“BACK TO JERUSALEM” – A CHINESE VISION FOR MISSION

PART I : Revival and Mission in History

by Tony Lambert

“I believe the time is coming soon when we will be able to reach out beyond China’s frontiers. The Chinese church must be ready to reach the world for Christ when that time comes. God has blessed China greatly. Many have come to know the Savior. Now God wants to use China as a blessing to the world! May God help us to press on – to Jerusalem! On to Jerusalem!”

These words were spoken recently by an elderly house-church leader to leaders gathered from many provinces for Bible training. Those who are galvanised by the "Back to Jerusalem" vision state that in God’s providence the gospel largely was taken West from Jerusalem to Rome, then to Britain and to the United States. Much later, Western missionaries brought the gospel back East to China. But now in the last days before Christ’s return it is the duty of the Chinese church to take the gospel "Back to Jerusalem," evangelizing Northwest China and the needy Muslim peoples of Central Asia along the way.

According to many reports, major house-church networks across China are moving into action. “Most house-churches are now deeply burdened to reach out to the national minorities. Some churches have already sent out couples to set up homes among them to share the love of Christ with them. We already see fruit among poor mountain folk who are despised by society at large.” (Compass Direct).

Another leader reported: “We have trained hundreds of families to relocate into the frontiers and minority regions of China. They will migrate to the remotest areas and re-start their life from scratch. Some will start a small business, some will teach in schools. The idea is to plant these families as gospel seeds in China’s unreached regions particularly among the non-Han peoples. We want to eventually send out 20,000 migrant missionaries.” (Asian Report) In 2000, this group reportedly sent out 150 families and already one of the teams has planted 60 new churches.

There have been some reports overseas that house churches are preparing to send out "100,000 missionaries overseas." Such figures seem exaggerated, and probably should not be taken too seriously. According to one source they reflect the eager vision of some house-church leaders to send a large number of missionaries overseas rather than a carefully thought-out strategy. In view of the huge needs of China’s unevangelized millions to hear the gospel, the emphasis must surely still be on the training and equipping of large numbers of evangelists to reach out to the hundreds of millions of Han without Christ as well as most of the hundreds of groups of tribal national minority peoples numbering 100 million, most of whom have never heard the gospel. Who can doubt that China itself with 1.3 billion people remains the largest field – as well as the most fruitful – for gospel labors today and in the near future? If 100,000 well-trained evangelists were to leave China over the next few years this would be a serious drain, and probably weaken the churches which are already under attack from cults and false teaching through lack of godly pastors and teachers.

There is no doubt that many house churches have been thrilled by the vision of "taking the gospel back to Jerusalem" via Central Asia and have begun serious training. They will need to study the languages, culture and religion of the very diverse Muslim peoples of Central Asia. This will entail much prayer and financial support. The task is gigantic when one remembers that Western missionary endeavours in this area over the last two centuries or so have been painfully slow and the results (with some notable exceptions) have not been great in terms of numbers turning to Christ.

It would be a great pity, however, if this vision were to be obscured by hype, exaggerated statistics and sensationalism. Cautious Christians overseas (and, indeed, within China) may be tempted already to dismiss it as one more dubious method of fund-raising from gullible believers. Certainly there are great dangers where there is sensational publicity and little accountability for funds sent into China through largely clandestine channels. One house-church leader reportedly told his American listeners (before 9/11) that as the Muslims hate Westerners but get on well with the Chinese, American Christians should hand over their money so Chinese evangelists can do the job of evangelisation for them! Such blatant appeals for money are deeply disturbing; they betray the godly heritage of China’s spiritual leaders who, in stark contrast, gave up all for Christ under persecution, and for whom monetary incentives meant nothing compared to the treasure of the gospel.

Nevertheless, there are spiritual and historical reasons for taking the "Back to Jerusalem" vision seriously. It is a fact of history that whenever God has poured out His Spirit in revival power this has ALWAYS resulted in missionary outreach. The prime example, of course, is Pentecost. Transformed, the apostles (aided by a bout of persecution which scattered them abroad) went out from Jerusalem to Samaria and ultimately the "uttermost parts of the earth." Within their lifetime, the church had been firmly established at Rome and according to tradition, in Britain to the West and India to the East.

The Reformation and subsequent Puritan movement was a time of immense spiritual awakening when multitudes rediscovered the power of God’s Word. Much of the energy of the Reformers was taken up with fighting for the very survival of the Lutheran and Reformed churches against Papal hostility. Nevertheless, attempts were made by the French Huguenots to plant the gospel in Brazil and the Dutch Reformed church preached the gospel to the inhabitants of Taiwan, Ceylon and some of the Spice Islands (in modern Indonesia).

