July 18, 1997 (David W. Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061-0368, fbns@wayoflife.org) - During a forum conducted July 11 by the Lutheran World Federation, liberal ecumenical Christian leaders from Hong Kong and mainland China warned against foreign missionary activity. The forum was held during the Lutheran World Federation's general assembly this month in Hong Kong.

Since the fall of China to communism in 1949, Hong Kong has been used as a launching pad for missionary activities inside the mainland.

Tso Man-king, general secretary of the Hong Kong Christian Council, warned that "if people try to relate to the church in China without following guidelines and principles, [this] can lead to disasters." The guidelines and principles to which he is referring are those of the liberal ecumenical organizations such as his Christian Council and the China Christian Council on the mainland.

Tso Man-king blamed 19th missionary activity for causing Chinese to perceive Christianity as a "foreign religion," a "product of capitalism and imperialism and maybe militarism as well." He said, "Because of this, Christianity has not been able to root itself in Chinese soil and culture" (Ecumenical News International, July 14, 1997).

Bao Jia-Yuan, associate general secretary of the China Christian Council made similar statements, claiming that the "withdrawal of the missionaries and the great changes in society after liberation challenged the Protestant church leaders to make the church truly indigenous." Note that he called the communist takeover of China "liberation." Only a communist would speak like that. The multiplied millions who have been tormented and enslaved and murdered by the communist government would not agree with his description of communism. From its inception, the China Christian Council has been a puppet organization for the communist government and is manned by individuals who are willing to toe the party line.

Bao Jia-Yuan said, "We believe that there's a time for missionary activity, and there is a time when it is no longer appropriate." That is very strange, for the Lord Jesus Christ said it is always time for missionary activity. There are more than a billion souls in China, and large numbers of them have never heard the Gospel and have access to no sound church. The Lord Jesus Christ gave the following commission:

"All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen" (Matthew 28:18-20).

This commission has never been rescinded and the need for its fulfillment never ceases, because the population continually changes. We, therefore, have the command of Christ, and we don't need the permission of liberal ecumenical leaders who are probably unregenerate themselves and who do not care for the souls of the unsaved masses and who think that they have the authority to control the preaching of the Word of God.

Another official of the China Christian Council, Chen Xida, stated, "We don't want to control you, please don't intend to control us. We exist as a Chinese church. We want to have our space."

This is a smokescreen. True, biblical missionary activity has no desire to control existing churches. It's goal is the establishment of new churches. It assists existing churches only when those churches need and request such assistance and only when such assistance would not hinder the autonomy of those churches. It is the China Christian Council which wants to control China's churches.

Further, Chen Xida's statement reveals his confusion about the church itself. Biblically there is no "Chinese church." There are churches in China, but there is no church of China. When the Apostles used the term "church" to refer to a region, such as Galatia or Asia, they consistently used the term in the plural -- "the churches of Asia" (1 Cor. 16:19), "the churches of Galatia" (1 Cor. 16:1), "the churches of Macedonia" (2 Cor. 8:1), "the churches of Judaea" (Gal. 1:22). The liberal ecumenical leaders of the China Christian Council think they can speak for the "church of China," but they cannot for there is no such entity. Truly New Testament churches in China are autonomous under their one Head Jesus Christ. Each has its own God-ordained leaders (Titus 1:5), and no ecumenical organization can speak for them. The Lord's Apostles did not form organizations such as the China Christian Council. Such an organization is strictly man-made and has absolutely no biblical authority.

The China Christian Council is a member of the World Council of Churches.

K.H. Ting--the retired head of the Three-Self Movement, the Amity Foundation, and the China Christian Council--is a theological liberal and a master of Chinese communist propaganda. Ting sold out to the communist government at the fall of China in 1949 and was selected to head the communist-controlled ecumenical organizations through which Mao attempted to control all churches in the land. Those organizations still exist today and we see that their leaders continue to walk in Ting's footsteps. In 1980 Ting stated: "New China is the people's China. It exists for the broad masses of the people. It has brought liberation, benefits and happiness to its people. It is revolutionary and progressive. ... no people outside China, regardless of the color of their skin, should carry on any activity of a missionary nature inside China or directed at China, without the expressed consent of Chinese Church authorities" (K.H. Ting, October 6, 1980; from Tian Feng, 1, the official publication of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement, March, 1981; reprinted in the Chinese Theological Review, "Retrospect and Prospect," K.H. Ting, pages 1-17).

The Nanjing Seminary, where Ting was principal for more than 30 years, is a hotbed of communist propaganda and theological modernism. A 1985 report on the seminary noted that "students must attend two or three hours per week of political studies, including lessons in patriotism, socialism, and internationalism" ("Theological Education in China," May Cheng, China and the Church Today, October, 1985, p. 12).

We have documented the history of the Three Self Movement and the China Christian Council in past issues of O Timothy magazine. The entire issue of O Timothy, Volume 5, Issue 5, 1988, was dedicated to the issue of communism in China. There are more than 40 articles in the O Timothy Computer Library which deal with communism. See the Way of Life web site for information on the O Timothy Computer Library. Five of these articles have also been placed at the End Times Apostasy Online Database at the Way of Life web site.

See also "Persecution in China."