A pastor in East China suggests that the influence of a church does not depend on the number of pastors, but rather on whether God has entrusted these persons with a mission and whether they have sufficient prestige and recognition among their brothers and sisters before being ordained.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Chinese church reopened. In reviewing the history of the Chinese church over the past 40 years, Pastor Meng Mingcheng, who has been in full-time ministry for over 30 years, believes that the church must learn the lessons from this journey. Pastor Meng Mingcheng became a believer in the late 1980s in his hometown in Eastern China. The initial reason for his faith was due to the fact that his wife had become seriously ill and been declared critically ill by a hospital. She was even transferred to a morgue once. His sister didn't give up though and asked the church to pray for her brother’s wife. After much prayer, she was completely cured.
Pastor Meng said that the miracle his wife had experienced changed both of their families. His wife's parents had been idol worshipers. But after the miracle his wife experienced, they completely abandoned idols and that family became a gathering place for believers.
Later, Pastor Meng also became a Christian. After he became a believer, one of the elders used to take him along to gatherings. He knew that Meng was young and could read, so he found exegetical books for him. The Spirit of God then moved greatly and caused Meng to comprehend the true value of the Bible.
Soon, Pastor Meng gave up his secular job and began serving full-time in church. The Holy Spirit guided him to share much about a world that others had not yet seen nor heard. He received testimonies from many believers and pastors. In this way, his ministry journey has brought him all the way up to the present. In this long process, he has experienced the growth and development of believers and the church in general - as well as many hard lessons.
The 30 years that Pastor Meng has been in full-time ministry have been a period of rapid growth and development for the church in China. During these 30 years, he has seen churches suffer persecution and hardship – including the one he himself leads. In recalling this, Pastor Meng noted that when he joined the church, everyone seemed very simple and did not strive for fame or fortune. Everyone witnessed the Lord and brought many persons along to church. But in fact, people remained sinners; they gradually became less-and-less simple. For a long time, the church then regarded itself to be too important, and too high-profile.
Meng recalled that many churches had grown from small to large, expanding both in terms of the number of pastors and the number of believers. But such growth brought many problems with it. Some pastors said, "Thank God and the glory belongs to Him." But they did not realize that their hearts were changing slowly and unconsciously. Initially simple and humble, people became proud.
Pastor Meng says that when church leaders came together at that time, and although the meeting’s topic might be pastoral care, they would end up talking about how many churches and church workers each had. The leaders of large churches inadvertently exhibited pride and self-satisfaction, while the heads of smaller churches would respond with envy and jealousy. Among the many rivalries, what impressed Pastor Meng most was the strong competition between churches about the number of ordained ministers they had.
Pastor Meng said that it is a good and Biblical thing that many people were ordained. With more pastors, the church can grow more. However, he felt sad that people were competing to see whose church had ordained the most - that they were even fighting over such a serious matter as ordination. He advised others not to compare the number of people being ordained. Even if only 10 or 20 pastors are appointed, which is not a large number, it is most important that they be loyal to God's will and are accepted by the believers.
Pastor Meng said that at that time many churches were rather chaotic in terms of pastoral care, mainly because the criteria for pastoral ordination was unclear and the real situation of the ordained was poorly understood. The standard for ordination at that time was that a person should have served for at least 15 years. But the problem was that the churches responsible for ordination did not know the people who were going to be ordained. They did not know each other well and had to go by what the candidates said about themselves. Whether they enjoyed the approval of the church pastors and believers was not known. The candidates would of course claim they had received many positive testimonies about their service. Candidates would only mention their own good points and no one had the courage to mention their shortcomings.
Consequently, some ordained pastors are very good, but others do not have the approval and support of their fellow pastors and believers, which causes many difficulties. When there had been no ordained pastor earlier, the church was united. But after an ordained pastor arrived, strife ensued. Some co-workers felt they had given more and performed better than the ordained arrival, but had themselves been refused ordination. The ordained one had not served as long as others and did not have a positive testimony from the congregation but was nevertheless ordained. As a result, there are many opposing opinions and emotions regarding people and churches and many congregations end up being split. Such a lesson full of regrets and tears is very painful.
