Today is the first day of the Year of the Rooster, observed by over one billion Chinese people around the world. To mark the Chinese New Year, Disciples Today is publishing a series of articles written by our correspondent in mainland China, who is even now traveling throughout southern China, visiting disciples and churches over the new year holiday. See Part 1: Good News from China.
Part 2: Are Christians in China Persecuted?
Most people know something about China. Kung-fu, Chinese characters written as calligraphy, and Chinese food are some of the most visible expressions of Chinese culture around the world.
But the life of Christians in China is often not well understood.
Persecution of Chinese Christians gets the most media coverage, which usually follows a typical storyline: brave believers facing a hostile government. These stories can be exciting and inspiring, especially if they end with heroic stories of great faithfulness.
But they don’t really convey what it means to be a disciple of Jesus in China.
China, both officially and unofficially, allows more freedom of religion than many countries in the world. Throughout China, church buildings of government-sanctioned Catholic and Protestant groups hold open church services. The world’s largest Bible printing press is even in China! Amity Press, in the central Chinese city of Nanjing, has produced over 100 million copies of the Bible. Chinese Christians often wears crosses, carry their Bibles openly and share with friends and co-workers their belief in Jesus.
Certainly, there are real cases of persecution. In our own fellowship, the most severe persecution we have received came not from the government, but from an ex-boyfriend who killed his former girlfriend in anger over her changed, pure life as a Christian! Because our churches aren’t politically active or opposed to the Chinese government, our churches haven’t received any significant opposition from officials in over 20 years. We pray for peace in China, and want to follow God’s direction to submit, and not oppose, the authorities God has established.
In other ways, Christianity is restricted in China; for example, open evangelism is prohibited. Only the two state-sanctioned Protestant and Catholic churches have legal status. Christian groups outside these officially-sanctioned churches are popularly known as “underground” churches. But in most places, if they do not cause problems or meet in large groups, local governments don’t interfere.
When people ask, “Is it hard to be a Christian in China?” I share these common struggles:
Materialism: China’s red-hot economy has a big downside—consumerism. It’s a constant challenge for disciples to resist the “new car, new home, latest-gadget” worship that has captivated many Chinese young people.
Family pressure: Because of the (now greatly relaxed) one-child policy the government used to slow population growth, many young Chinese disciples are only children. Their families expect and often need financial support. Housing costs in the big cities are among the highest in the world, and most urban Chinese think of home ownership as a prerequisite for marriage. Some worry they will never be able to afford a home or get married before their 40’s! Disciples face pressure to marry by age 30, but few can meet the culture’s financial expectations just to get married. This makes real commitment costlier for Chinese Christians, as faithful disciples find themselves with less time to pursue career advancement.
Immorality: Pornography is ubiquitous. Hook-up culture permeates single life the major cities. Divorce is on the rise and traditional morality has been replaced with a casual attitude towards sex outside of marriage. Combined with the financial pressure that makes early marriage seem impossible, this is potent and dangerous mix.
And the bright side of being a Christian in China?
A sense of mission: Most disciples are the first Christian in their families. Christianity is still something of an unknown for many Chinese, who have a superficial but generally positive impression. Chinese disciples are much more likely to be a part of a church planting. There are hundreds of large cities in need of churches—a wide-open frontier for the gospel.
Close relationships: Chinese have a reputation for putting a premium on relationship, so much so that even the Chinese word guanxi is used in the West when talking about how to relate to Chinese people. The church is a natural environment for deep, mutual relationships. The smaller groups that disciples here tend to meet in foster closeness. Chinese travelling together in groups, rather than solo, is something of a stereotype—but there’s an underlying truth to it. Chinese Christians have a strong experience of church as family and friends.
A unique identity: There’s a Chinese idiom for a crowd of people: ren shan ren hai, literally "people mountain people sea." In the most populated country in the world it’s easy to get lost in this sea of people! For Chinese disciples, life has a bigger meaning than just getting ahead. A clear identity is found in salvation by Jesus, not lost in the “people sea.”
Being a Christian in China is different from being a Christian anywhere in the world—but also the same. Jesus puts us all together in one family. On this, the most special day on the Chinese calendar, would you take a minute to pray for your Chinese brothers and sisters?
Next in this series: A Short History of Christianity in China