In the Gospels, Jesus did not mention the concept of “church” which is widely known today.
What he mentioned in the Gospels, which is also widely quoted as an argument for the meaning of a church, is “for where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” (Matthew 18:20) What was actually conveyed is far from today’s church concept. The quoted passage of Jesus emphasizes more on the small group of equality and freedom among believers. Just like the relationship between Jesus and his disciples, only such a group can think freely to generate free thoughts.
Today’s church is actually more similar to that of the Jewish synagogue system. The synagogue system was formed during the Diaspora era. The Jews who were forced to emigrate by the Persian Empire carried out Jewish worshiping practices by adopting the local environment in order to preserve their national identity. Under such a background, the synagogue turned out to be the boundary ‘wall’ between Jews and the Gentiles and played the role of protecting and supporting the identity of their ethnic origin.
The emergence and rise of the church have the same historical environment and logic.
Obviously, before Jesus was crucified, there was no such a group as the church as it is known today. In Jesus’ following, the member identities were only Jesus and his disciples. The disciples called Jesus rabbi and there were no other positions. The relationship between Jesus and his disciples was also simple and equal and his disciples could express themselves freely before Jesus.
After Jesus ascended to heaven and after the second Jewish war, Christianity began to split from Judaism existing no longer as a Judaic branch but entering the historical stage with an independent attitude. At this time, Paul’s participation completely changed the existing structure and mode of Christianity. Paul, who was born into the Pharisees, obviously established the Christian church organization with the Jewish synagogue system and set up the corresponding church structure.
As history went on, the influence of the church on secular society and regime began to increase, and the importance of the church was constantly emphasized until Constantine the Great enlightened Christianity as the national religion for the need of imperial controls. So far, for three or four hundred years since the birth of the church to its politicization, its form has been completely fixed. The church of this concept continues till today.
The Catholic papal state is the most brilliant existence of the church in history, and it has also laid an ideal template for the existence of all churches.
The development of history is not led by man but by God. Since the establishment of the papal state, there has been an undercurrent in history - the resistance of small groups. At the beginning of the spontaneous movement, the monastery was a spontaneous small group, but it was soon embraced by the papal state. The Church founded by St. Francis also tried to return to the Jesus model and was embraced by the papal state. It was not until the religious reform, supported by the secular regime, that the papal state’s grand church model was successfully broken.
However, as a result of the disintegration of the large church, small groups will inevitably come into being.
The Chinese church has always been in line with the big church in history. In the Western missionary movement to China, the establishment of a Christendom was the dream of missionaries whether it was the China Inland Mission established by Hudson Taylor or by the Presbyterian Church of the United States.
In the 1980s, after the reform and opening-up, Christianity began to revive in China, and its revival was still in the mode of large churches. Thanks to the acceleration of economic growth, the opening of the country, and the international funds and investments, the 1990s to the decade after China’s accession to the WTO was the period of large churches. Characterized by the wave of urbanization, cross-regional groups emerged, entering the cities one after another in this period.
With the further development of the economy, improvement of social structure, and a change of the external environment, the period of large churches also tends to decline. However, what still accelerates the decline even to the point of disintegration is the COVID-19 pandemic which surged in 2020.
The economic downturn brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and the compression of the physical space for gatherings have made large churches lose their resources of income and the base of believers. Meanwhile, due to the decrease of physical gatherings, online gatherings that can break the space limitation and be freely combined have emerged. Furthermore, physical small group gatherings that meet the pandemic prevention requirements have also become the trend.
The decline of large churches brought about not only the rise of small groups but also the unprecedented activity of Christian thoughts. Without the dogmatic control of orthodox doctrine by large churches, free thought is not only possible but also trendy.
On the surface, perhaps, the present environment is a critical moment for Christianity. But, to be exact, it is the crisis period for large churches. The way of existence of the gospel of Christ and Christian faith is not controlled by the church but by a group gathered in his name as Jesus said in the gospel books.
The equal relationship among believers in small groups and the thought collisions brought about by free thinking will inevitably become the mainstream of China’s Christian development in the future, and even become the origin of new ideas and models. Traditional Christianity was just like fast videos and square dances which were the choice of specific ages and cultural groups.
(The article does not necessarily reflect the views of China Christian Daily. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author.)
