Chinese church leaders claim that under the current circumstances that the Chinese church has achieved great growth and that Chinese Christians should be cautious about overseas theological education and preaching.
For a long time, for many reasons, Chinese Christians were in a serious shortage of spiritual supplies and theological equipping. With China’s Reform and Opening-up, many overseas Christian resources have gradually entered mainland China through various means, which have played an important role in the Chinese church's growth. However, everything has its advantages and disadvantages, which also apply to foreign Christian resources.
A female pastor H, who has worked in a church in East China for many years, has extensive pastoral experience. She believes that the influence of many overseas spiritual resources on the Chinese church and believers has already been "doing more harm than good." Such a point of view is likely to cause much controversy in the church, but she still insists on her own opinion, believing it is correct.
"As to theological education, it will be a big problem if we always rely on foreign resources. First of all, the faculty of these overseas seminaries is a big problem, since many teachers there have never lived and struggled in the same situation as Chinese Christians, which they have never experienced our entire environment, customs, culture, and atmosphere," she said.
She explained, "Then they teach in some seminaries outside China, raising Chinese believers. It's hard for this kind of training method to go deep. Why? Because those teachers who equip them don't understand the situation of these Chinese students at all. As a result, the training purpose is only half served, which means they have finished the training which is an ineffective solution, being difficult or impossible for these Chinese students to get a truly all-round education. How can people living elsewhere actually raise a group of believers living in China? This isn’t very practical."
H continued, "Many Chinese Christians like to listen to the sermons preached by some famous overseas pastors. Are the sermons good? Yes. I have heard them too. To be honest, they are really good. But, at the same time, we also need to be acutely aware that this kind of 'good' is also problematic. Even though the sermons of those overseas pastors are good, the pastors do not share the same living environment with believers, as if the shepherd and the flock are not in the same world, not in the same pasture, but merely connected by remote control. Therefore, we can see that the pastors abroad do not really understand the real situation of Chinese believers, so they can only 'act in their own ways' according to their understanding."
"When they express gratitude, Chinese believers feel grateful. When they criticize, Chinese believers criticize together with them... It is a big problem that pastors who do not live under the same circumstances as believers are impossible to really understand the situation of Chinese believers. When Protestant Christianity arrived in China, the missionaries actually landed in China, even having changed their clothes, learned Chinese culture, and merged themselves into Chinese people by eating and living together. This was how they came to preach the gospel to the Chinese and then pastored them," she added.
In recent years, every year there have been some mission conferences and special conferences, in which many Chinese Christians have participated. But according to H’s observation, participants didn't get any real benefits or real help in their lives, but just left with something to show off to believers who didn't participate afterward. They said that Pastor So-and-So had preached really well, in comparison, our level was too low. Or that Pastor So-and-so had a great gift, which could make a person with short leg syndrome recover in an instant. It was possible that what they said was true, but H found that the only effect of what they said was the destruction and division between the church and the believers. Later no one would listen to the pastor who speaks the pure truth, because some believers feel that the speech is not good, ‘has nothing new at all, and there is no grace'. Thus, H thinks this kind of destructive power is quite significant.
H said that as a believer, you must unite well with your church and respect the pastors of the church. Pastors of the local church have been nurtured in the local area for a long time, for which they know the local situation very well, so they are clear about making progress in whatever way and with whatever strength. As overseas pastors do not understand our circumstances, their teachings may not often match reality.
The development of the Internet has broken many regional barriers and blockades, such problems have become very serious in recent years. But meanwhile, the Internet is also a double-edged sword, with advantages and disadvantages.
At the end of the interview, H said, "Many believers are still keen to follow overseas pastors, thinking that they are more mature and skilled. They blindly admire the world outside China, always thinking about how good it is. But in fact, after so many years of development, a good number of excellent local pastors have grown up. We can no longer 'worship and have blind faith in foreign things'. While keeping communicating and studying with overseas pastors, we should also be more rooted in China, striving to take root downwards and achieve results upwards.”
