Brother Wang Zhenhai has served in a northern urban church for many years. According to his observation, many believers strongly associate their faith with the “church”. The so-called “church-oriented faith” refers to the separation of a person’s faith: in the church, he is a normal Christian, and everything seems fine. However, when they are outside their churches, they seem to have changed from being Christians to being non-Christians, just like a worldly person. Especially for married believers, the phenomenon of “church-oriented faith” is obvious.
Brother Wang said that although the couple is Christian, in fact, many family chores easily “upgrade” and affect the relationship between the two. In this regard, he believed that only God and God’s words can change people, and people are really powerless. From the initial quarrel to the gradual cessation of the quarrel after God’s intervention, we need to go through a process of gradually breaking and renewing ourselves.
Economic factors will greatly affect the relationships within a family
Brother Wang said that economic conditions is an utterly realistic issue. Especially in recent years, many families’ financial burdens have become increasingly heavier, such as mortgages and car loans, coupled with the need of raising a child. He believed that economic problems were definitely realistic. If economic problems cannot be solved, family relationships are doomed to be poor. If the family relationship is not good, family members cannot concentrate on serving God, not to mention serving God well.
“To tell you the truth, I’m not talking about how rich a family should be. I’m saying that at least the family is not in debt. A family that doesn’t owe debts is definitely much easier than a family that does and struggles to pay them off. For instance, if a family’s income is not enough to repay a debt of 3,000 or 5,000 Yuan per month, then this will become a very heavy pressure,” Brother Wang said.
In order to solve or alleviate financial problems, many people will desperately try everything to get money, such as applying for credit cards, consumer loans, online loans, private loans, and so on. During his years of service, he has seen too many such cases. At first, debtors may feel no pressure, but the real crisis of debt is hidden, which, when a series of them gradually accumulates, becomes out of control, and debtors finally find it impossible to repay. The consequence is that the more they pay, the more they owe.
Brother Wang believed that now it is time for churches to remind followers of the possible consequences of loans, give them a good warning in advance, and let them be alert to loan traps. That is what Brother Wang’s church does. As early as a few years ago, they began to remind believers not to invest indiscriminately for the years to come, not to invest blindly, and to be careful not to lose all their money. Otherwise, if a family was under heavy crisis and pressure, quarrels were commonplace, and emotional breakdowns and infidelity were also common. The final result was the breakdown of this family.
From “church-oriented” model to the “family” and “living” models (1): congregation-wide devotions
Faced with the increasingly serious issue of “ecclesiastical” belief in these years, as well as the numerous crises and pressures in marriage and family, Brother Wang’s church merely insists on doing spiritual work and establishing a close relationship with God through devotions. “The vast majority of Christians receive only one or two sermons a week, and they spend most of the time outside their church.” Brother Wang went on to say, “In other words, people are often influenced and assimilated more seriously by society, and the influence of the church on people is often very limited.”
In this regard, his church focuses on promoting individual spiritual practice this year, and it is also a nationwide invitation. Every believer can participate. At first, many people did not want to attend because they thought meditation would take too long. However, once they started to do this, they were surprised to find that spiritual practice could really bring great power.
From the “church-oriented” model to the “family” and “living” models (2): family worship
In addition to the nationwide spiritual practice campaign, two years ago, his church promoted family worship for believers. In the beginning, only a few families participated, but now, two years later, most families do so, in which many believers’ faith gradually changed from the “church” to “family”, and then further became the “living” model.
In terms of family worship, Brother Wang has made many “worship templates”. Specifically, the weekly family worship is really made up of templates, and all the content has been designed, including the scriptures and their explanations and applications.
In the beginning, many believers held a contradictory attitude toward family worship. In fact, people are passive and do not want to bother themselves. A working day is often a long one. When they finally get home, they will have to do family worship without rest. From “no” to “yes”, people need to go through a process of changing their thoughts and attitudes. The role that pastors can play is to encourage believers and then help them accelerate this transformation process.
