Radical Obedience of the Rural Underground Chinese Church
The rural underground Chinese church is a New Testament church that embodies a simple childlike faith, deep love for the word of God, and a lack of titles and denominations.
This sermon highlights the dedication and hunger for the Word of God exhibited by the Chinese underground church, where believers endure persecution and imprisonment to gather and listen to the Scriptures for hours, often having memorized significant portions of the Bible. Their simple, childlike faith and commitment to the teachings of the New Testament shape their church structure, emphasizing function and gifts over titles and denominations, viewing the church as a united family in Christ.
Full Transcript
On the other hand, the rural church has to go underground to hide from the government, to avoid arrest and imprisonment with their New Testament message of the cross of Christ and the Holy Spirit. The underground church service has an average time of around eight to ten hours, if you can believe that. The Chinese love to sit and listen to the word of God.
I know that's hard for us to comprehend here in the West. We can barely make it an hour without our stomachs grumbling and our minds going to our favorite restaurant. But the Chinese, all they want is the word and the God of the word.
This is a distinction of the Chinese underground church. They really love the word of God and love to hear it preached. They will sit for hours upon hours listening to the word, even if they've heard it before.
They'll take copiously notes and they'll weep over it and really, really soak into them like a sponge. They hunger for the word of God more than real food. I know this is hard for us to appreciate or understand here in the West, where we have a dozen Bibles in our homes and hardly ever read them.
The Chinese have a simple childlike faith. All they have is their Bible. They are walking Bibles because they have memorized much of it.
It is not uncommon for a Chinese believer to have memorized the four Gospels in their entirety. They've memorized the book of Proverbs. Many of them have memorized all the epistles.
So they are not only literate of their Bible, but they take their Bible literally as well. They believe the whale swallowed Jonah. They believe in the virgin birth of Christ.
They believe in the miracles of the Bible. They believe the God of the Bible and that he can do big things and he does big things because of their strong belief and faith. The underground church in China, it's basically a New Testament church.
There are no titles among them. No one is called doctor. No one is called pastor.
They call each other brother and sister. They don't use titles. They feel titles divide.
What they do is defined by function or gifts, not title. Some may be gifted as a teacher, so they'll teach. Some may be gifted in hospitality, so their gifts are used that way.
Their gift makes room for them to serve in that capacity. To them, the church is a filial entity. Every member is essential.
They see the church as a family, a true body of Christ. They are on-fire Christians with a real vital walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. There are no denominations in the underground church.
You won't find any Baptists. You won't find any Methodists. You won't find any Presbyterians.
You won't find any denomination. They just prefer to be called followers of Christ. That's what they call each other, followers of Christ.
Sermon Outline
- I. The Distinctive Nature of the Rural Underground Chinese Church
- A. Their love for the word of God
- B. Their willingness to sit for hours listening to the word
- C. Their childlike faith and simplicity
- II. The Importance of Literacy and Memorization in the Underground Church
- A. Many Chinese believers have memorized the entire Bible
- B. They take their Bible literally and believe in its miracles
- III. The Lack of Titles and Denominations in the Underground Church
- A. No titles are used, only brother and sister
- B. Members are defined by their gifts and functions
- C. The church is seen as a family and a true body of Christ
Key Quotes
“The Chinese have a simple childlike faith. All they have is their Bible. They are walking Bibles because they have memorized much of it.” — E.A. Johnston
“They believe the whale swallowed Jonah. They believe in the virgin birth of Christ. They believe in the miracles of the Bible.” — E.A. Johnston
“They see the church as a family, a true body of Christ.” — E.A. Johnston
Application Points
- We can learn from the Chinese underground church's love for the word of God and their willingness to sit for hours listening to it.
- We should strive to have a childlike faith and simplicity in our relationship with God.
- We can apply the underground church's lack of titles and denominations to our own church, focusing on the importance of function and gifts rather than titles.