the other side of a DARK by Henry Owen / Regional Secretary / China Inland Mission mi s s ionary picture
S om e time ago I had a part in a missionary conference where the conference slogan, emblazoned in great letters across the platform, was this: “ One More Year for Missions?” In another church the pastor told his people, “ Recently a Japanese student said to me, ‘There are only two more years for missions in Japan.’ ” Often we hear missionary speakers whose burden is, “ Just five more years in my field and the doors will be closed.” These are all indications of a pessimism, engenderd by the trend of world events, which threatens seriously to hinder the missionary outreach of the Church of Jesus Christ. Now there are certainly aspects of the world missionary situation which would tempt us to discouragement. The number of local churches in China has been drastically re duced by government orders. In Shanghai, where there were 200 churches, there are now about 20. Church workers must undergo rigid courses of indoctrination, and are under pressure to reconcile the doctrines of Christ with those of Marx and Mao Tse Tung. Political subjects are required in sermons, and certain Bible doctrines, such as the Second Coming, must not be mentioned. Large numbers of Christians are in prisons and labor camps. Wang Ming Tao, prominent Peking pastor, after a term in prison, boldly repudiated an alleged confession appear ing over his signature, and is in prison again. Watchman Nee, founder of the indigenous “ Little Flock,” is serving 15 years hard labor. Conditions in other lands give us cause for concern. The Communist Party in Indonesia claims 1,500,000 members, and six million out of 48 million eligible voters cast their votes for its candidates in the first general elec tions. As this article is being written well-trained native communists are attacking isolated army posts in Laos, with help from neighboring communist North Viet Nam. The church hierarchy in Greece has begun a “ year of battle” against evangelical groups, with the police in structed to arrest anyone distributing literature. Perse cution of believers in Colombia continues unabated. Serious situations in other areas threaten to restrict the proclamation of the gospel, freedom of worship, and the entrance of missionaries. Such situations should stir in Christians at home a strong sense of urgency to muster all their resources in a supreme effort to evangelize the world while doors are yet open. But it is also possible for them to create in us a spirit of pessimism, discouragement, and defeatism. Such a spirit could well affect missionary giving, for donors might reason, “Why spend money for missions when the missionaries may be forced out in two or three years?” And it could also affect the life investment of our young people, who might object, “What’s the use of preparing to be a missionary? I might have to return home in a couple of years, and think of the time wasted.” But such attitudes must be branded as utterly wrong, because pessimism and defeatism are always wrong for a Christian. There is no ground for them in the New
Testament, a book which insists on faith, hope, and opti mism, based upon our knowledge of what God is. I would suggest, however, three other reasons for the wrongness of such attitudes in regard to Christ’s missionary program. In the first place they show lack of faith in the power of God and the power of prayer. We must never accept it as inevitable that all doors in all mission lands are going to close. Five years ago, when the French were defeated in Indo-China, the country was divided into four inde pendent nations. Of them North Viet Nam was communist, and militarily strong. South Viet Nam set up a democ racy, and was woefully weak. The political experts pre dicted that in a matter of months North Viet Nam would swallow up her weaker neighbor. But five years later South Viet Nam is still free, much stronger than before, with its doors still open to the missionary. Ten years ago thousands of communist guerillas in Malaya threatened to take over the country. Now communism as a military force has virtually ceased to exist, and a democratic party took three-quarters of the seats contested in the recent parliamentary elections. The missionary door remains open, and missions are steadily expanding their work. Further, we must not accept it as inevitable that closed doors are going to remain closed. The classic example for our encouragement is Ethiopia. When in 1936 the Italians conquered the country, Protestant missionaries were soon forced out. The doors were closed, perhaps for years, perhaps forever. In 1943, however, the British reconquered Ethiopia, and the missionaries went back. The glorious experience of the Sudan Interior Mission has often been told. Its workers had left a few scattered churches with fifty believers. They returned to find more than 300 churches, with 20,000 Christians. Let us not yield to despair, then, because of closed doors or those which threaten to close. Encouraged by instances such as these let us claim the promises of God, and persist in believing prayer that closed doors may be opened, and that open doors may remain so. In the second place an attitude of pessimism assumes that the Great Commission has been qualified or re scinded. But in its various forms in the Scriptures there is no suggestion of this. It is never, “ Go ye, provided the world be at peace,” or “ Go ye, but under optimum condi tions only.” It is always a plain, unqualified “Go ye!” Hudson Taylor, the founder of the China Inland Mis sion, first went to China in 1853. From the human stand point he could not have gone at a worse time. His burden was for the untouched interior, but missionaries were strictly confined to five coastal cities. For five years the rebels had been devasting the country, and controlled a large part of it. Upon his arrival at Shanghai it was to find it in rebel hands, with an Imperial army beseiging the city. Obviously he should have waited until conditions were more favorable, until missionary success could be guaranteed. Why, then, did he go? As his little ship threaded its way through the vast
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