- Translated by Charlie Li
在北方一城市教会服事多年的王振海弟兄说，据他的观察，现在很多信徒的信仰“教会化”现象非常严重。所谓的“教会化”指的是一个人信仰的割裂——在教会里面他是一个正常的基督徒，一切看上去都很正常。但是出了教会进入社会以后，他好像从一名基督徒变成了一名非基督徒，跟世界上的人们一样。尤其是对已婚的信徒来说，“教会化”现象非常明显。
王弟兄说，虽然夫妻双方都是基督徒，但是其实他发现很多的家庭琐事都很容易“升级”进而影响夫妻关系。对此，王弟兄认为，唯有上帝和上帝的话语才能够改变人，人真的是无能为力。从起初的争吵不停，到上帝介入之后的慢慢不再争吵，需要经历这样的一个过程，这也是一个逐渐破碎自己和更新自己的过程。
经济因素会极大影响主内家庭关系
王弟兄说经济方面是非常现实的问题，尤其是最近几年来，很多家庭在经济方面的负担变得比较重，比如，房贷、车贷等，再加上生儿育女等家庭自身生活的需要。他认为，经济问题是非常现实的，经济问题解决不了，那家庭关系就注定不会很好。而家庭关系不好的话，人就没有办法专心服事，把服事做好。
“实打实的说，不说一个家庭要多么富有，至少能够不欠债就很好了。一个不欠债的家庭肯定是要比欠着很多债、背负还债压力的家庭要轻松很多的。而如果一个家庭欠了债，比如说每个月都需要偿还3000、5000的贷款，但是收入并不充足，那这个就会成为这个家庭非常沉重的压力。”王弟兄如此说。
为了解决或者说缓解经济问题，很多人就开始病急乱投医，想着通过什么方式搞点钱，比如信用卡、消费贷、网贷、民间借贷等等。在这么多年的服事生涯当中，王弟兄已经见到了太多这个方面的例子。刚开始可能会觉得没有什么，还债压力可以承受，但是债务问题真正的危机是隐藏起来的，其隐藏的危机在于，当一系列债务逐渐累积起来的时候就成为了很大的问题，最后发现还不上了，债越还结果欠的反而越多。
王弟兄认为，教会在今天这个时代，在借贷方面教会就有必要提醒信徒，给他们提前就打好预防针，让他们警惕借贷陷阱。王弟兄的教会正是这么做的。他们早在几年前就开始提醒信徒，让他们这几年不要乱投资，不要盲目投资，小心血本无归。而反过来，如果一个家庭在沉重的危机和压力之下，争吵只是家常便饭，感情破裂、出轨等也屡见不鲜，最终的结果就是这个家庭的破裂。
从“教会化”到“家庭化”和“生活化”（一）：全民灵修
面对今天这个时代日益严重的信徒信仰“教会化”现象，还有婚姻和家庭当中的重重危机和压力，王弟兄的教会只是坚持做好灵修，通过灵修努力与上帝建立亲密的关系。“因为对于绝大多数基督徒来说，一周的时间也只不过听那么一次、两次讲道，然后绝大多数的时间都是在社会里面而不是教会里面。”王弟兄接着说：“也就是说，其实往往人受到社会的影响和同化更加严重，而教会对人起到的影响往往是非常有限的。”
对此，王弟兄的教会今年重点在推进个人灵修，而且还是全民制的个人灵修，每一个信徒都需要参加。起初很多人并不愿意参加，觉得灵修很麻烦，需要占用很多时间。但是一旦真的这样去做的时候，就会非常惊奇的发现，灵修确实能够带来非常大的力量。
从“教会化”到“家庭化”和“生活化”（二）：家庭礼拜
不止是全民灵修，两年前开始他们也在推进有家庭的信徒举行家庭礼拜。最开始的时候只有几个家庭参加。但是两年后的现在，绝大多数的家庭都做家庭礼拜。这样做的时候，很多信徒的信仰就慢慢地从“教会化”变成“家庭化”，然后再进一步的变成“生活化”了。
在家庭礼拜这方面，王弟兄他们做了很多的“礼拜模版”。具体来说，每周一次的家庭礼拜教会都做了一个模版，所有内容都设计好了，包括经文、经文解释、经文的实际应用等。
最开始的时候很多信徒都对家庭礼拜持有抵触的态度。因为其实人都是被动的，不愿意给自己找麻烦，白天一天的工作就已经非常辛苦了，终于回到家了，然后还不能休息，还要做家庭礼拜……从“不”到“要”，人是需要经历一个思想和态度转变的过程的。而教会牧者所能够起到的作用，就是鼓励信徒，然后帮助他们加速这个转变的过程。
专访|北方一城市教会：让信徒信仰从“教会化”到“家庭化”、“生活化”的探索和实践
Brother Wang Zhenhai has served in a northern urban church for many years. According to his observation, many believers strongly associate their faith with the “church”. The so-called “church-oriented faith” refers to the separation of a person’s faith: in the church, he is a normal Christian, and everything seems fine. However, when they are outside their churches, they seem to have changed from being Christians to being non-Christians, just like a worldly person. Especially for married believers, the phenomenon of “church-oriented faith” is obvious.
