A pastor from southern China says that the Chinese churches need to foster a missionary culture for themselves in addition to learning how to do world missionary work.
At the end of the Book of Matthew, Jesus commanded the “Great Commission” to the church before he ascended to heaven, and the acts of obeying the command are called "mission." The missionary culture can be simply understood in the way below. That is, in the matter of missionary practices and values, the church community has reached a high degree of consensus and coordination, and, concerning training and assigning, it has sent the best missionary workers to all parts of the world, all with a well-established management system from input to output.
In modern China, Catholic missionaries had a very high level of spirituality and care for people.
In fact, Robert Morrison, Hudson Taylor, and Samuel Pollard had prepared for a long time before they came to China. Compared with them, however, there is still much room for growth in the model and level of missionaries sent from China.
Pastor Kang Rongjian (pseudonym), who is committed to world missionary work, told the Christian Times, "We have been mobilizing the church in China, and a culture of mobilization and missionary work is always growing. Only in this way can we give the best Christians to the church and then train excellent missionaries. However, the reality is that we don’t have this culture in China. Families send outstanding graduates to make money but send low-performing children to study theology, not providing a talent bank to the church."
For instance, “Look at the missionaries in the New Testament, such as Paul and Barnabas. They were not poor-performing individuals but elite Christians. That is why the gospel has been widely spread all over the world. The reason why there have been many embarrassingly negative testimonies in past Chinese missionary work is because Chinese churches do not have a solid missionary culture."
“Missiology is the soul of the mission. Although it is not the absolute truth of the Bible, it is the truth of the forefathers’ success in history. Yet, we don’t even have enough experience from our forefathers. The old pastoral foundation of Chinese churches hasn't been taken down, and the soil hasn't been well turned. Because of this, they are slow and lazy when it comes to serving foreign churches and responding to the great mission. If the Chinese churches are not determined to give their lives, they are just useless as world missionaries.”
Pastor Kang points out: “Our disadvantage is that we really know nothing about missionaries, plus the Chinese are eager for instant success and benefit." It is their ‘fast food’ culture (an expectation of a quick and successful outcome, translator’s note), which is too utilitarian. "Taking the example of Chinese football, they are starting to create a football culture because they find that they don’t have such a heritage.”
Pastor Kang emphasizes three points: “In the first place, missionary is something in which all churches need to participate, plan, and pray. It is not the enthusiasm and willingness of one church, but the inevitable work of following the great mission of Jesus.”
“Don’t narrow the definition of the mission. All the people involved are doing missionary work. Our understanding of missionary work is that everyone who trains elite missionaries, cooks, prays, and donates money behind the scenes is doing missionary work. We should not just think that people who are sent overseas are doing missionary work.”
“The disadvantage of Chinese churches is that they don’t understand the mission. Many churches are doing it, but they are too eager for instant success without any preparation on rules and orders. It is difficult to cooperate with others, which will not work well for a long time. Why is there a big gap between Chinese and Western football? Because the West has the culture and background of football, but we don’t. Therefore, the Chinese churches urgently need to work on creating their own missionary culture and should observe more, listen more, and cooperate more,” he added.
- Translated by Charlie Li
来自华南的一牧师认为中国教会不能只是知道做世界宣教的事，更亟需培育教会的宣教文化，让中国的世界宣教工作未来有良性的落地与发展。
在马太福音最后，耶稣升天前向教会颁布了“大使命”，遵循这一使命的行为被称为“宣教”。而宣教文化，可以简单的理解为教会共同体在宣教的使命和价值观上达成高度认同和协作，并在培养和差派宣教士的事情上给出最好的精兵差派到世界各地，从输入到产出都有一套管理体系。
近现代的中国，在来华宣教士的团队中，天主教的宣教士的灵性生命和人文素养水平都是很高的。
其实无论是马礼逊、戴德生、伯格里等等，他们都是预备了很久才来中国宣教。但对比当下中国本土所差派的宣教士的模式和水平来看，仍然有很大的差距和成长的空间。
致力于世界宣教事工的康荣健牧师向中国一网络基督教报纸基督时报分享说：“我们一直在动员中国教会，不断地兴起动员和宣教的文化。只有这样才会把最好的基督徒给教会，继而培养出优秀的宣教士。但现实是，我们中国是没有这种文化的，家人们把优秀的毕业生送去赚钱。把不务正业，不爱学习的孩子送去读神学。没有把好的苗子给教会。”
康牧师举例说到：“看新约中的宣教，保罗、巴拿巴等等，他们不是差生，而是基督徒中的精兵，正因如此，福音才得以广传到世界各地。之所以在过去的宣教事工中，发生的许多令人唏嘘的负面见证，是因为我们中国教会本身就没有健全的宣教文化。”
