The Struggles of Chinese Scholars in Their Spiritual Journey

 

Thank God for giving Christians an evangelistic vision for China’s rural areas in the 80s, and then a similar vision for bringing the gospel to thousands of overseas Chinese scholars in the 90s. In recent years, in North America, countless evangelistic Bible studies in various forms, designed specifically for Chinese scholars, have been started near almost every major university and Chinese church. Never have there been so many Chinese scholars studying abroad who have given their lives to Christ. Moreover, by the grace of God, hundreds of them have been called to pursue formal theological training to better prepare themselves for extending the kingdom of God.

None of these are accidental; it is God’s timing. God’s hidden plan to evangelize the Chinese has now been revealed to us. His plan is to bring the Chinese scholars overseas and present them with the Gospel. After they have received their new life in Christ, they are then able to return and witness to the other Chinese elite in China.

However, we must face the fact that although many Chinese scholars have received Christ, few of them are able to devote themselves to church ministry. Their spiritual lives are still very immature, perhaps only willing to receive and not to sacrifice. Some of them do not feel that they can become a part of the American or Chinese church. Their spiritual journey has not come to the point where they can provide leadership among themselves and establish their own church. From these observations, we can better understand that not only are these Chinese scholars facing many obstacles unique to their background, but they are also struggling in their spiritual growth in a unique way. These spiritual struggles, from my point of view, are a consequence of how they resolved their conflicts when receiving Christ. In this article, I intend to discuss five of their most common struggles and hope to bring a better understanding of their situation to churches and evangelistic organizations.

First, to some Chinese scholars, the greatest obstacle to receiving Christ was their belief in material atheism and scientific atheism. The former is to deny God’s existence ontologically, and the latter is to deny God’s existence epistemologically. They claim that if they could believe that there was a God, they would have no problem in being baptized.

Bible studies usually have little effect on these people. However, if they happen to hear a speech by a knowledgeable speaker who has a sound understanding of the relationship between various philosophies and Christianity, they enjoy it very much. At the same time, they are able to realize the absurdity of materialism and scientism.

It is greatly different from the scientific attitude in search of truth. Science has never denied God. On the contrary, man has discovered how meticulous and organized nature is from scientific research. God created and planned all these things so that man would know that this meticulous design could never have happened by chance-but by God. The breakthrough that comes with this rational thinking is the realization that there must be a God. We can only explain the wonder and complexity of human beings and the universe in a rational way based on God’s existence.

Some scholars believe that the greatest obstacle to becoming a Christian is in believing that God exists. Therefore, once they are convinced that God exists, believing that Jesus is God seems to be the logical next step. Thus, they are baptized, thinking to themselves that they have completed the journey to become a Christian. Worship, Bible study and prayer all become unnecessary. There is no change in their life since they believe that becoming a Christian simply means to believe that God exists. To help them to become a true convert, we must raise their awareness of the following question: Am I to a large degree only a theist, and not a follower of Christ who bears His cross?

Second, another obstacle to Chinese scholars in becoming Christian is in not considering that Christianity is useful to their country, the people, or even to themselves. They are usually concerned about the well-being of their country and their people. They dislike the Communist ideology. However, they conclude that Christianity is only a product of human society’s evolutionary process, inherited indeed from Communist propaganda.

When these scholars travel abroad, they gain more access to informational resources. In recent years, some of the evangelical Christian churches have tried diligently to take up the responsibility of caring for society. They have been emphasizing to the Chinese scholar how the Christian church has been involved in advancing modern science, democracy, moral standards, and Western civilization. After these scholars have heard gospel presentations and examined many of the historical resources, they realize that the God in whom Christians believe is a God who rules over and cares about everything.

They also discover the ultimate truth that everything is found in God. Christianity is no longer what they had thought, existing only in church worship and activities. The doctrines of Christianity can in fact apply to every aspect of life and society. These scholars then come to believe that, in comparison to other religions or schools of philosophy, Christianity can be more effective in advancing civilization. They are troubled by the fact that after the breakdown of Chinese traditional values and Communism, the Chinese are no longer capable of believing in any kind of idealism. Now they become encouraged by the power of Christianity. They become Christians because they are convinced that Christianity can help the people and the country.

However, they are not interested in concepts such as eternal life, the resurrection, the Second Coming of Christ, and the Final Judgment. They are concerned only in how Christianity can save society and are unaware that Christ came to save each of our lives. To help them to become a true convert, we must raise their awareness of the following questions: Do I believe in the doctrines of Christianity and their moral standards only because I desire to replace the doctrines of Communism and their moral standards? Do I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?

