The theology of suffering has long been prevalent in Chinese churches. On the one hand, it prevents the church from being secular and metamorphic; on the other hand, the theology of suffering gradually fails to match the current situation of the church in China.
Pastor Zhang Qiang is a middle-aged pastor in his fifties who has been serving since the time of suffering theology. He became a Christian in the 1980s and has been serving for more than 30 years.
"When I was serving in the 1980s, I used to repeat a lot of spiritual slogans, such as 'be confident about our faith'," Zhang said. "At that time, many preachers lived a very hard life, and it's really a miracle for us to overcome all these obstacles."
According to Pastor Zhang, the theology of suffering has existed in the Chinese church for a long time, except for the last century. It still exists, only on a smaller scale.
While talking about the influence of suffering theology on the present church in China, Pastor Zhang believes that the believers, pastors, and fellow workers of the present church in China are generally influenced by the trend of secularization. "God uses suffering to stir the hearts of many of today's sleeping believers. If you look at the history of Christianity, the revival of the church was brought about by suffering and persecution. On the contrary, when life is easy and comfortable, Christianity does not really develop."
But on the other hand, in his decades of preaching and ministry, Zhang also saw that many pastors had quit preaching because of economic reasons. Many of them could barely afford enough daily necessities but had to go to work to support their families. In addition, due to a lack of money, the church could not purchase or rent meeting places, and many of its followers were lost. In turn, offerings decreased further, so the church could not even organize any meetings.
When Zhang served in the 1980s and 1990s, he couldn't get any payment from the church. But at that time, this problem was relatively easy to solve because he didn't get married. Now he has been married for many years, and his oldest child is now in middle school, and the youngest is also in elementary school. The financial pressure he faces keeps growing. "I don't want to take any of the church offerings, and the church offerings are really not that easy to take. If you take the offerings, there are many rules to follow and much to demand. There will be attacks or even defamation. Because I have several children at home, even 4,000 or 5,000 yuan a month from the church would not be enough. But demanding more money would not be good, and it's hard for the church to give that money to a pastor."
Later, with the help of a pastor, Zhang Qiang went into business. "God has blessed me through business over the years. I can say that my business journey has been very successful. In this way, the financial problems of my family are completely solved. And not only that, I can even use some money to help others. This was completely unimaginable in the past, even beyond my wildest dream. In the past, I relied on God to give me some support and help through others. Now I am very grateful for the success of my business, which has solved the economic problems of my family so that I have nothing to worry about and can devote more time and energy to serving the church. So it's easier for me to serve than it used to be."
Because of his current status as a businessman, Pastor Zhang has access to many non-believers in society. He says this was almost impossible for him to do in the past when he was unable to meet many with other members in society because of his full-time work in the church.
"I believe in God's leadership, and I believe God can do no wrong. Whether it was a poor life with only faith in God in the past or a life of service while doing business, God arranged these for us. And He is sure to help us greatly in at least one aspect through His leadership."
(At the request of the interviewees, the names of the people in this article are pseudonyms.)
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
长期以来，苦难神学在中国教会大行其道。一方面，可以让教会不要世俗、变质；另一方面，苦难神学也开始逐渐无法与当今中国教会的状况完全相匹配。
张强牧师就是从当年的苦难神学时代一直服事到现在的一名中年牧者，有五十多岁。他是上世纪80年代成为基督徒的，直到现在，已经服事了长达三十余年的时间。
谈及当初服事的经历，张强牧师说，“以前80年代服事的时候，天天喊着很多属灵的口号，就是‘凭信心’什么的。” “那个时候的传道人，很多人都走的非常艰难，不知道怎么走过来的。”
张强牧师表示，其实不仅仅在上个世纪，苦难神学在中国教会长期以来都是存在的。包括现在，只不过是大和小、多和少的问题。（==当summary）
谈及苦难神学对现在的中国教会的影响，张强牧师认为，现在的中国教会无论是信徒还是牧者和同工都普遍受到了世俗化思潮的影响。上帝借着苦难来搅动今天很多沉睡的信徒的心。看基督教的历史，教会的复兴是苦难和逼迫带来的。反而在环境好的时候，基督教没有真正的发展。
但是另外一方面，他在几十年的传道牧养过程中也看到很多的牧者因为经济的原因服事停滞，很多人甚至走不下去了，只能去世上工作以便养家糊口。另外因为没有钱，教会就无法购买或者租赁聚会场所，很多信徒就流失掉了。进而奉献进一步减少，导致教会无法聚会。