“宣教学才是宣教的灵魂，它不是圣经绝对的真理。但是它是过去历史当中先祖成功的真理，他们走过来的经验，我们连人家走过来的经验都没有。中国教会那陈旧的牧会根基没有被连根拔起，土壤没有被反转，所以在服侍对方的教会和回应大使命的方面变得迟钝和懒惰。如果中国教会不愿意付上生命的决心，做世界宣教是没有用的。”
康牧师指出：“我们的劣势是我们实在不懂宣教。中国人也很急功近利，吃快餐面的那种文化，功利性太强。所以就像踢球一样，中国没有国外的足球底蕴和文化，所以我们现在要开始打造了。”
康荣健牧师强调了3点：“宣教是需要众教会放在首要位置去参与、筹划与祷告的事情。他不是一间教会的热心与发愿，而是遵行耶稣的大使命的必然工作。”
“不要窄化理解宣教的定义。所有参与进来的人，都是在做宣教。我们对宣教的理解是，在后方培养精兵的人、做饭的人、祷告的人、奉献的人等等，他们都是在做宣教。不应该只是认为到海外的人才是做宣教。”
“中国教会的劣势是不懂宣教。许多教会也在做，但是有急功近利的心，不讲秩序和规则。难以与他人合作，这样不会长久良性的运转。中国的足球和西方的足球为什么差距大，因为西方有足球的文化和底蕴，我们是没有的。所以中国教会当下亟需重视培养自己的宣教文化，要多看、多听、多合作。”
一华南牧者分享：中国教会需要培育宣教文化
A pastor from southern China says that the Chinese churches need to foster a missionary culture for themselves in addition to learning how to do world missionary work.
At the end of the Book of Matthew, Jesus commanded the “Great Commission” to the church before he ascended to heaven, and the acts of obeying the command are called "mission." The missionary culture can be simply understood in the way below. That is, in the matter of missionary practices and values, the church community has reached a high degree of consensus and coordination, and, concerning training and assigning, it has sent the best missionary workers to all parts of the world, all with a well-established management system from input to output.
In modern China, Catholic missionaries had a very high level of spirituality and care for people.
In fact, Robert Morrison, Hudson Taylor, and Samuel Pollard had prepared for a long time before they came to China. Compared with them, however, there is still much room for growth in the model and level of missionaries sent from China.
Pastor Kang Rongjian (pseudonym), who is committed to world missionary work, told the Christian Times, "We have been mobilizing the church in China, and a culture of mobilization and missionary work is always growing. Only in this way can we give the best Christians to the church and then train excellent missionaries. However, the reality is that we don’t have this culture in China. Families send outstanding graduates to make money but send low-performing children to study theology, not providing a talent bank to the church."
For instance, “Look at the missionaries in the New Testament, such as Paul and Barnabas. They were not poor-performing individuals but elite Christians. That is why the gospel has been widely spread all over the world. The reason why there have been many embarrassingly negative testimonies in past Chinese missionary work is because Chinese churches do not have a solid missionary culture."
“Missiology is the soul of the mission. Although it is not the absolute truth of the Bible, it is the truth of the forefathers’ success in history. Yet, we don’t even have enough experience from our forefathers. The old pastoral foundation of Chinese churches hasn't been taken down, and the soil hasn't been well turned. Because of this, they are slow and lazy when it comes to serving foreign churches and responding to the great mission. If the Chinese churches are not determined to give their lives, they are just useless as world missionaries.”
Pastor Kang points out: “Our disadvantage is that we really know nothing about missionaries, plus the Chinese are eager for instant success and benefit." It is their ‘fast food’ culture (an expectation of a quick and successful outcome, translator’s note), which is too utilitarian. "Taking the example of Chinese football, they are starting to create a football culture because they find that they don’t have such a heritage.”
Pastor Kang emphasizes three points: “In the first place, missionary is something in which all churches need to participate, plan, and pray. It is not the enthusiasm and willingness of one church, but the inevitable work of following the great mission of Jesus.”
“Don’t narrow the definition of the mission. All the people involved are doing missionary work. Our understanding of missionary work is that everyone who trains elite missionaries, cooks, prays, and donates money behind the scenes is doing missionary work. We should not just think that people who are sent overseas are doing missionary work.”
“The disadvantage of Chinese churches is that they don’t understand the mission. Many churches are doing it, but they are too eager for instant success without any preparation on rules and orders. It is difficult to cooperate with others, which will not work well for a long time. Why is there a big gap between Chinese and Western football? Because the West has the culture and background of football, but we don’t. Therefore, the Chinese churches urgently need to work on creating their own missionary culture and should observe more, listen more, and cooperate more,” he added.
- Translated by Charlie Li
Southern Pastor: Chinese Churches Need to Foster Missionary Culture