Brother Wang said that although the couple is Christian, in fact, many family chores easily “upgrade” and affect the relationship between the two. In this regard, he believed that only God and God’s words can change people, and people are really powerless. From the initial quarrel to the gradual cessation of the quarrel after God’s intervention, we need to go through a process of gradually breaking and renewing ourselves.
Economic factors will greatly affect the relationships within a family
Brother Wang said that economic conditions is an utterly realistic issue. Especially in recent years, many families’ financial burdens have become increasingly heavier, such as mortgages and car loans, coupled with the need of raising a child. He believed that economic problems were definitely realistic. If economic problems cannot be solved, family relationships are doomed to be poor. If the family relationship is not good, family members cannot concentrate on serving God, not to mention serving God well.
“To tell you the truth, I’m not talking about how rich a family should be. I’m saying that at least the family is not in debt. A family that doesn’t owe debts is definitely much easier than a family that does and struggles to pay them off. For instance, if a family’s income is not enough to repay a debt of 3,000 or 5,000 Yuan per month, then this will become a very heavy pressure,” Brother Wang said.
In order to solve or alleviate financial problems, many people will desperately try everything to get money, such as applying for credit cards, consumer loans, online loans, private loans, and so on. During his years of service, he has seen too many such cases. At first, debtors may feel no pressure, but the real crisis of debt is hidden, which, when a series of them gradually accumulates, becomes out of control, and debtors finally find it impossible to repay. The consequence is that the more they pay, the more they owe.
Brother Wang believed that now it is time for churches to remind followers of the possible consequences of loans, give them a good warning in advance, and let them be alert to loan traps. That is what Brother Wang’s church does. As early as a few years ago, they began to remind believers not to invest indiscriminately for the years to come, not to invest blindly, and to be careful not to lose all their money. Otherwise, if a family was under heavy crisis and pressure, quarrels were commonplace, and emotional breakdowns and infidelity were also common. The final result was the breakdown of this family.
From “church-oriented” model to the “family” and “living” models (1): congregation-wide devotions
Faced with the increasingly serious issue of “ecclesiastical” belief in these years, as well as the numerous crises and pressures in marriage and family, Brother Wang’s church merely insists on doing spiritual work and establishing a close relationship with God through devotions. “The vast majority of Christians receive only one or two sermons a week, and they spend most of the time outside their church.” Brother Wang went on to say, “In other words, people are often influenced and assimilated more seriously by society, and the influence of the church on people is often very limited.”
In this regard, his church focuses on promoting individual spiritual practice this year, and it is also a nationwide invitation. Every believer can participate. At first, many people did not want to attend because they thought meditation would take too long. However, once they started to do this, they were surprised to find that spiritual practice could really bring great power.
From the “church-oriented” model to the “family” and “living” models (2): family worship
In addition to the nationwide spiritual practice campaign, two years ago, his church promoted family worship for believers. In the beginning, only a few families participated, but now, two years later, most families do so, in which many believers’ faith gradually changed from the “church” to “family”, and then further became the “living” model.
In terms of family worship, Brother Wang has made many “worship templates”. Specifically, the weekly family worship is really made up of templates, and all the content has been designed, including the scriptures and their explanations and applications.
In the beginning, many believers held a contradictory attitude toward family worship. In fact, people are passive and do not want to bother themselves. A working day is often a long one. When they finally get home, they will have to do family worship without rest. From “no” to “yes”, people need to go through a process of changing their thoughts and attitudes. The role that pastors can play is to encourage believers and then help them accelerate this transformation process.
- Translated by Charlie Li
Urban Church in Northern China Explores Transforming Believers' Faith from 'Church-oriented' Model to 'Family' and 'Living' Model
