Contrasting the Church in China with America

Today I came accross some nuggets of wisdom in one of my all-time favorite books, The Heavenly Man: By Paul Hattaway. It's a biography (written in the first person) of "Brother Yun" who has been instrumental in multiplying and unifying the underground Church in Communist China. Yun has faced imprisonment, severe torture, and ultimately exile over the years; and yet his resolve for Christ stands firm. His life is marked with one miracle and spiritual encounter after the next, and he has the "fruit" in his life to confirm it: thousands of new converts, secret missionary training schools, hundreds of thousands of missionaries who are presently giving their lives for Christ throughout Muslim-dominated countries, and much more.

Anyhow, on pages 296 and 297 of the book, Yun is quoted as saying:

When I'm in the West I see all the mighty church buildings and all the expensive equipment, plush carpets, and state-of-the-art sound systems. I can assure the Western Church with absolute certainty that you don't need any more church buildings. Church buildings will never bring the revival you seek. The pursuit of more posessions will never bring revival. Jesus truly stated, "A man's life does not consist in the abundance of his posessions." Luke 12:15.

The first thing needed for revival to return to your churches is the Word of the Lord....Not only is knowledge of God's Word missing, but obedience to that Word. There's not much action taking place.

When revival came to the believers in China, the result was thousands of evangelists being sent out to all corners of the nation, carrying fire from the altar of God with them. When God moves in the West, it seems you want to stop and enjoy His presence and blessings too long, and build an altar to your experiences....All genuine revivals of the Lord result in believers responding with action and soul winning. When God truly moves on your heart you cannot remain silent...

I've seen people in Western churches worshipping as if they're already in heaven. Then someone invariably brings a comforting message like, "My children, I love you. Don't be afraid, I'm with you." I'm not opposed to such words, but why is it that nobody seems to hear a word from the Lord like, "My child, I want to send you to the slums of Asia or the darkness of Africa to be my messenger to people dying in their sin"?

...Just because you have a church building doesn't necessarily mean Jesus is with you. He is not welcome in many churches today. In Revelation 3:20, Jesus said, "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me."

Often this verse is used as an invitation for salvation, but actually the context Jesus was speaking in was very different. He was standing outside the door of the church in Laodicea, knocking to get in!

I would strongly recommend this book--these paragraphs only scratch the surface of what Yun has to share about his visits to the Western churches (that's us, by the way). Many people in my small group (myself included) have been stirred deeply by the Holy Spirit as they read, and it has revolutionized the way we practice our Christianity. Here's a link to buy it from Amazon.com, which I've found is the best price anywhere.

In summary, 25,000 people come to Christ every day in China alone while we struggle to hold on to the one or two people a year who raise their hands in our church meetings. American churches (in general) have plenty of posessions, rituals, and professionalism, but very little of God's Spirit. It comes as no surprise to me that the economy of China is booming right now while our own dollar is plummeting. We need to return to God as a nation!