud to affect their work. I also had fears about whether they would report us. I needed God’s wisdom. Our church changed locations last weekend; we moved, in the same building, to the company of a church member to hold the service. Every day I have to make these kinds of choices. Every decision needs to be driven by the gospel, instead of by fear, even if the result seems the same.
When our church was small, when there were only twenty people, I had fears about financial sufficiency; now we have 130 to 150 people each Sunday, and I have a fear of too many people.
I am not only familiar with the geography and history of Shanghai, but I also love and am familiar with the culture of the city. This is not because of my own personal preference, but because I believe this to be the prerequisite and foundation for any church planter. When Paul arrived in Athens, he spent much time in the synagogues, (i.e. the city’s religious circles) in the marketplaces (the workplaces of Athens), and in the Epicurean and Stoic schools (the academia of the day). He got to know these places and learned about the idols of the city. This prepared him to preach the sermon which convinced even the magistrates in the Areopagus. We cannot point out cultural idols and preach a gospel which can be understood and believed if we do not enter into and understand the culture of the city.
The gospel does not give us a piece of cloth to cover up our sins as we come to meet God. The gospel pulls down the last veil and lets the light of God shine on and heal us completely…Christian, do you believe all your shame has been crucified together with Jesus? If you believe, do not shut yourself out of the church because of external factors.
