"The church is the light, just as Jesus said, the light should shine in front of the people. In facing the present generation, the church has a responsibility to shine for the Lord and to turn the generation around,” urged a Chinese pastor.
During a recent conversation with the Christian Times, an online Chinese Christian newspaper, a pastor L stated, "The church is not isolated, It's not an ivory tower, nor is it hidden from the people. "
When it comes to the church, most Chinese people have the impression that it is a group of old, feeble people with few pursuits who sing and gather together and give no special help to others, and have little ability to make any contribution to society.
This stereotype also reflects the problem that people in the world see the church as if through frosted glass, they cannot see clearly, and the church really has little influence and positive testimony to society.
However, it was not like this when Jesus came to this earth. The early church had many positive impacts on the Roman Empire, such as the prohibition of infanticide and the abandonment of infants.
Pastor L said that a problem with the church today is that "the church is eager to leave the darkness of the world". But this was not the case when Jesus came to this earth, and on the contrary, "Jesus came to the world because of the darkness of the world." We need to pray to God "to help us to experience the incarnate love of Jesus Christ."
Therefore, we should live like Jesus, so that the light in us may be set before men. It is through our good deeds that the glorious light of Christ can shine, he noted.
"If we want to have an influence upon society, we have to pay the price of love, the price of good deeds." Pastor L said, "The world won't feel our love and God’s love if we only study the Bible and pray inside the church."
"Faith without deeds is dead. If faith only meets personal needs, it is easy to fall into mysticism and legalism. God's love can be felt by all when we serve people outside the church,” he concluded.
- Translated by Richard Zou
“教会并不是孤立的，”近日，一位牧者L在谈到教会时表示：“也不是象牙塔一般，更不是隐藏起来的。教会是光，就像耶稣说的，光是要照耀在人前的。面对现今的世代，教会是有责任的，要为主发光，扭转世代的。” （==当summary）
提起教会，多数人的印象都停留在一群年纪老迈、软弱无力、没什么追求的人在一起唱唱歌、聚聚会，给不到别人什么特别的帮助，也没有什么能力为社会做出什么贡献。
当然，这只是一些人对教会的刻板印象。不过，这一印象也恰恰反应出了一个问题，那就是世上的人观看教会仿佛隔着一面磨砂玻璃，看不真切；而教会也确实没有对社会产生什么影响力和正面的见证。
可是，起初耶稣来到这个地上并不是这样的，早期教会，它们对罗马帝国产生了诸多正面影响，例如对杀婴、弃婴等行为的禁止。
L牧者表示现今的教会有一个问题，那就是“教会急于想要离开世界的黑暗”。可是耶稣来到这个地上并不是如此，并且恰巧相反，“耶稣之所以来到世界正是因为世界的黑暗”，我们要“求神帮助我们体会到耶稣基督的道成肉身的爱”。
因此，我们理当学习耶稣的样式，叫我们里面的光摆在人前。做到这一点，需要我们通过自己实际的好行为来成为见证，让荣耀的基督的光散发出来。
“我们若是想要有影响力，就必须要付上爱心的代价、好行为的代价。”牧者L谈道：“我们若想要有影响力，我们若只是在教会里面读经、祷告，这个世界并不能感受到我们的爱心和上帝的慈爱。”
“信仰一定要实际，如果信仰只是满足个人的需求就很容易落入神秘主义、律法主义等陷阱中，我们一定要走进人群，用行动服事他们，这样大家才能感受到上帝的慈爱。”
https://christiantimes.cn/news/37693/
一位牧者谈：教会有责任用实际行动见证上帝的爱
"The church is the light, just as Jesus said, the light should shine in front of the people. In facing the present generation, the church has a responsibility to shine for the Lord and to turn the generation around,” urged a Chinese pastor.
During a recent conversation with the Christian Times, an online Chinese Christian newspaper, a pastor L stated, "The church is not isolated, It's not an ivory tower, nor is it hidden from the people. "
When it comes to the church, most Chinese people have the impression that it is a group of old, feeble people with few pursuits who sing and gather together and give no special help to others, and have little ability to make any contribution to society.
This stereotype also reflects the problem that people in the world see the church as if through frosted glass, they cannot see clearly, and the church really has little influence and positive testimony to society.
However, it was not like this when Jesus came to this earth. The early church had many positive impacts on the Roman Empire, such as the prohibition of infanticide and the abandonment of infants.
Pastor L said that a problem with the church today is that "the church is eager to leave the darkness of the world". But this was not the case when Jesus came to this earth, and on the contrary, "Jesus came to the world because of the darkness of the world." We need to pray to God "to help us to experience the incarnate love of Jesus Christ."
Therefore, we should live like Jesus, so that the light in us may be set before men. It is through our good deeds that the glorious light of Christ can shine, he noted.
"If we want to have an influence upon society, we have to pay the price of love, the price of good deeds." Pastor L said, "The world won't feel our love and God’s love if we only study the Bible and pray inside the church."
"Faith without deeds is dead. If faith only meets personal needs, it is easy to fall into mysticism and legalism. God's love can be felt by all when we serve people outside the church,” he concluded.
- Translated by Richard Zou
Pastor: The Church Is Responsible for Witnessing God's Love With Good Deeds
