The Limitations of Leadership
There is only one unlimited Person in the universe; it’s the Lord. I have limits that God, in his sovereignty, has placed on me that I will never move beyond. Trying to work beyond your limits is spiritually unhealthy and will not produce good fruit. You can’t let the pressures of expectations or the volume of work cause you to act like you don’t have limits…Every time you accept something new, you have to ask: “What will I not do in order to do this?” If you are already busy and you add something new, there is something you will not be able to do. I don’t think pastors ask that question—they just think that somehow they’ll get more time and ability.
Why Practice Evangelism?
In the city, it is still difficult for Christians to share their faith. Many difficulties come from believers who are not equipped, and are therefore afraid. Actually, Christians can share their experiences, lead the topic to Christ, and then live out their love. If they are not too results-oriented, this will not be a big deal. They must face their own weaknesses and fears of how others see them, and they need courage in situations when it is difficult to lead conversations to the gospel core. In short, believers need more practice. Christians are often afraid to share the gospel or just want people to come to church, but we encourage them to find ways to bring up gospel topics themselves.
Isolation and Loneliness: We Know It’s Unhealthy
Pastor Hu Yongjie: Most Chinese pastors are solo ministers. Isolation and loneliness is very common. We know it’s unhealthy. Do you have any suggestions as to how to break through this situation?
Paul Tripp: No pastor lives up, above, or outside of the body of Christ. Christ is the head of his body; everything else is just body. A pastor is a man in the middle of his own sanctification. He needs the ministry of the body of Christ. You have to break down that wall of separation and be self-disclosing enough that people understand you need their comfort, encouragement, and insight as much as anybody else…No pastor is a grace graduate. All the graces that God has designed to come to the body of Christ, you need as well. You have to change the culture and the way people think about you so you can receive the ministry that your soul needs.
Marriage and the Promises of the Covenant
Marriages, whether healthy or failing, show our faithfulness to our covenantal promises or our complete disregard of them. Tracing God’s promises through redemptive history, we discover a story about small families, great families, and big institutions like nations or the church. Whatever we see within the church is related to the relationships between family units and the church. Problems and blessings can both be traced to our relationship to God’s kingdom.
Contextual Theology: Education that Prepares Chinese Christians for the Challenges They Face
House church Christians in China face many challenges in their daily faith journey. Dilemmas arise from broader societal issues, such as cultural incongruence and a pervasive spiritual vacuum, as well as issues specific to the house church identity, centered around a posture of resistance. Both these areas need to be addressed; all create powerful disorienting features. These challenges also present an opportunity for house church Christians to learn, grow, and be transformed. Theological education in the house church context must factor in these contextual elements, encourage students to theologize within their communities, and find biblical solutions.
Can the Chinese Church Avoid the Disconnect Between Theological Education and Pastoral Work?
We need to rethink the model of theological education in the Chinese church today…The disconnect between theory and practice brought about by the independent model of theological education in the West is obvious. Will the Chinese church make the same mistake? Can we avoid the disconnect between theological education and pastoral work? Western seminaries have made very important contributions and have had very significant results, but in the current situation of the Chinese church, this model of theological education may not be suitable. The important thing is that this is not the model of theological education and pastor formation advocated by the Bible.
Studying Theology Overseas: A Word of Caution to the Chinese Church
In the last decade, it has become a trend for Chinese Christians to study overseas (mainly in North America) at various Western theological education institutions. This new wave of overseas students has two distinctive features: first, they are mainly urban intellectuals, and second, most of them have been deeply involved in pastoral service in China before attending overseas seminaries. As a member of this wave, I have benefited a lot from it, but at the same time, I am also deeply concerned about the various shortcomings. Therefore, I offer the following as my own personal humble opinion, in an attempt to analyze the benefits.
House Church Seminaries in Mainland China: Let the Machines Do the Data Transfer
Bring the seminary into the church, don’t bring the people out of the church to go to seminary. I think that was Jesus’s model. With technology, why do we have to operate theological education in the old way? If the printing press changed the Reformation, and technology changed the church, then how we deliver the transformational model [can change as well]. Think about how to mentor the people. That is the part that is lifelong. Even creation had that aim—“You are my God, we are your people.” Less data transfer. Let the machines do the data transfer, let the people transfer the wisdom, the knowledge, the experience, and the fellowship.
House Church Seminaries in Mainland China: Mimicking the Western Model？
During the turn of the century, around 2000, there was a movement to church planting in urban settings as intellectuals became Christian. They were more hungry to learn. Some people went overseas; others were sent into China to start this training. A lot of theological trainings started to be held in the city. The intellectuals were more educated people, and so they thought of formal, theological education. They wanted to mimic what Westerners did.
However, as I mature and pastor and train and teach at different seminaries in the Asian context, I see that the purely Western model may not always be good.
The Impact of My Theological Education: Suffering, Preaching the Word, Understanding Human Emotion
Suffering for or with Christ can easily become legalistic. Instead, we are suffering the suffering of Christ, suffering as Christ, and suffering in Christ. This concept comes from a very deep biblical structure and has had a great impact on me. When I say this I feel very ashamed, because I often forget this and feel very weak, but this is very important.
