W4A has chosen to serve the church in China for the past 25 plus years by following the regulations and policies of the PRC. If you are a China watcher you know Chinese laws, regulations and policies are copious, ever changing, and the interpretations manifold. Nonetheless we do our best.
Around the time the world dealt with Covid, policies which stressed Sinicization of religion were implemented. These impact all five legal religions in China (Taoism, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, Roman Catholicism). The tenacles of Sinicization have touched every religious entity from the national level down to the grass roots. It would be hard to find a religious leader today in China who has not sat through hours of lecture and training surrounding this theme. When I first entered China after Covid I asked for clarification of Sinicization at the national (SARA/now UF) level and at every level down the chain to the local. The responses ran the gamut from a smile and change of topic to a humble acknowledgement “I am unsure what all it means.” Today, you can do your own internet search and find pages of explanation and definition. So, I am not going to attempt to summarize that here.
Allow me to provide my simple summary. The government of China does not want “a Western hat on the Chinese Church.” Religious invasion has always been illegal. Now it is being enforced. The newest regulations declare “religious invasion is a threat to national security.” Clear enough.
As a long-standing friend of China and a Christian I have given this topic substantial thought. Could this have a silver lining? What good might come from Sinicization?
First an anecdote. Then a question.
Twenty years ago (2006) I chaired the first Chinese Bible Exhibition in the USA. It was held in Orange County California where I lived. We hosted it on the campus of the then famous Crystal Cathedral. The weeklong event was well attended. A film crew was sent to Georgia to do an interview with former President Jimmy Carter. He shared a conversation he had while President with Deng Xioping. President Carter asked Mr. Deng three questions:
1) Will you give the churches that lost their buildings during the Cultural Revolution their churches back?
2) Will you allow Bibles to be printed again in China?
3) Will you allow our missionaries to return to China?
Mr. Deng said “these are good questions. I will give you my answers in the morning.” The next day over breakfast he answered the three questions.
1) “We will give the churches back to the Christians” – and for the most part that happened over the next decades.
2) We will print Bibles in China again. Today, Amity Press in Nanjing is perhaps the world’s largest Bible printing press.
3) “No, we do not wish your missionaries to come back to China.”
Somewhat to my surprise President Carter commented, “I think Deng was perhaps very wise.”
Whatever the reasons, the Chinese church was undoubtedly the fastest growing Protestant church in the world for several decades.
Now, a question. Is it possible with the mandate of Sinicization that the Chinese people will more quickly accept Christianity as not a foreign religion? For years, a common refrain in China was “one more Chrisitan, one less Chinese.” Such thinking certainly reflects a misnomer. It may take a couple of decades or longer for this misconception to correct itself, but in time it can. That could be a good thing. Recognition of Christianity as a non-Western construct might take place faster when a strong visible foreign presence is removed.
Some are concerned this Sinicization will compromise Biblical truth and doctrine. The Bible is neither Sinicized or Westernized. It is a universal truth for all people. I have not personally heard any Chinese Church leader express a desire to change Scripture to fit political purposes. The ones I have discussed this with declare Sinicization will not change their beliefs or faith.
I would love to hear from you. Do you believe Sinicization “could” have a positive impact as expressed here? Feel free to write me: gene@word4asia.com