- Translated by Charlie Li
耶稣在福音书并没有提出今天“教会”这个概念。他在福音书里提到，并被广泛引用为教会辩护的那段话，“因为无论在哪里，有两三个人奉我的名聚会，那里就有我在他们中间。”(马太福音 18:20 和合本)实际要表达的与今天教会概念相差甚远。耶稣这段话更多的是强调信徒之间平等和自由的小团体，正如他和门徒之间的关系一样，这样的团体才能自由思考，才能产生自由的思想。
今天的教会实际上更多沿袭了犹太人的会堂制度。会堂制度产生于大流散时期，被波斯帝国强制迁徙在外的犹太人，为了保存自己的民族认同，而因地制宜开展的圣经敬拜活动。在那样一个背景下，会堂成为犹太人与外族的边界围墙，起到保护、支撑本民族血统认同的功用。。
教会的产生与兴起有同样的历史环境和逻辑。
显然，在耶稣未曾钉十字架之前，今天教会意义上的团体并未产生，在耶稣的团队中，成员身份只有耶稣与门徒，门徒们称呼耶稣为夫子，再无别的职分。耶稣和门徒的关系也很简单，比较平等，门徒在耶稣面前可以自由表达。
耶稣升天之后，在经过第二次犹太战争，基督教开始和犹太教分裂，不再作为犹太教的分支存在，而以独立的姿态进入历史舞台。这个时候，保罗的加入彻底改变了基督教的存在结构和模式。出身于法利赛人的保罗，显然是用犹太人的会堂制度建立了基督教教会组织，并设置了相应教会架构。
随着历史的发展，教会对世俗社会和世俗政权的影响开始逐渐增大，教会的重要性被不断强调，直到君士坦丁大帝出于帝国控制的需要将基督教国教化。至此长达三四百年的教会从产生到政治化，他的形态也就完全固定。这个概念下的教会状态，一直延续到我们今天。
天主教教皇国是教会在历史上最辉煌的存在，也奠定了所有教会存在的理想模板。
历史的发展不是人主导的，乃是上帝在主导。自教皇国的建立开始，历史上就有一种反潮流暗自涌动，那就是小团体的反抗。修道院在开始自发运动的时候是个自发的小团体，但是很快被教皇国招安，圣法兰西斯创办的俢会同样试图回到耶稣模式，也被教皇国招安。直到在世俗政权的支持下兴起的宗教改革，才成功打破教皇国的大教会模式。
而大教会的解体的结果，必然带来小团体的产生。
中国教会在历史上一直是大教会方向，在西方帝国背景下的对华传教运动中，建立基督教王国是传教士的梦想，不论是戴德胜的内地会，还是美国的长老会等，都是如此。
到了八十年代，改革开放之后，基督教在中国开始复兴，其复兴仍然是以大教会大团队的模式。由于经济增长加速，加上国门打开，资金进来，在国际洋奶粉的助力之下，九十年代到入世之后的十年，是教会大团队时代。这个时代的特点是跨地区的团队出现，攻城略地，伴随着城市化浪潮，纷纷进入城市。
随着经济的进一步发展，社会结构的进一步完善，外在大环境的进一步转变，大教会时代也趋于没落。但是加速大教会时代没落乃至解体的则是兴起于2020年的新冠疫情。
新冠疫情带来的经济下行，聚会物理空间的压缩，让大教会失去经济和信徒规模的资源。同时由于实体聚会的减少，让打破空间隔离可以自由组合的网络聚会兴起，同时符合防疫要求的小规模团体实体聚会也成为潮流。
大教会的衰落，带来的是不仅是小团体的兴起，还有基督徒思想的空前活跃。在没有了大教会对正统教义的教条般的控制之后，自由思想不仅成为可能，而且成为潮流。
也许在表面看来，当下环境是基督教的危机时刻。但是，确切地说是大教会的危机时代。基督福音与基督信仰的存在方式不是教会把持的，而是耶稣在福音书里说的奉他名聚集的团体。
小团体之内信徒之间的平等关系，以及自由思考带来的思想碰撞，必然成为未来中国基督教发展的主流，乃至成为新思想新模式的发源。而对于传统基督教来说，他们不过类似于快视频、广场舞一样成为特定年龄和文化群体的选择。
观察与展望|中国基督教：大教会时代的没落与小团体时代的开启
In the Gospels, Jesus did not mention the concept of “church” which is widely known today.
