Well, minutes after beginning my new weekly post this week, I had the realization that this coming Thursday, I will be in mainland China, where I will not have my computer, and even if I did I’m not sure they would allow me to access my blog from there. Because of that realization, I have decided to post this week’s “Thursday’s Thought” on Sunday so that I will not have to completely skip it in its second week of existence.
The inspiration for this week’s thought comes from A) The fact that, for the first time in my life, I am going into mainland China (which is very different than Hong Kong) this week, so I have been thinking a lot about the state of the church within its borders and B) The fact that I have been reading a book called The Heavenly Man this week. It is the story of one believer, Brother Yun, and his almost unbelievable story of living life as a Christian in China starting in the 1970s.
At one point in the book, Brother Yun says, “For many centuries the gospel struggled to gain a foothold in the stubborn land of China. Our soil was too rocky to accept the root of the gospel, but in time God accomplished His purposes and established His church. Suffering, persecution, and imprisonment made His gospel rapidly spread throughout China. If our lives had been more comfortable we’d probably have stayed in our home villages. But because we were always fleeing to new places the gospel spread to many areas that had never heard it.”
This Thursday’s Thought: So many Americans wonder why the gospel is stagnant in so many areas in the States. Maybe it’s because we’re driving to church in our BMWs (Not that I’m judging you if that’s what you drive to church. It’s just a random example.), sitting in comfortably cushioned seats, drinking our Mint Mochas from Starbucks (which really do taste so good…), and enjoying a top quality AV production in our churches while Christians in other parts of the world must walk many miles so they can gather quietly, in secret, often at night so the police won’t raid their meetings and beat, imprison, or kill them. Maybe it’s because we have replaced the God of the Bible with comfort and commercialism. Maybe it’s because we’ve redefined persecution to mean a couple of friends not sitting with us at lunch because they think we’re weird for being Christians. Maybe, if we took that gospel at its word, it would start a revolution. Maybe if the church as a whole in America were to make significant (dare I say lifestyle-altering?) sacrifices for the sake of the gospel, the church in America would be freed from its stagnation. But that’s just what I think…
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It's the heart of the person sitting in the pew...driving a different car or skipping the coffee won't help him live for Christ. It's all in the heart. The value of persecution is making one's heart condition obvious to all. When you have to walk miles to attend church at risk to your life, it becomes obvious you really mean it when you say you love Christ and want to know Him.
ReplyDeleteI love what Beth wrote on my fb page about it being hard to go to church today because of the first infusion of cancer drugs on Friday, but then added "It was harder to stay away". That was encouraging! It revealed her heart.