Reacting vs. Proacting
by Justin D. Long
Several events have recently caught our eye and highlighted a problem which I label the "knee-jerk" reaction to World A.
On 11 May, Brother Andrew of Open Doors received the Religious Liberty Award from WEF. He took the opportunity to highlight what he believed is the solution to persecution, oppression and martyrdom. "When I was recently in a Christian town totally destroyed in one night by a wild Muslim mob, leaving between 10 and 20 thousand Christians homeless, having seen all their possessions destroyed, without everything, we had a big gathering of Christians and Muslims. We spoke about forgiveness and reconciliation, because life goes on even during and after persecution--life goes on!" In this speech, Brother Andrew touched on the core issue of our response to persecution: it must be the constant, unswerving, presentation with integrity of the Gospel to which we are committed.
In this context, we should move on to examine existing efforts to punish governments who persecute Christians, primarily through trade sanctions. There is currently a piece of legislation being sponsored by Sen. Arlen Spector and Rep. Frank Wolf of the US Congress, which would establish a White House office to monitor religious persecution and limit foreign aid and World Bank loans to violators. This legislation will be introduced in Congress next week, and would be aimed at countries persecuting Christians and minority religions (Religion News Today, www.goshen.net, 5/19/97). New York City has announced similar legislation singling out 15 countries including China, Indonesia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. City Council Speaker Peter Vallone admitted that, "If passed, the legislation would 'create worldwide furor... if we do nothing else but get their attention, it's worthwhile'".
Our first reaction, upon hearing of the persecution of our fellow believers, is to punish the ones responsible. It may be, indeed, a "knee-jerk" reaction: we have been pricked, and we automatically kick the one responsible. But is this a spirit of forgiveness, reconciliation and unerring witness? And will it really help? Don't be so sure. Long time China observers note that the majority of conservative Christian groups calling for revocation of MFN have little or no China background. And reacting in a Western way to a Chinese cultural context is not necessarily the best or even the correct course of action.
A statement released last week by Dr. Samuel Ling, program director of the Institute for Chinese Studies at Wheaton College's Billy Graham Center, called for evangelical Christians to "think twice before supporting efforts aimed at revoking China's Most Favored Nation (MFN) trade status." MFN, Dr. Ling says, is not an isolated issue, but one that has been at the core of US policy toward China for more than 20 years. Revoking it would escalate hostilities between the two nations and cause suffering in the economies of the Asia-Pacific region. "History since 1979 has proved that as the US engages China, a more open, pluralistic atmophere develops... and freedoms _including religious freedom_ tend to improve." Revoking MFN could actually cause instability in China to which the government would react by clamping down more harshly on the churches.
Rev. Daniel Su of the Fairfax, VA-based China Outreach Ministries wrote, in a recent editorial entitled "Revoking China's MFN will Backfire", that "there are compelling reasons to believe that revoking China's MFN status will end up hurting the Chinese people and Christians in particular." It is likely that Christians would be blamed for the inevitable deterioration in Sino-US relations which would result should MFN be revoked. Further, the current US policy of engagement with China has done much to encourage greater religious freedom in China. Engaging China has also brought new opportunities for Christians outside of China to serve the Chinese people through teaching, printing Bibles, professional services, cultural exchanges, humanitarian and charitable services." Revoking MFN could bring many of these activities to an end.
Representatives of other US-based Christian ministry groups who work in China have agreed, calling efforts to revoke China's MFN status "misguided" and "very foolish," and they have warned that such efforts will strengthen the hand of hard-line leaders in China. And what does the church in China say about MFN? The leadership of the churches has constantly reiterated its message: "Do not pray for persecution to stop. Persecution purifies us, refines us. Pray rather for us to be strong."
Laws cannot change a nation eternally: only redemption can do that. When the China becomes a Christian nation through majority voluntary conversion, not decree, then and only then will we see oppression come to an end. We must help the church in China to expand and grow, addressing the church's concerns rather than our own.
Brent Fulton, managing director of the Institute for Chinese Studies, notes that there are POSITIVE steps which Christians can and should take to assist believers in China. These steps include giving direct assistance to families of Christian prisoners and to those who have fled China because of persecution, as well as expanding commitment of time and resources to serve the Chinese people in the name of Christ. In the long run, PROACTING to help the Chinese church--rather than REACTING to horror stories of government oppression--will better serve Chinese believers.
Although the anti-MFN campaign desires very much to help the church in China, it may in many ways hurt it without doing any real good. This is the danger of a "knee-jerk" reaction: where we do not think clearly through everything involved. The issue of the persecuted church is "hot" right now, and we want to "do something about it" before interest dies away. However, if we leap before we look, we may end up instead crushing a great many people.
Suggestions
1. The Chinese church isn't as concerned with government oppression as they are with the lack of leadership training and Bibles. We should mirror their concerns and help provide these tools.
2. We should speak to our governments and request quiet diplomacy rather than public attempts to shame the Chinese government, which could backfire and cause more hurt and suffering for the church in China.
3. We should look for ways to utilize trade and commerce to help the church in China.
4. We should encourage a response of forgiveness, reconciliation, and the unswerving presentation of the Gospel to the Chinese government.