John Eliot (1604-1690) had much more success among the Native Americans of New England. Many people forget that the seal of the first Puritan colonists in Massachusetts in 1628 portrayed a Native American with the words "Come over and help us." New England preacher Thomas Shepard addressed an appeal to the British Parliament in 1648 entitled "The Clear Sunshine of the Gospel Breaking Forth Upon the Indians in New England" in which he wrote: “The utmost ends of the earth are designed and promised to be in time the possession of Christ. The kingdoms of the world shall become the kingdoms of the Lord and His Christ when he shall have dominion from sea to sea and they that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him. If some beginnings be so full of joy, what will it be when God shall perform his whole work when the whole earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea (Is.11:9-10) and east and west shall sing together the song of the Lamb?” (1)

The Puritan movement with its solid biblical foundations and optimistic faith in the triumphs of the gospel before the second coming of Christ saw the first successful missionary outreach by English-speaking Protestants.

At the dawn of the 18th century, Pietism rekindled the zeal of many in the German Lutheran church which had fallen into a cold rationalism. Spener and Francke made Halle a center of missionary outreach. The first missionaries were sent out to India in 1705. The Halle awakening deeply touched the young Count Zinzendorf who studied under Spener for six years. He "resolved with a friend to do all in our power for the conversion of the heathen." In 1722 Zinzendorf gave shelter on his lands at Herrnhut to Moravian Christians of the ancient Church of the Brethren who had fled Catholic persecution in Austria. Thus began the extraordinary Moravian revival and missionary movement.

The Moravian Christians lived in close community in Herrnhut. They rediscovered the joy of trusting in Christ alone for salvation and their spirituality was centered on the cross and sufferings of Christ. It is said they started a prayer meeting which lasted a hundred years. Never numerous, they sent out missionaries to Labrador, Greenland, the West Indies and Tibet. In their desire to reach people for Christ two of their young missionaries became slaves themselves to reach the slaves in the West Indian plantations.

In 1738 a disillusioned John Wesley returned from Georgia to England. “I went to America to convert the Indians; but oh, who shall convert me?” he lamented after trying to earn his salvation through a strict program of good works. On the boat, he met Moravian missionaries who sang joyfully during a dangerous storm, not fearing death as they were assured of their salvation by faith in Christ alone. Going to Herrnhut Wesley heard the same message from Zinzendorf himself. Back in London, after hearing a message on Romans, Wesley’s heart was "strangely warmed" and he came into full assurance of salvation.

In England, John Wesley with his brother Charles and George Whitefield preached the gospel of grace tirelessly, traveling thousands of miles on horseback. The Methodist revival slowly transformed the nation and issued in vigorous missionary outreach. In 1784 Dr Thomas Coke was one of the first Wesleyan missionaries to America. In 1813, at the age of 63, Coke challenged the Methodist Conference to face "the grand duty of preaching the gospel of the grace of God to the perishing millions of the East." He set off himself for India, dying before reaching Bombay and was buried at sea. His companions, three missionaries for Ceylon [Sri Lanka], two for India and one for Java laid the foundations of Wesleyan missions in Asia.

A little earlier the evangelical awakening in Britain had touched the Baptists. In 1793 William Carey the humble shoemaker set sail for India to preach the gospel. He believed that "prayer and pains through faith in Jesus Christ will do anything." When he died in 1834, he had planted 26 churches in India and translated the Scriptures or parts of them into 34 languages. In 1795 the London Missionary Society was formed, followed in 1799 by the Church Missionary Society. Between 1793 and 1834 no less than 13 British missionary societies came into being. The great century of missionary expansion had begun – but without the spiritual awakenings sparked by the Moravians and the Methodists it is very doubtful whether it would have happened at all.

In 1904 God poured out His Spirit in Wales in remarkable converting power. The awakening eventually touched many parts of the globe, resulting in revivals and spiritual awakenings in many missionary fields including India and China. (2)

In Korea we have the example of a church growing rapidly after experiencing much persecution and suffering from both the Japanese occupation and the communist invasion in the early fifties. That church also experienced revival. Over the last 20 years or so the South Korean church has become one of the major missionary sending nations in the world. South Korean missionaries and tentmakers are active in many countries, including China.

They – and their eager supporters overseas – need to take the long-term view. The lesson from history is clear – spiritual awakening resulting in missionary outreach does not take place overnight. Rather it is a process – often painful- that may take years, even decades.

In a second part, we will look in more detail at the historic origins within the Chinese church, dating back over fifty years, of the "Back to Jerusalem" vision.

NOTES

1. See Iain Murray, The Puritan Hope, Banner of Truth, 1971. I have taken many of the subsequent examples of spiritual awakening from this excellent book. It provides a solid, Biblical basis for optimism in missionary outreach, and shows that true revival and subsequent missionary outreach have been based on thoroughly Biblical and Reformation theology.

2. See J. Edwin Orr’s series of books on revivals including Evangelical Awakenings in Eastern Asia, Bethany Press,1975.