上世纪80、90年代服事的时候，从教会一分钱都拿不到。但是那个时候一个人，生活的问题还算好解决。结婚多年，现在最大的孩子在读中学，最小的也在读小学。他所面对的经济压力也是变得越来越大。“我也不愿意去拿教会的奉献，因为教会的奉献，真的没有那么好拿。如果伸手拿了教会的奉献的话，那后续的事也多，要求也多。甚至攻击的、诽谤的，说什么话的都会有。” “因为家里又有几个孩子，每个月即便能够从教会拿到4000、5000块钱其实也是完全不够用的。但是钱如果再多的话那也很不好，而且教会也很难有那样的供给能力。”
后来在一位牧师的帮助之下，张强牧师开始经商。“这几年以来，上帝借着商业也挺祝福我的，可以说我的经商之旅很成功。就这样，我的家庭经济问题可以说彻底解决了。并且不但如此，我还能够拿出来一些去帮助别人。这在过去是完全无法想象的，做梦都梦不到。在过去，都是指望着上帝能够借着别人给我一些支持、帮助。现在让我非常感恩的是因为商业的成功，解决了我和家庭的经济问题，让我没有什么后顾之忧，可以有更多的心思和精力用来服事教会。因此相比从前，现在的服事也变得很轻松。”
因着现在的商人的身份，张强牧师能够有机会接触很多社会上的人士。张强牧师说放在以前这是几乎不可能，以前因为在教会全职服事，根本就接触不到很多社会上的人。
“我相信这是上帝的带领，我相信上帝不会做错事。无论是以前的什么都没有只能全然的仰赖上帝的生活还是现在一边经商一边服事的生活，都是上帝带领的。而且上帝一定会通过他的带领至少在某一个方面给我们很大的造就。”
（应受访者要求，文中人物姓名为化名。）
访谈|华东一服事多年牧者：从曾经的举步维艰到如今的祝福满满
The theology of suffering has long been prevalent in Chinese churches. On the one hand, it prevents the church from being secular and metamorphic; on the other hand, the theology of suffering gradually fails to match the current situation of the church in China.
Pastor Zhang Qiang is a middle-aged pastor in his fifties who has been serving since the time of suffering theology. He became a Christian in the 1980s and has been serving for more than 30 years.
"When I was serving in the 1980s, I used to repeat a lot of spiritual slogans, such as 'be confident about our faith'," Zhang said. "At that time, many preachers lived a very hard life, and it's really a miracle for us to overcome all these obstacles."
According to Pastor Zhang, the theology of suffering has existed in the Chinese church for a long time, except for the last century. It still exists, only on a smaller scale.
While talking about the influence of suffering theology on the present church in China, Pastor Zhang believes that the believers, pastors, and fellow workers of the present church in China are generally influenced by the trend of secularization. "God uses suffering to stir the hearts of many of today's sleeping believers. If you look at the history of Christianity, the revival of the church was brought about by suffering and persecution. On the contrary, when life is easy and comfortable, Christianity does not really develop."
But on the other hand, in his decades of preaching and ministry, Zhang also saw that many pastors had quit preaching because of economic reasons. Many of them could barely afford enough daily necessities but had to go to work to support their families. In addition, due to a lack of money, the church could not purchase or rent meeting places, and many of its followers were lost. In turn, offerings decreased further, so the church could not even organize any meetings.
When Zhang served in the 1980s and 1990s, he couldn't get any payment from the church. But at that time, this problem was relatively easy to solve because he didn't get married. Now he has been married for many years, and his oldest child is now in middle school, and the youngest is also in elementary school. The financial pressure he faces keeps growing. "I don't want to take any of the church offerings, and the church offerings are really not that easy to take. If you take the offerings, there are many rules to follow and much to demand. There will be attacks or even defamation. Because I have several children at home, even 4,000 or 5,000 yuan a month from the church would not be enough. But demanding more money would not be good, and it's hard for the church to give that money to a pastor."
Later, with the help of a pastor, Zhang Qiang went into business. "God has blessed me through business over the years. I can say that my business journey has been very successful. In this way, the financial problems of my family are completely solved. And not only that, I can even use some money to help others. This was completely unimaginable in the past, even beyond my wildest dream. In the past, I relied on God to give me some support and help through others. Now I am very grateful for the success of my business, which has solved the economic problems of my family so that I have nothing to worry about and can devote more time and energy to serving the church. So it's easier for me to serve than it used to be."
Because of his current status as a businessman, Pastor Zhang has access to many non-believers in society. He says this was almost impossible for him to do in the past when he was unable to meet many with other members in society because of his full-time work in the church.
"I believe in God's leadership, and I believe God can do no wrong. Whether it was a poor life with only faith in God in the past or a life of service while doing business, God arranged these for us. And He is sure to help us greatly in at least one aspect through His leadership."
(At the request of the interviewees, the names of the people in this article are pseudonyms.)
- Translated by Nicolas Cao
Full-Time Pastor Runs Business to Solve Financial Problem, Succeeds in Career to Support Family and Others