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
华东一牧师提出：一个教会并不在于按牧的人多少，而在于上帝是否托付他们使命，也在于他们是否在弟兄姐妹中有威望，是否认同他们，在这样的前提之下才能够被按立成为一名牧师。
上世纪70年代末80年代初，中国教会重新走向开放。在回顾中国教会这40余年的历史的时候，一全职服事三十多年的孟明成牧师认为，教会必须吸取这一路走过来的教训。孟明成牧师在上世纪80年代末的时候开始信仰，老家在华东某地。信仰的最初原因是妻子得了重病，被医院下了病危通知书，甚至都把妻子转运到太平间了。他妹妹却没有放弃，请教会的人为他的妻子祷告，祷告以后疾病就全然好了。
孟明成牧师说，妻子所经历的神迹，直接改变了他们的两个家庭。妻子的父母原来是拜偶像的，但是因着妻子所经历的神迹后完全抛弃了偶像，家庭也成为了一个聚会点。
从此以后，孟明成牧师也信主了。信主以后，有一位前辈常常带着他参加聚会，然后觉得他很年轻，而且还识字，因此也会找一些解经的书给他。上帝的灵大大的感动他，让他觉得圣经非常宝贵。
很快，孟明成牧师就放弃了之前世上的工作，开始在教会里面全职服事。圣灵把感动放在他里面，让他分享出很多别人没有看见和听见的世界，得到了很多信徒和牧者的见证。就这样，孟明成牧师的服事之路一路走到了现在，在这漫长的过程当中经历了许多，既有信徒和教会的成长、发展，也有很多的沉重教训。
孟明成牧师全职服事的三十多年的时间，正是中国教会迅速成长和发展的期间。在这三十多年的时间当中，他看见了很多教会遭遇逼迫患难，他自己和所带领的教会也曾经遇到逼迫。在回顾这一切的时候，孟明成牧师说在他进教会的时候，那个时候大家都是非常单纯的，也不会争什么名利，每一个人都是为主作见证，都是把人带到教会来见耶稣。但是其实人都是罪人，就这样走着走着，很多人变得没有刚开始那么单纯了。而且很长一段时间里面，教会表现的太高调了。
他回忆说，他所知道的是，很多教会从小变大，然后又不断的开拓，无论是教牧同工还是信徒的人数都增长了很多。但是当经历了这样的发展以后，问题就真正出现了。有的牧者嘴巴上说着“感谢上帝，荣耀归于上帝”，但是却没有察觉到自己的心已经在不知不觉当中慢慢的改变了。从最初的单纯、谦卑变成了后来的骄傲。
孟明成牧师说，那个时候很多的教会领袖在一起开会。虽然会议上主要谈的是牧养，但是在不经意间就会流露出来什么“我们有多少教会、同工”。人数很多、规模很大的教会在无形中流露出来的是得意和炫耀，而那些人数少、规模小的教会流露出来的就是羡慕和嫉妒。
在许多的争竞现象当中，让孟明成牧师印象最为深刻的，是很多教会比拼着谁按立的牧师最多这个事情。（==当summary）。
孟明成牧师说，原本很多的人被按立为牧师这是一件很好、符合圣经的事情。牧师数量变多了，教会也能够有更多的发展。但是大家在比拼谁的教会按立的牧师更多，他觉得他们连按牧这样严肃的事情都在争，他很难过。他建议过大家不要比被按立的人数。哪怕只按立了十名、二十名牧师，数量不多，但是他们都是符合上帝的心意的，也能够得到信徒们的认同，这样就好了。
孟明成牧师说在当时，很多教会在按牧方面是比较乱的，主要是按牧的标准不清晰以及不了解被按立人的真实状况。当时规定的按牧的标准是一个人要服事15年以上什么的，但是问题是负责按牧的教会根本不了解那些将要被按牧的人。因为彼此也不认识，没有什么连接，只能是对方说什么然后就是什么。而且是否得到了教会牧者和信徒的认同这个也不知道，因为被按立的人当然会说自己是得到很多见证的。他们只说自己的优点，没有人会挑自己的缺点来说。
就这样，有的被按立的牧师是非常好的，但是也有一些牧师不能得到教会牧者同工以及信徒的认同和支持，这样的话反而给教会带来了很多的难处。之前没有按牧的时候，教会反而是同心的，但是被按牧成为牧师以后教会反而有了很多的纷争。因为有的同工觉得，我比他付出的更多，表现比他更好都没有被按牧。被按牧的那个人服事的时间没有我长，也没有众人的见证，最后却被按牧了。因此，对人和教会有很多的意见和情绪，最后导致教会分裂的也有很多。这样的充满血泪的教训是非常让人感到痛心的。
专访|中国教会重新开放几十年后的今天，必须吸取这一路走过来的血泪教训
A pastor in East China suggests that the influence of a church does not depend on the number of pastors, but rather on whether God has entrusted these persons with a mission and whether they have sufficient prestige and recognition among their brothers and sisters before being ordained.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Chinese church reopened. In reviewing the history of the Chinese church over the past 40 years, Pastor Meng Mingcheng, who has been in full-time ministry for over 30 years, believes that the church must learn the lessons from this journey. Pastor Meng Mingcheng became a believer in the late 1980s in his hometown in Eastern China. The initial reason for his faith was due to the fact that his wife had become seriously ill and been declared critically ill by a hospital. She was even transferred to a morgue once. His sister didn't give up though and asked the church to pray for her brother’s wife. After much prayer, she was completely cured.
