Pastor Wang Yi endures Chinese persecution with fortitude

Earlier this month, Chinese authorities imprisoned Wang Yi, pastor of the Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu, along with his wife and about 100 church members. The jailings are part of a vicious, widespread crackdown on Christianity throughout China.

This repression has not been a success. There are perhaps 100 million Christians in China today. The pastor’s friends tell me he is a cerebral man, a law professor, a Christian in the Presbyterian, reformed style. His ministry was unusual in that he would display a cross publicly and hold his services openly, partly to see what space there was in modern China for Christianity.

Anticipating his own imprisonment, the pastor wrote a letter. It speaks for itself, far more eloquently than I could. Here it is, edited only for length:

“On the basis of the teachings of the Bible and the mission of the gospel, I respect the authorities God has established in China. For God deposes kings and raises up kings. This is why I submit to the historical and institutional arrange­ments of God in China.

“As a pastor of a Christian church, I have my own understandings and views, based on the Bible, about what righteous order and good government is. At the same time I am filled with anger and disgust at the persecution of the church by this communist regime, at the wickedness of their depriving people of the freedoms of religion and conscience. But changing social and political institutions is not the mission I have been called to, and it is not the goal for which God has given his people the gospel.

“For all hideous realities, unrighteous politics and arbitrary laws manifest the cross of Jesus Christ, the only means by which every Chinese person must be saved. They also manifest the fact that true hope and a perfect society will never be found in the transformation of any earthly institution or culture but only in our sins being freely forgiven by Christ and in the hope of eternal life …

“I accept and respect the fact that this communist regime has been allowed by God to rule temporarily … At the same time, I believe that this communist regime’s persecution against the church is a greatly wicked, unlawful action.

“As a pastor of a Christian church, I must denounce this wickedness openly and severely. The calling that I have received requires me to use nonviolent methods to disobey those human laws that disobey the Bible and God. My Saviour Christ also requires me to joyfully bear all costs for disobeying wicked laws.

“I do not have the intention of changing any institutions or laws. As a pastor, the only thing I care about is the disruption of man’s sinful nature by this faithful disobedience and the testimony it bears for the cross of Christ.

“As a pastor, my disobedience is one part of the gospel commission … The goal of disobedience is not to change the world but to testify about another world.

“For the mission of the church is only to be the church and not to become a part of any secular institution … All acts of the church are attempts to prove to the world the real existence of another world. The Bible teaches us that, in all matters relating to the gospel and human conscience, we must obey God and not men. For this reason, spiritual disobedience and bodily suffering are both ways we testify to another eternal world and to another glorious King.

“The entire commission God has given me is to let more Chinese people know through my actions that the hope of humanity and society is only in the redemption of Christ, in the supernatural, gracious sovereignty of God.

“If God decides to use the persecution of this communist regime against the church to help more Chinese people to despair of their futures, to lead them through a wilderness of spiritual disillusionment and through this to make them know Jesus, if through this he continues disciplining and building up his church, then I am joyfully willing to submit to God’s plans, for his plans are always benevolent and good.

“Precisely because none of my words and actions are directed ­toward seeking and hoping for societal and political transforma­tion, I have no fear of any social or political power. For the Bible teaches us that God establishes governmental authorities in order to terrorise evildoers, not to terrorise doers of good.

“If believers in Jesus do no wrong, then they should not be afraid of dark powers … I also understand that this happens to be the very reason why the communist regime is filled with fear at a church that is no longer afraid of it.

“If I am imprisoned for a long or short period of time, if I can help reduce the authorities’ fear of my faith and of my Saviour, I am very joyfully willing to help them in this way. I hope God uses me, by means of first losing my personal freedom, to tell those who have deprived me of my personal freedom that they cannot restrain a freedom that fills the church of the crucified and risen Jesus Christ.

“Regardless of what crime the government charges me with, whatever filth they fling at me, as long as this charge is related to my faith, my writings, my comments and my teachings, it is merely a lie and a temptation of demons. I categorically deny it. I will serve my sentence, but I will not serve the law. I will be executed, but I will not plead guilty.

“Those who locked me up will one day be locked up by angels. Those who interrogate me will one day be questioned and judged by Christ. When I think of this, the Lord fills me with a natural compassion and grief towards those who are attempting to and actively imprisoning me … Why should you be willing to pay the price of eternal damnation in hell for a lowly sinner such as I?

“Jesus is the Christ, son of the eternal, living God. He died for sinners and rose to life for us … I am his servant, and I am imprisoned because of this. I will resist in meekness those who resist God and I will joyfully violate all laws that violate God’s laws.”