Chinese: “We’ll take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Arab and Muslim world”
June 9, 2009 by DH
Filed under Mormon Asia
Chinese Christians will take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Arab (and Muslim) world. To call that a bold and ridiculous claim at this point in time would be an understatement. But according to Jesus in Beijing by David Aikman there is no less than a few people who truly believe this will be the case.
Christian Evangelization in the Middle East
There is without a doubt a great interest of the evangelization of the Arab (and Muslim) world by Christian groups and churches throughout the whole world. For a faith that firmly believes in the Bible, and more specifically the great commission by Jesus to His Apostles, it is viewed as a duty to do missionary work and “spread the good news.” The problem arises when Christian groups either get over-zealous in their efforts and/or when the receiving end of this effort has little or no interest in hearing what they have to say. Further, it is also a problem in the case where many (if not all) Arab or Muslim nations today, have actual restrictions on proselytizing to those of the Islamic faith. (Yet some Christian missionaries ignore these restrictions.) Despite these restrictions and seeming lack of interest I feel safe to say that Christians throughout the world have to wonder when and how the Gospel of Jesus Christ will go to this demographic. (This anticipation of course ties even more deeply into Christian beliefs as many of those that believe in the Rapture or 2nd coming of Jesus Christ believe that the Gospel must be taught to all nations for that to happen.) It is little wonder why there is religious conflict throughout the world surrounding some of these issues as there are some serious conflicting interests and policies towards religious freedom and evangelization. (It is wise at this point to point out that not all Arabs are Muslims nor are all Muslims Arabs. Though the terms ”Arab” and “Muslim” are often used interchangeably, these terms shouldn’t be used as meaning the same thing. Muslims are adherents of one of the world’s largest faiths, Islam. There are many Muslims who live in Southeast Asia and other areas of the world in addition to all those who actually do live in the Middle East. On the other hand, the term Arab connotes people who share a similar culture and background. The Arab world encompasses parts of the Middle East and most of Northern Africa. But not all of the Middle East is Arab. One example is Iran where the people are generally Persian (and not Arab) but many are Muslim.)
Mormon Missionary Policies in the Middle East
From a Mormon or LDS viewpoint, doctrinally it is very similar to any other major Christian denomination or group. The Bible commands us to take the Gospel to all nations and belief that this must happen before the 2nd coming certainly does exist within Mormon culture. It is of course with fascination then to see small congregations of the Mormon Church begin to be established in the Arab (and Muslim) world today. Notwithstanding, I should make it clear that the Mormon Church will not and has not forced religion upon another country nor people. If the government of “x” country doesn’t permit the teaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ then the LDS Church will respect that desire. To do otherwise would be to explicitly contradict one of the main tenets of Mormonism, free agency. (The freedom to choose and act as one wishes, whether that be good or evil.) Missionaries, exchange students, and even expatriate members are explicitly told by the LDS Church to respect such restrictions and refrain from teaching those of “x” country while they are there. Any actions otherwise is members acting of them own selves in direct opposition to which the Mormon Church has asked them.
China will take the Gospel to the Arab (and Muslim) world–”Back to Jerusalem”
Cognizant of this brief (and insufficient) preamble of Christianity in the Arab (and Muslim) world, Jesus in Beijing presents an idea that many would find astounding. The idea boils down to one sentence: there are many Chinese Christians today that believe it is their mission to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Arab (and Muslim) world. Not only do they believe this but they are actively preparing for just such a mission. David Aikman covers this topic over two chapters in his book of which I briefly summarize the major points in what follows.
