Navigating Faith and Governance

Getting Along with the Government

In my last article, I proposed that churches can jointly form a non-profit organization to reach out to the public for sharing the love of Christ through community service. In China, this kind of social service unit is classified as Private Non-Enterprise Unit (民办非企业). In the West, a charity is sometimes called a non-government organization which implies its independence from the government.¹ However, the counterpart in China is denoted as “non-enterprise” instead of “non-government” since its operation has a close tie with the government. Christians forming a community service center must prepare well ahead in order to get along with government bodies.

In the first place, a community service operation must register at the Civil Affairs department or bureau. Depending on the nature of the service, the operation will also be monitored by the relevant government department. For example, if you provide education or training for teachers, the Education Department will be the competent body to scrutinize your teaching service content.² For general mercy and compassion service, the Civil Affairs Department is usually the supervising body. The unit should submit an annual operation report to the supervising government office.

The Prophet Daniel Cared about a Cruel Governor

The mentality of the church members may find it difficult to adapt to the idea of working under the government. However, the prophet Daniel provided an example to demonstrate the dexterity necessary for handling the relationship with government officials and the king. Readers may refer to my previous article (linked above) entitled “Being a Blessing in a Hostile Environment” to revisit the idea. I fully understand the seeming incompatibility between a church ministry versus a social service operation which is required to comply with the supervision of the government. At this juncture, the prophet Daniel’s wisdom sheds light on how we should manage the relationship with the government to fulfill our mission of glorifying God.

In chapter 4 of Daniel, after the king described his horribly inauspicious dream, Daniel was greatly perplexed for a time, and his thoughts terrified him (Daniel 4:19). Daniel worried about the king’s upcoming suffering to the extent of being appalled. He cared about the doom of the king. On noticing Daniel’s countenance, the king replied to Daniel with some comforting words, telling him not to let his dream or its meaning alarm him (Daniel 4:20). You can easily feel their concern about each other in this short dialogue. They shared a heart-to-heart concern with each other. Talking to Daniel was a brutal governor who had ruined his home country and turned him into a refugee. Yet he served the king with wholehearted sincerity. Perhaps that was why the king could identify the holiness in him (Daniel 4:8). Purity and piety from inside out distinguished Daniel among all other officials in the court. As a non-profit organization, serving a government who imposes restriction to our religious freedom to worship God can arouse a lot of emotional struggles. But there can also be opportunities to let the officials distinguish the purity of Christ’s love in our hearts.

Different Approaches for the Common Pursuit

Reaching out and preaching the good news is a common pursuit for all Christians who serve either in the church or a non-profit. However, the approaches for developing the related ministries can be very different. The missional objective of a church may follow the Western evangelistic orientation which has proven effective in an open access nation. However, when we serve the community in a creative access nation, the key to success should be redefined due to many contextual differences. Our strategy should be adaptable to various stakeholders including the government officials, the community we serve, the volunteers, and the supporting parties. The following is an example showing the contrast between the strategies of a church in Hong Kong versus a non-profit in mainland China.

In Hong Kong, the government holds an open-minded and tolerant attitude towards different religions. Christianity has earned a high respect due to its many positive social contributions over the past. Local clergy and overseas missionaries are free to preach, establish churches, develop ministries, teach theology, and train disciples. Historically, missionaries came to build up churches and contributed to the affluence of Hong Kong in many respects. Naturally, churches in Hong Kong use the same model for their strategies, like conducting evangelistic events, church planting, and applying harvest theology for reaping. Church development may usually focus on the following:

• The number of non-believers converted,
• The number of churches planted,
• The number of Sunday School teachers and students,
• The number of discipleship trainers and trainees,
• How many evangelistic events held,
• How many church members take courses in seminary, and
• How many members take part in short-term and long-term mission.

When church members in Hong Kong take part in China ministry, they also use these indicators to review the effectiveness of their mission. But this is not the right measurement, because Western methodology for church growth does not address the key concern of the outreach mission in China. Advancing Christianity faces another set of critical issues specific to a religiously prohibitive environment. In China, officials, community leaders, and institute principals keep a skeptical eye on community activities mobilized by a body with a Christianity background.³ You have to convince the government officials of your sincerity to serve and compliance with the law and regulations. But once you get the green signal from them, the public can rest assured they would not get into trouble by joining your activities, receiving your service, or participating in volunteer work. They will even spread good words for you. Under such contexts, the following are the key concerns, rather than the tangible growth of a church:⁴

• How to resolve the misunderstanding about Christianity in society carried down from a history of mission works associated with colonialism,
• How to collaborate with different parties in a socialistic system,
• How to build a trust relationship with the government officials so that they are willing to connect you with the leaders of communities and institutions,
• How to create opportunities for an encounter with truth in which the officials and the leaders find your message enlightening,
• How to transform the culture to cherish lovingkindness, righteousness, and integrity to prepare a good soil for God’s words,
• How to make the service recipients perceive your organization as a channel of blessing, and
• How deep are the friendships you have built in the community.

Dos and Don’ts in the Public Domain

In my last article, I cited Matthew 9:35, which reveals a few things Jesus did as a strategy to reach out to the communities he encountered. Jesus taught in their synagogues; he proclaimed the coming of the kingdom; and he healed diseases. These three actions were key to open the hearts and minds of the people. Practically, proclamation cannot be done openly in a restrictive milieu like China. Yet there is still ample space for us to spread the truth and to bless the community, as long as you know how to handle your action in a public domain.

We never forget our determination to proclaim the good news. But it is important to do it prudently and sustainably, one step at a time. We first create an entry point for reaching out to the community so that opportunities for gospel encounters can be arranged in a future phase in the private sphere. Like the cases of Nicodemus (John 3:1-3), and the woman caught in adultery (John 8:3-11), Jesus talked with the potential believers individually and privately. We can explore more about this in future posts.

Summary

China is a creative access nation. We need to employ innovative and adaptive approaches to overcome the obstacles in sharing the faith in a challenging environment. This also reflects that we should not simply rely on traditional evangelical means to reach out the non-believers. Rather, we attempt a creative new interface to convey our message, deriving it from the Bible and adapting to a socialist society through words and actions.

1. George Kaloudis, Non-Governmental Organizations in the Global System (London: Lexington Books, 2021), pp. xvii – xix.
2. The Interim Regulations on the Registration and Administration of Private Non-enterprise Units, People’s Republic of China. Find an English translation at China Law Translate, https://www.chinalawtranslate.com/en/min-fei-civil-society-organizations/.
3. 段德智，境外宗教渗透研究，（北京，人民出版社，2018），37-42页.
4. 高雅真，延福万族的使命：从重整真理的基础到重整实践的行动，于蔡元云编，神的使命：启动新步伐。（印度尼西亚, 世界华人福音事工联络中心，2011），52-53页.

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