Pastor Meng said that the miracle his wife had experienced changed both of their families. His wife's parents had been idol worshipers. But after the miracle his wife experienced, they completely abandoned idols and that family became a gathering place for believers.
Later, Pastor Meng also became a Christian. After he became a believer, one of the elders used to take him along to gatherings. He knew that Meng was young and could read, so he found exegetical books for him. The Spirit of God then moved greatly and caused Meng to comprehend the true value of the Bible.
Soon, Pastor Meng gave up his secular job and began serving full-time in church. The Holy Spirit guided him to share much about a world that others had not yet seen nor heard. He received testimonies from many believers and pastors. In this way, his ministry journey has brought him all the way up to the present. In this long process, he has experienced the growth and development of believers and the church in general - as well as many hard lessons.
The 30 years that Pastor Meng has been in full-time ministry have been a period of rapid growth and development for the church in China. During these 30 years, he has seen churches suffer persecution and hardship – including the one he himself leads. In recalling this, Pastor Meng noted that when he joined the church, everyone seemed very simple and did not strive for fame or fortune. Everyone witnessed the Lord and brought many persons along to church. But in fact, people remained sinners; they gradually became less-and-less simple. For a long time, the church then regarded itself to be too important, and too high-profile.
Meng recalled that many churches had grown from small to large, expanding both in terms of the number of pastors and the number of believers. But such growth brought many problems with it. Some pastors said, "Thank God and the glory belongs to Him." But they did not realize that their hearts were changing slowly and unconsciously. Initially simple and humble, people became proud.
Pastor Meng says that when church leaders came together at that time, and although the meeting’s topic might be pastoral care, they would end up talking about how many churches and church workers each had. The leaders of large churches inadvertently exhibited pride and self-satisfaction, while the heads of smaller churches would respond with envy and jealousy. Among the many rivalries, what impressed Pastor Meng most was the strong competition between churches about the number of ordained ministers they had.
Pastor Meng said that it is a good and Biblical thing that many people were ordained. With more pastors, the church can grow more. However, he felt sad that people were competing to see whose church had ordained the most - that they were even fighting over such a serious matter as ordination. He advised others not to compare the number of people being ordained. Even if only 10 or 20 pastors are appointed, which is not a large number, it is most important that they be loyal to God's will and are accepted by the believers.
Pastor Meng said that at that time many churches were rather chaotic in terms of pastoral care, mainly because the criteria for pastoral ordination was unclear and the real situation of the ordained was poorly understood. The standard for ordination at that time was that a person should have served for at least 15 years. But the problem was that the churches responsible for ordination did not know the people who were going to be ordained. They did not know each other well and had to go by what the candidates said about themselves. Whether they enjoyed the approval of the church pastors and believers was not known. The candidates would of course claim they had received many positive testimonies about their service. Candidates would only mention their own good points and no one had the courage to mention their shortcomings.
Consequently, some ordained pastors are very good, but others do not have the approval and support of their fellow pastors and believers, which causes many difficulties. When there had been no ordained pastor earlier, the church was united. But after an ordained pastor arrived, strife ensued. Some co-workers felt they had given more and performed better than the ordained arrival, but had themselves been refused ordination. The ordained one had not served as long as others and did not have a positive testimony from the congregation but was nevertheless ordained. As a result, there are many opposing opinions and emotions regarding people and churches and many congregations end up being split. Such a lesson full of regrets and tears is very painful.
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
Interview: We Must Draw Lessons from the Past Since the Church Reopened in China in the 1980s