- Translated by Shuya Wang
在中国教会已经取得了长足成长的当下，有一些教牧同工认为在当下的情况下，中国基督徒当谨慎对待海外神学教育和讲道。
曾经在很长的时间内，因着诸多原因，中国基督徒在属灵供应和神学装备方面都处于严重的短缺状态。随着改革开放的开始，海外的很多基督教资源陆续通过各样的方式进入到中国大陆，为中国教会的发展起到了很大的作用。 然而，凡事都有利有弊，海外基督教资源也是如此，在肯定其正面作用的同时，我们也不当忽略其负面影响。
H姊妹在华东某地一教会服事多年，有着丰富的牧养经验。她认为，现在很多海外属灵资源对中国教会和信徒的影响已经是”弊大于利“。这样的观点很可能会引起教界很大的争议，但是她依然坚持自己的观点，相信她的观点是正确的。
”神学教育这一块，如果我们一直依靠国外的资源，就会成为很大的问题。首先，这些海外神学院的师资力量本身就是一个很大的问题，因为海外的这些神学院的老师他们很多并没有在中国基督徒的处境当中生活过、挣扎过，咱们整个的大环境、习俗、文化、氛围他们都没有感受过。然后他们就在一些海外神学院教书，栽培中国信徒。这样的栽培方式很难深入，为什么？因为装备他们的海外神学院的老师们，根本就不了解这些中国学生的处境。所以最后的结果往往就成了一锅夹生饭——受过培训吗？受过，但是培训的用一个词语来说就是隔靴瘙痒，很难或者说完全没有办法让这些中国学生得到真正的全方位的造就。生活在它处的人怎么能够切实的造就一群生活在中国的信徒呢？这是很不切实际的。”
H姊妹说，“很多中国基督徒，喜欢听一些海外名牧的讲道。这些海外牧师的讲道，好不好？好，我也听过，实话实说，确实挺好的。但是在觉得好的同时，我们也需要敏锐的察觉到，这样的好也是有问题的。 不是说那些海外的牧师们讲道讲的不好，而是说因为信徒们和海外的牧者并没有在同样的处境当中，牧者和羊群，不在一片天下，不在一片草场，而是好像远程遥控一样。
所以，我们就看到，海外的牧师们他们并不真正明白中国信徒的真实处境，于是就只能按照自己的理解‘各行其是’。他们感恩，然后中国信徒就跟着一起感恩；他们批判，然后中国的信徒就跟着他们一起批判……牧者没有生活在信徒的处境当中，就不可能真正了解中国信徒的处境，这是一个很大的问题。当年基督教新教来华的时候，宣教士们是真实的来到中国的土地上，甚至改装易服，学习中国文化，深入中国老百姓中间，同吃同住，是这样来给中国人传福音然后牧养的。
最近这些年，基本上每年都会举行一些宣教大会、特会什么的，也有很多中国基督徒参加这些大会。可是她观察到的是，参加完以后并没有得到什么真正的益处，生命几乎得不到任何帮助，只是多了一些可以向别人炫耀的谈资，回来以后向没有参加的信徒炫耀。他们说某某牧师讲的真好，咱们的水平太差了，又或者某某牧师有很大的恩赐，能够让一只腿长一只腿短的人瞬间就恢复正常。他们说的内容有可能都对，但是H姊妹却发现他们所说的这些最后唯一起到的作用就是教会和信徒间的破坏和分裂。然后让讲纯正真理的牧者没有人听，因为部分信徒觉得讲的不好，’一点都不新鲜，没有恩典’。所以H姊妹认为这种破坏力相当大。
H姊妹说，作为信徒，一定要跟本教会好好联合，尊重本教会的牧者，本教会的牧者他是受过长时间本地熏陶的，他们很深的知道当地的情况，也因此他们知道究竟应当用怎样的方式和怎样的力度来推进一些事情。海外牧者他不了解我们的处境，因此他的教导也往往可能会有一些偏差。
这样的问题最近几年变得非常严重，互联网的发展打破了很多地域的隔阂和封锁。但是同时互联网也是一柄双刃剑，有利有弊。
在交流的最后，H姊妹说，”很多信徒还是热衷于找海外的牧者，觉得他们更加成熟、有水平，盲目的崇拜外面，老是觉得外面多么多么好、但是实际上经过了这么多年的发展，很多本土优秀牧者已经成长起来了，我们不能再盲目的‘崇洋媚外’了。在继续与海外交流和学习的同时，我们也应该更加扎根本土，努力向下扎根，向上结果。“
观点|华东某牧者：中国基督徒当谨慎对待海外神学教育和讲道
Chinese church leaders claim that under the current circumstances that the Chinese church has achieved great growth and that Chinese Christians should be cautious about overseas theological education and preaching.
