DECEMBER 27, 2007



Today, my mom and I made a point of visiting the Xujiahui section of Shanghai. Xujiahui, if translated, means "area of the house of Xu". By Xu, we are referring to Paul Guangqi Xu, a Roman Catholic Christian from the 1600s. He is known in China for being a scientist, but today, he's more of a mathematician (he tried to introduce algebra to China, but to no avail), agricultural engineer (this is what he's known for), politician (he served in the court of the Ming emperor), and linguist/theologian (translated many works of the Church Fathers into Chinese). He came to Christ via none other than the great missionary Matteo Ricci. Xu Guangqi already hailed from a distinguished family. His descendants include Madame Soong Chi-ling, who is one of the founding figures of the Communist Party.



Christianity, according to official records, came to China in the 1600s with Italian missionary Matteo Ricci. People like Hudson Taylor only amplified that work much later. However, archaeological records suggest that early philosophers (i.e. thousands of years before Christ) had an idea of the Judeo-Christian God. Indeed, the story of Noah and the ark is encapsulated in the modern character for "boat" (ever wonder what that 'ko' is doing in that character?). Where can the duals of agape and fileo be encapsulated other than the character for "love"?



The story of Christianity in China is nothing less than uplifting and encouraging. The Holy Spirit has swept through the Church both above and below ground. Statistics show that one person is coming to Christ on a daily basis here. This is growth that churches in North America and Europe can only pray for. We may very soon come to a point in our life where we no longer need to pray for the Church in China, but instead, to pray for the Church in North America.



The Church in North America is splotchy at best. In some sections, it's doing quite well. In some sections, it's stagnant. In some sections, it's dying a slow death. In some sections, it's already dead. Theological weakness has led some churches to even rethink the idea of the Trinity. Many Christians search for ways to keep the Gospel relevant in today's day. The error in that thought is that the Gospel is ALWAYS relevant whether or not we think it is. As a result, we get theologically anomalous... things like "U2-charists" and "spiritual tinkerers". Worse, we get downright heretical practices and doctrines like allowing people openly living in sin to serve as clergymen; seeker-sensitive churches; and prosperity gospel.



The Gospel of Health and Wealth states that if we only have faith, God would bless us with good health and abundant financial wealth. This is heretical because it has elevated prosperity to the status of redemption. We are redeemed by our wealth and our health! Now, nothing is wrong with having a cut and buff body. If Michaelangelo's statue of David in Firenze is anything close to the real King David's figure, are we to say King David is sinful because of his body? Nonsense. Nothing is wrong with having financial wealth. The first Christians met in the houses of the wealthy Christians.



To say, however, that health and wealth imply faith only degrades the Gospel to an economic commodity. Unfortunately, quite a few people have been suckered into this heresy. CNN.com recently reported on a woman who was misled by one preacher of prosperity gospel. She donated $500 a month to his ministry, and eventually had to borrow money from the bank to purchase groceries. Indeed, preachers of such false gospels are nothing short of heretics and deceivers, in the same rank as the Lord of Deceivers, Satan himself! They drive Bentleys, own their own private jets, etc. all to serving their own fiefdoms of deceit. We must have no business with those harbingers of evil.



Xujiahui is the last landmark we'll visit in Shanghai. With only one day left in Shanghai, part of me is a little sad because my bros and I will part ways with our parents for two months. But part of me is looking forward to studying for my Microeconomics comprehensive examination. That can't hurt... can it?