Aikman talks of the Beijing Forum in 2002 where high profile American and Korean evangelical Protestants such as Luis Bush and many house church leaders throughout China met to discuss global missionary work and as Aikman notes “how to help China’s Christians implement their dream of going “Back to Jerusalem.” In short, Chinese church house leaders had ambitious goals for missionary work both throughout China and abroad. Aikman traces this notion of “Back to Jerusalem” through various Chinese Christian groups (dating back to 1920) with the underlying idea being that the Gospel has spread West from Jerusalem and that it is up to Chinese Christians to take it back to Jerusalem, so it has in effect circled the globe. This implicitly implies that they would take the Gospel to adherents of Islam as the geographic region between China and Jerusalem is predominantly Muslim. (While recognizing of course that there are also major populations that are not Muslim, ie. adherents of Hinduism in India.)
In addition, because of this fervor to take the Gospel back to Jerusalem, the pro-Israeli sentiments of many Chinese Christians are discussed by Aikman. Similar to the preamble above, Chinese Christians believe in the Bible and the events leading up to the 2nd coming of Christ and therefore presumably have the same interest in Middle Eastern events as does the rest of the Christian world. But it is noted that the government of China has traditionally supported the Arabs and Palestinians in the Middle Eastern conflict which gives rise to even more excitement among Chinese Christians. This stems from the fact that they believe that the Chinese are more suited to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Arab (and Muslim) world because of their government’s political position is much more favorable than that of the Western governments. In the book, one house church leaders is quoted as saying: “It was the Apostle Paul who took the Gospel to Europe and now, after 2,000 years, it has come to China. When the disciples left Jerusalem to go toward East Asia and Europe, they were only a few people. They went barefoot. Now the Gospel has reached China and we have several Christian networks. We believe that now that the Gospel has reached China it will follow the old Silk Road back to Jerusalem. Once the Gospel comes back to Jerusalem, it will mean that the Gospel has been preached to the whole world. We have the view that Chinese missionaries will be part of the mainstream on the highway back to Jerusalem. The Muslim religion is the biggest obstacle on the road back to Jerusalem.” Obviously one house church leader does not speak for all Chinese Christians but Aikman notes several times that this sentiment is widespread in China. ( I would also note, for clarity, that “The Muslim religion” being referred to as “the biggest obstacle” is not the best way to put it as it is a global faith with many good people and the Gospel is not to be forced upon them if they do not desire it. Nor is it to be viewed as an obstacle. Harmonious relationships between Christians and Muslims and all faiths are what the world could use a large dose of. I definitely don’t agree with the description of the Muslim religion as being “the biggest obstacle” but the quote illustrates the point that their is a certain fervor amongst Chinese Christians to actually carry out this mission they have envisioned.)
Not only is this feeling of duty widespread but the efforts are already underway. It’s noted that there are missionary-training seminaries in different parts of China that specifically are training Chinese Christians for this work. In addition, Arabic speaking Christians have been brought in by some house churches, some Chinese Christians are enrolling in university to study Arabic for this purpose and oversees Chinese workers in the Middle East are reaching out to Muslims around them-”at considerable risk” as the book notes. Once again, Aikman wisely balances things out by concluding that this doesn’t mean the Arab (and Muslim) world will be converted tomorrow by droves of Chinese Christian missionaries. But he does conclude that if this idea continues to grow those governments who view the West with disdain and prohibit their missionary activities will also have to clump China into that same group if this “Back to Jerusalem” notion becomes a reality.
I of course view this topic with a piqued interest as presumably any practicing Christian would. Though to make it clear as I can, I feel that the Gospel of Jesus Christ shouldn’t be forced on anyone (Arabs, Muslims, Hindus, Americans, Europeans etc) who doesn’t wish to here it. I further believe that there is both a time and a place for the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the entire world. When this will be is only speculation on those who so bodly make detailed claims when it will happen. I believe that God loves all His children and that He knows the beginning from the end. In other words, it will happen when it happens and Christian missionaries (Mormons and non-Mormons alike) should be patient and understanding of others’ beliefs and desires (or the lack thereof) to hear the message they preach. Further if they don’t wish to hear the “Christian message” it doesn’t mean that there can’t be a mutual understanding and friendship based on commanilities as there are good people amongst all faiths and cultures throughout the world.
