It’s pleased to know the author once brought bibles and materials to pastors in Mainland China. When young I heard of report from my pastors some missionaries did have such a ministry bringing bibles to China, and testimonies how miraculous the security department can’t find those materials while transporting through airport gates or any other customs.
Nowadays China becomes rich and more open in many ways. Pastor and church no longer need bibles from secret transportation. You can easily buy one in a registered church. And yet the society becomes secular at the same time. One of my college classmate working in China suggests me to come to China for evangelism, for the society has targeted only one goal, money. It is not the government overpowers the church, but materialism and consumerism control China, severely threatening the future of the church. Chinese church and society face challenges as much as the Western from secularism, and are losing appetite for “spiritual food�.
In church now we can still have people eager to grow in Christ. And yet we see many Christians living a way just like “one received the seed that fell among the throne…�(Matt.13:22) in the Parable of the Sower. Worries and wealth suffocate them. They don’t want to eat spiritual food. Even pastor got frustrated while seeing the sheep just lose appetite because of worries and wealth. No wonder some pastors distort the gospel for a prosperity message appealing to the worried and the money-driven generations.
For the rest of us resistant to current trends, a small group, our Chief Shepherd comforts us “fear not, little flock�(Lk12:32). Let’s carry on to feed on the word for those few who still want to eat and grow.
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