Frontier Stories: Don't Crush My Hopes and Dreams

Often, in our zeal to help someone, we can do more harm than good. We inundate another person's needs with our excesses and even kindness. We want to help, and we would like to do it quickly. We can't wait forever for God to show up; that is too unpredictable. We better act now. After all, if we are feeding the poor, helping the disadvantaged, what could be wrong?

The fastest growing church in the world today is in China. In the last 50 years, a handful of churches has exploded into nearly 100 million followers of Jesus being members of both the aboveground and underground church in China. Thousands upon thousands of Chinese will be celebrating Christmas this year for the first time. Both sociologists and missiologists agree that by the year 2050, China will be 50 percent Christian, if the Chinese church continues to grow at its current rate. Already, Chinese missionaries are being sent around the world sharing the Good News, especially in the Middle East, as a part of the growing "Back to Jerusalem" movement - Chinese missionaries traveling back along the old Silk Road.

But what is most interesting about this explosion of the Chinese church is how few Christians there were in China by the middle of the 20th century, even after decades, centuries of missionary activity. When Chairman Mao came to power in the early 1950s, he brought with him a communist worldview that was determined to rid China of any Christian expression or practice. Mao was confident, as were many communists of that era, that Christianity was waning, irrelevant, on its way out of the Chinese heart and society. All the foreign missionaries were told to leave the country.

Mao drove the Church underground, and he drove it hard. Many Chinese Christians at the time buried their Bibles in their backyards, hoping that the Red Guard would not find and destroy them. Christian mothers and fathers huddled together at night reciting Bible verses to each other, singing hymns, sharing their faith with their children and neighbors. They prayed to God for protection and provision, asking that the Chinese church would somehow survive.

Interestingly, the Chinese church more than survived - it flourished. The harder the communists pushed down on the church, the more it grew. By the 1990s when the Cultural Revolution was more than over, the communist rule began to relax and amend itself to the global community and modern world surrounding it; the Chinese church began expanding in every corner of the country. I was privileged to visit China during that time and witness crowds of people standing outside in the streets, listening to preachers and worship services through the open windows of local churches. We were told that we American Christians were welcome to visit and pray for the Chinese church, but that our sympathy and money were not needed. We could hardly believe our ears. A group of Christians in the world, which did not need or want American money! My eyes were really opened to what God was doing in this unique corner of the world.

To this day, the Chinese church operates on the principles of the "Three Self Movement." Each Chinese Christian church prides itself on being self-governing, self-sustaining, and self-propagating. The leadership is thoroughly indigenous, incredibly prayerful, and powerful in the spirit. They have learned to live and thrive with few resources and a quiet, trusting faith. As a result, it has become the fastest growing church in the world.

Trusting God is a wild ride into the unknown. Are we willing to get on board? Jesus once told thousands to sit on the side of a hill and wait until he fed them - starting with just a few fish and a couple loaves of bread. Before long, baskets full of fish and bread were covering the hills and everyone's stomachs were filled. Moreover, everyone's hearts were filled, too. None of us knows what tomorrow will bring. All that we know for sure is that God will be with us, our hearts will be full, and our needs met - if we trust and follow his Son.

However, if someone intervenes inappropriately, takes care of all our needs, and interrupts what God is doing in our lives, the treasures of heaven can often become more distant and our lives more dependent on the ways of the world. The utmost discernment, therefore, is needed in the Christian life when deciding to help someone else. We do not want to get in the way, impede what God is doing to help foster and develop a person's faith; but at the same time, we are called to offer love, mercy and care to those who are being burdened. Only prayer and patience can begin to make things clear.

Jesus calls us to be brothers and sisters with one another. We are called in the Christian life to walk along side each other in prayer, listening closely to what God is trying to say to each one of us. We are asked to support each other at every turn. God wants us to make our plans, but he will guide our steps (Proverbs 16:9). The single greatest gift we can give someone is our presence with them. That is the Christmas story in a nutshell. Two thousand and 10 years ago, God decided to walk amongst us. He decided to be present with us now and forever more.

My family and I wish you a Merry Christmas!