Thirdly, some Chinese scholars respect complete individual freedom. They do not trust any organization or organizational personnel. Their biggest roadblock to becoming Christian is that churches and the Communist party are so much alike when it comes to all kinds of meetings. They identify Bible studies with Mao’s doctrine study class and pastors with the political instructors of the Communist party. They think that both Christian churches and the Communist party are providing some kind of system aimed to restrict the individual’s freedom.

However, some of them begin to be attracted to Jesus Christ’s unique character and the imaginable power of His Word. In their own understanding, the essence and the strength of the vitality of Christianity comes from God’s direct calling and salvation of each individual. Salvation is justification by faith alone. It depends on the inner faith given by God directly rather than by participation in the church. When these people become Christians, they pay much attention to enjoying God’s companionship in their quiet time. However, they do not like to join the church or any church groups. They have a very ‘spiritual’ phrase that they like to use: “I come to church to see God, not the people.” They do not respect or care about pastors, deacons, or brothers and sisters in Christ. In fact, they are confused about the relationship between faith and love. As John once said “For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20). Here John emphasizes Christian fellowship.

To help these scholars to become true converts, we must raise their awareness of the following questions: Do I overemphasize my personal relationship with Christ and neglect the importance of fellowship with other Christians? Do I understand that joining church ministries and becoming a part of the church are ingredients to my spiritual growth?

Fourthly, these scholars are in agreement with Confucianism. They are concerned about the actualization of an ideal personality. Their biggest obstacle is that if all religions are equivalent, in the sense of helping people to do right, and Christianity is only one of many religions, why then should I believe only in Christianity? They believe that man is good by nature, and therefore if he is provided with good philosophy or religion, he can try hard to become a saint. Through Communist education, one can become a true Communist.

However, they have seen that neither Communism nor Confucianism has been successful in achieving its goal of idealism. The Cultural Revolution only made people more suspicious and defensive. When these people come overseas, they are attracted by the genuine love of Christians and their observation that Christians are living their lives in a way that is above the moral standards of both Confucianism and Communism. They are deeply moved by the good deeds of Christians and thus become baptized.

After attending the church for awhile they discover that some individual Christians are not as good as they may want them to be. They then begin to doubt their faith. To help them to become true converts, we must raise their awareness of the following questions: Is my faith based on a model Christian? Or is my faith based on the Word of God? Have I put my faith in these good Christians rather than in God?

Fifthly, possibly the most common obstacle for scholars to overcome is that many Chinese scholars only believe in and rely upon themselves. They are their own God; everything they have is a result of their own effort. They believe everything in this world is governed by the law of objectivity, which people can roughly understand. Where there is a will, there is a way. When these scholars come overseas, they face great pressures from study, work and their family.

Their hardships make them realize their limitations. Their pride in themselves is crushed. When they face obstacles that are too great for them to overcome, only Christians and churches step forward to help them. In overcoming their hardships with the help of these Christians, they experience God.

They are deeply moved by the love of God, and that knowledge can actually help them rely on such a powerful God. Therefore, they are baptized. However, after they have been baptized they often have some regrets when they realize they need to sacrifice their time and even money to be part of a church. To help them to become true converts, we must raise their awareness of the following questions: Am I a Christian because I love God? Or am I a Christian because I love the things that God can give me?

The above cases are only for discussion purposes, the real circumstances may be more complex. Many people have more than one obstacle when they meet Christ, and God may lead them to break through these obstacles. In general, these cases and struggles are related both to the unique social and political background of the Mainland Chinese, and to the ways that we lead these scholars to Christ.

In the first two cases, the faith was not built on Jesus Christ; Jesus has not been known to them. The messages that they have heard are pre-evangelistic messages. The characteristics and purpose of these messages are to remove the roadblocks from understanding the Gospel. These messages are not aimed to bring them to Christ.

In the third case, the Truth has been taught to them but not in a complete fashion. Therefore, it leads to some undesired consequences. In the last two cases, the Gospel was basically accepted because of Christian love and good deeds. However, in the meantime, God’s Word and Truth has not been understood properly. The scholars may not be clear on what they really believe, and therefore as a natural result, their spiritual growth has been hindered.

-Eugene Hong, from China, is the pastor of Faith Chinese Baptist Church of Van-couver, Canada. This article is from Christian Life Quarterly, March, 1997, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp.47-49.