For a long time, for many reasons, Chinese Christians were in a serious shortage of spiritual supplies and theological equipping. With China’s Reform and Opening-up, many overseas Christian resources have gradually entered mainland China through various means, which have played an important role in the Chinese church's growth. However, everything has its advantages and disadvantages, which also apply to foreign Christian resources.
A female pastor H, who has worked in a church in East China for many years, has extensive pastoral experience. She believes that the influence of many overseas spiritual resources on the Chinese church and believers has already been "doing more harm than good." Such a point of view is likely to cause much controversy in the church, but she still insists on her own opinion, believing it is correct.
"As to theological education, it will be a big problem if we always rely on foreign resources. First of all, the faculty of these overseas seminaries is a big problem, since many teachers there have never lived and struggled in the same situation as Chinese Christians, which they have never experienced our entire environment, customs, culture, and atmosphere," she said.
She explained, "Then they teach in some seminaries outside China, raising Chinese believers. It's hard for this kind of training method to go deep. Why? Because those teachers who equip them don't understand the situation of these Chinese students at all. As a result, the training purpose is only half served, which means they have finished the training which is an ineffective solution, being difficult or impossible for these Chinese students to get a truly all-round education. How can people living elsewhere actually raise a group of believers living in China? This isn’t very practical."
H continued, "Many Chinese Christians like to listen to the sermons preached by some famous overseas pastors. Are the sermons good? Yes. I have heard them too. To be honest, they are really good. But, at the same time, we also need to be acutely aware that this kind of 'good' is also problematic. Even though the sermons of those overseas pastors are good, the pastors do not share the same living environment with believers, as if the shepherd and the flock are not in the same world, not in the same pasture, but merely connected by remote control. Therefore, we can see that the pastors abroad do not really understand the real situation of Chinese believers, so they can only 'act in their own ways' according to their understanding."
"When they express gratitude, Chinese believers feel grateful. When they criticize, Chinese believers criticize together with them... It is a big problem that pastors who do not live under the same circumstances as believers are impossible to really understand the situation of Chinese believers. When Protestant Christianity arrived in China, the missionaries actually landed in China, even having changed their clothes, learned Chinese culture, and merged themselves into Chinese people by eating and living together. This was how they came to preach the gospel to the Chinese and then pastored them," she added.
In recent years, every year there have been some mission conferences and special conferences, in which many Chinese Christians have participated. But according to H’s observation, participants didn't get any real benefits or real help in their lives, but just left with something to show off to believers who didn't participate afterward. They said that Pastor So-and-So had preached really well, in comparison, our level was too low. Or that Pastor So-and-so had a great gift, which could make a person with short leg syndrome recover in an instant. It was possible that what they said was true, but H found that the only effect of what they said was the destruction and division between the church and the believers. Later no one would listen to the pastor who speaks the pure truth, because some believers feel that the speech is not good, ‘has nothing new at all, and there is no grace'. Thus, H thinks this kind of destructive power is quite significant.
H said that as a believer, you must unite well with your church and respect the pastors of the church. Pastors of the local church have been nurtured in the local area for a long time, for which they know the local situation very well, so they are clear about making progress in whatever way and with whatever strength. As overseas pastors do not understand our circumstances, their teachings may not often match reality.
The development of the Internet has broken many regional barriers and blockades, such problems have become very serious in recent years. But meanwhile, the Internet is also a double-edged sword, with advantages and disadvantages.
At the end of the interview, H said, "Many believers are still keen to follow overseas pastors, thinking that they are more mature and skilled. They blindly admire the world outside China, always thinking about how good it is. But in fact, after so many years of development, a good number of excellent local pastors have grown up. We can no longer 'worship and have blind faith in foreign things'. While keeping communicating and studying with overseas pastors, we should also be more rooted in China, striving to take root downwards and achieve results upwards.”
- Translated by Shuya Wang
Chinese Christians Must Be Cautious about Overseas Theological Education, Preaching, Says Pastor
