Editor’s note: This year, China Partnership has prayed for the church in China to hold fast. In the fall of 2022, we spoke with Chinese house church leaders and asked them how the global church can pray for and support them in 2023. They specifically asked that we pray that they would hold fast to Christ and to his promises in the midst of pressure, persecution, and uncertainty. We invite you to join us as we labor in love and prayer for the church in China.
My brothers and sisters in China —
As you endure hardship for the sake of the gospel, I want you to know that the global church is watching you, we are learning from you, and we are telling the gospel story because of you.
The Global Church is Watching
Are you aware that the global church is watching how you are enduring persecution for the sake of Christ? Your fame for the gospel is spreading around the world.
You might say, why is our fame spreading globally? There are not many churches in the world who are suffering more for the gospel than you are. There are not many churches who are choosing to walk the way of the cross as they suffer. There are not many churches who are loving their enemies and praying for those who persecute them like Jesus did as they endure affliction.
Looking with only eyes of flesh, it seems that the promise of salvation through wisdom, power and wealth rings true. Because of the allure of worldly power, many Christians, especially in the West, are tempted to give up on the way of the cross. We are tempted to blend our devotion to Christ with our love for the world.
The global church is watching you because we are impressed by how low you are being taken for the sake of Christ, and yet how high you remain in your joy in Jesus. We are watching you because though you are weak, we marvel that, in Christ, you are strong.
We are watching you because, as attempts to scatter you from one another have come, your commitment to Christ and to one another has not wavered.
The Global Church is Learning
As the global church is watching you, we are also learning from you. What are we learning? We are seeing in living reality the kind of gospel obedience Paul describes:
“For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.”
Looking with only eyes of flesh, it seems that the promise of salvation through wisdom, power and wealth rings true. Because of the allure of worldly power, many Christians, especially in the West, are tempted to give up on the way of the cross. We are tempted to blend our devotion to Christ with our love for the world.
Never miss a story
However, in our lukewarmness, the Western church is confronted by you! We are confronted by churches all over China who are living out the words of Martin Luther in ‘A Mighty Fortress is our God’ – Christians who have “let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also, the body they may kill, God’s truth abideth still, his Kingdom is forever.”
Sometimes persecuted believers can be so focused on standing firm for Jesus that they forget to love each other like Jesus loved them…to become arrogant rather than humble in affliction is a common but dangerous path for the suffering church.
You confront us with your wisdom – you are so wise to let go of what is temporary to hold onto what is eternal. You confront us with your power – in your suffering you have let go of your own power and have decided instead to hold onto the power of Christ – who is the very power and the wisdom of God. You confront us with your strength – in the midst of your weakness, you are holding onto the Lord Jesus, who is stronger than man’s strength.
We are learning from you what it means to walk by faith in the face of affliction. On behalf of the global church, I want to thank you for teaching us this lesson of incomparable value.
But since the global church is watching and learning from you, I also want to exhort you to continue to persevere not just in faith, but also in love. Throughout church history, when churches have faced persecution for the name of Christ, we find a common pattern of sin. Sometimes persecuted believers can be so focused on standing firm for Jesus that they forget to love each other like Jesus loved them.
Perhaps it is a surprise for you to hear that this sin of pride is often found among persecuted churches. But it is true – to become arrogant rather than humble in affliction is a common but dangerous path for the suffering church.
Jesus, did not say that the world would know that we are Christians by how we stand up for the gospel in persecution. He said, “all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” It is your love for one another in your churches and your love for other Christians in your cities that will show the world the reality of Jesus Christ.
So the global church is learning how to suffer with faith from you. And we thank you for that lesson. But, I ask you: if the global church needed to learn love from you – could we also learn that?
Continue to stand firm in your faith, but also in your love for one another.
The Global Church is Telling
Finally the global church is telling. As we watch you and learn from you we are also telling the story of your faith to the world.
We find ourselves in a situation that is something like what Luke experienced with Paul in the final 10 chapters of the book of Acts. Throughout that final section from Acts 19-28, Paul is bearing the marks of persecution. But Luke is there with him in the background, telling the story of the gospel that God was writing to the world through Paul’s ministry.
My Chinese brothers and sisters, the global church is with you as you suffer. Perhaps you cannot see us, but can we see you.
As Paul suffers in chains, Luke watches, learns, and then tells what is happening with Paul to the world. In the end, the gospel goes forth – as one man, Paul, is persecuted, and the other man, Luke, tells the story.
Conclusion
My Chinese brothers and sisters, the global church is with you as you suffer. Perhaps you cannot see us, but can we see you. Because of you, we are growing in our devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Remain steadfast in your devotion to Jesus – with faith and joy – because the world is watching you, is learning from you, and is telling the gospel story because of you.
Corey Jackson is the senior pastor of Trinity Park Church in Cary, North Carolina.
Pray Chinese believers will remain steadfast in love for one another this Christmas.
