One day I was on the bus going to teach English. We made a left hand turn and suddenly there in the middle of the road was a dead body. You could tell she was a DOT street sweeper by her uniform and large bamboo broom laying near by. To my surprise, a fellow DOT worker was just a few feet away sweeping the street as if the lifeless body was not even there. There seemed to be no concern for the now dead co-worker, no compassion in his eyes, no sadness for the loss of a co-worker, he just went on like nothing was there, jut a pile of cells now void of life. What causes this type of reaction or behavior that is so cold to life and death? I believe that there are several reasons for this kind of reaction or behavior to the death of a fellow human being.
Humanism is taught and has been taught for decades in schools and universities across China. It has almost removed the God-consciousness in the hearts of the Chinese people. Atheism is the State religion and has permeated every aspect of life from birth to death. The knowledge of God has been so repressed and suppressed that it is common to hear Chinese people say I believe and trust only in myself when asked what do you believe in. Because of the teachings of communism and evolution there is a great spiritual vacuum in China that has created a spiritual desert in the hearts of the Chinese people.
Two more obstacles are the misunderstanding of sin and the lack of forgiveness. The Chinese strive to accomplish the impossible task of making themselves good. They believe that man will do good because human nature is ultimately good. Without the Bible the Chinese people misunderstand the truth about sin and how man is born with a sinful nature. Mencius, a Chinese philosopher, taught this as well and it has deeply impacted the Chinese while communism re-enforced this idea that man is good. The Chinese hold up endurance and tolerance as virtues, but, there is a drought and famine of forgiveness. There is no forgiveness in the Chinese culture. The Chinese are enslaved to bitterness, vengeance and hate. There are deep wounds and scars on the souls of the Chinese people.
Chinese people suffer from a lack of fellowship founded on love. My Chinese students often tell me they are lonely. How can one be lonely in a country of 1.3 billion people? Easy, when there is no true love (I Cor. 13) there is loneliness and emptiness in life. They come from large families and communities, but, because of the past tragedies of their history, people are alone and afraid.
The last obstacle explains why I saw what I saw on the bus that day. When I first went to China many years ago the one thing God used to get my attention and show me the desperate need the Chinese have for the Gospel was the hopelessness in the eyes of the people I saw. Eyes that were filled with emptiness, hopelessness and fear. In China you are not supposed to talk about death it is taboo to mention it. For the Chinese death is greatly feared because it is the end of all that they know. Life is over, nothing more and nothing else. Unfortunately for them they are gravely mistaken.
Life does go on. That is why the Gospel is so desperately needed in China. The Gospel awakens the God-consciousness that has been suppressed (Rom.1:19). The Gospel reveals the true nature of man and deals with the problem of sin clearly and decisively (Rom. 3;23-25, 6:23). The healing power of Christ will bring freedom and forgiveness to the Chinese people. God’s love, so amazing, so divine it demands my soul, my life and my all. The Gospel of Jesus Christ so powerful that even in the midst of such spiritual darkness it will cut away all the lies and shine like the sun at midnight.
Da Yong
American serving the Lord in China
Contributor – Baptist.org
Featuring : Chinese Cultural Obstacles and Coming To Christ
email: btw4ayear@yahoo.com