What he mentioned in the Gospels, which is also widely quoted as an argument for the meaning of a church, is “for where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” (Matthew 18:20) What was actually conveyed is far from today’s church concept. The quoted passage of Jesus emphasizes more on the small group of equality and freedom among believers. Just like the relationship between Jesus and his disciples, only such a group can think freely to generate free thoughts.
Today’s church is actually more similar to that of the Jewish synagogue system. The synagogue system was formed during the Diaspora era. The Jews who were forced to emigrate by the Persian Empire carried out Jewish worshiping practices by adopting the local environment in order to preserve their national identity. Under such a background, the synagogue turned out to be the boundary ‘wall’ between Jews and the Gentiles and played the role of protecting and supporting the identity of their ethnic origin.
The emergence and rise of the church have the same historical environment and logic.
Obviously, before Jesus was crucified, there was no such a group as the church as it is known today. In Jesus’ following, the member identities were only Jesus and his disciples. The disciples called Jesus rabbi and there were no other positions. The relationship between Jesus and his disciples was also simple and equal and his disciples could express themselves freely before Jesus.
After Jesus ascended to heaven and after the second Jewish war, Christianity began to split from Judaism existing no longer as a Judaic branch but entering the historical stage with an independent attitude. At this time, Paul’s participation completely changed the existing structure and mode of Christianity. Paul, who was born into the Pharisees, obviously established the Christian church organization with the Jewish synagogue system and set up the corresponding church structure.
As history went on, the influence of the church on secular society and regime began to increase, and the importance of the church was constantly emphasized until Constantine the Great enlightened Christianity as the national religion for the need of imperial controls. So far, for three or four hundred years since the birth of the church to its politicization, its form has been completely fixed. The church of this concept continues till today.
The Catholic papal state is the most brilliant existence of the church in history, and it has also laid an ideal template for the existence of all churches.
The development of history is not led by man but by God. Since the establishment of the papal state, there has been an undercurrent in history - the resistance of small groups. At the beginning of the spontaneous movement, the monastery was a spontaneous small group, but it was soon embraced by the papal state. The Church founded by St. Francis also tried to return to the Jesus model and was embraced by the papal state. It was not until the religious reform, supported by the secular regime, that the papal state’s grand church model was successfully broken.
However, as a result of the disintegration of the large church, small groups will inevitably come into being.
The Chinese church has always been in line with the big church in history. In the Western missionary movement to China, the establishment of a Christendom was the dream of missionaries whether it was the China Inland Mission established by Hudson Taylor or by the Presbyterian Church of the United States.
In the 1980s, after the reform and opening-up, Christianity began to revive in China, and its revival was still in the mode of large churches. Thanks to the acceleration of economic growth, the opening of the country, and the international funds and investments, the 1990s to the decade after China’s accession to the WTO was the period of large churches. Characterized by the wave of urbanization, cross-regional groups emerged, entering the cities one after another in this period.
With the further development of the economy, improvement of social structure, and a change of the external environment, the period of large churches also tends to decline. However, what still accelerates the decline even to the point of disintegration is the COVID-19 pandemic which surged in 2020.
The economic downturn brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and the compression of the physical space for gatherings have made large churches lose their resources of income and the base of believers. Meanwhile, due to the decrease of physical gatherings, online gatherings that can break the space limitation and be freely combined have emerged. Furthermore, physical small group gatherings that meet the pandemic prevention requirements have also become the trend.
The decline of large churches brought about not only the rise of small groups but also the unprecedented activity of Christian thoughts. Without the dogmatic control of orthodox doctrine by large churches, free thought is not only possible but also trendy.
On the surface, perhaps, the present environment is a critical moment for Christianity. But, to be exact, it is the crisis period for large churches. The way of existence of the gospel of Christ and Christian faith is not controlled by the church but by a group gathered in his name as Jesus said in the gospel books.
The equal relationship among believers in small groups and the thought collisions brought about by free thinking will inevitably become the mainstream of China’s Christian development in the future, and even become the origin of new ideas and models. Traditional Christianity was just like fast videos and square dances which were the choice of specific ages and cultural groups.
(The article does not necessarily reflect the views of China Christian Daily. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author.)
- Translated by Charlie Li
Christianity in China: Declining of MegaChurches’ Era, Beginning of Small Groups’ Times
