Pietism in the Chinese church – how to respond!
Over the last month or so we’ve been looking at Chinese pietism – what it is, where it comes from, what it looks like, and in what way it’s dangerous. Not all Chinese Christians will be influenced by Chinese pietism – only some of them.
And so in this last post on this subject we consider: what can you do to minister to those influenced by Chinese pietism?
1. Be careful about using the term
While I’ve written a lot about Watchman Nee, be aware that not many Chinese Christians will have read him – and there’s a reason for that.
A distinctive feature about Watchman Nee that I haven’t mentioned so far is his ecclesiology (doctrine of church). Nee disliked the profusion of denominations that he saw from the Western missionary movement, and thought that it was more biblical for there to be only one gathering in each locality (village, town, city). This led to “Little Flock” gatherings that saw themselves as the only true expression of church. Needless to say, this didn’t endear the writings of Watchman Nee to many denominations, or pastors of established congregations!
However just because people may not have read Watchman Nee, does not mean that they are not influenced in any way by his teachings… Consider how many people today may be postmoderns – without actually having ever read the writings of Fish or Iser, or even knowing their names! And very few Westerners will have actually read The Republic or Categories - but this does not mean they are not influenced by Plato or Aristotle!
And that’s because influence happens through sitcoms, movies, and casual conversations. It happens through families, through modelling, through common phrases we learnt from childhood. The influence is there – but in our ministry to actual people, it may not always be helpful to wheel out the big names!
Consider how it would probably unhelpful to tell your Aussie neighbour over the back fence, “You’re just being postmodern!” In the same way it would probably also be unhelpful to say “That’s just Chinese pietism.” In both cases that may be true! But in both cases they would probably not know what you mean. And after you have explained, they would strenuously protest that they have never read Fish or Nee!
And so it may be more helpful just to make a mental note of the influence of Chinese pietism – and then to allow that to inform how you conduct your ministry…
2. Make use of contrast and
3. Tell stories
You need to teach the good – but that’s not all. Because if that’s all you do, long-standing Christians will tend to think that they’ve already got the good, when in fact they are clinging to the bad all along.And so you also have to contrast the good with the bad. That way people can clearly see that they must flee from the bad, and cling to the good. Yes, it’s good to explain to people that our confidence is in the gospel. But it’s more helpful to explain that our confidence is in the gospel – not in feeling close to God because of intuitions! Because they will easily nod their heads in agreement at the first – but the second may give them pause to think.
And as you do so, it’s best to make use of stories of people, instead of directly referring to them. Because stories are very powerful ways to get under people’s defences – and you also see this modelled in the Bible!
If possible, it’s best to tell stories about yourself, using your growth as an illustration in this regard. Explain how when you were younger you came across Christians who insisted that godly people did this - and describe how, from the Bible, you began to see that this was wrong and dangerous, and that instead that was the biblical way to live the Christian life…
4. Present an alternative and
5. Show the positive use of ‘carnal’ faculties
You can’t just suddenly rip away the way people have, for years, understood how the Christian life is meant to be lived. This is catastrophic, and you actually risk plunging people into depression. They may even fall away!
And so you have to replace it with a different and compelling model of the Christian life – how they are to grow, what authentic spirituality is, the language with which they describe their growth. And it has to be compelling, since to them they feel that you are calling them to give up ‘spirituality’ for ‘carnality’.
But it’s not just an alternative way to live the Christian life in general – you also want to show them an alternative way to think of the ‘carnal’ faculties in particular. And so you need to show them a positive use of knowledge – how it truly lights the fires of our affections. You need to live it out for them. model it to them. show them that, with all your knowledge, you are forgiving, you are prayerful, you have a deep love for the Lord. You need to model in your prayers how you give thanks for these faculties, showing how we speak about these ‘carnal’ faculties.This is because people aren’t just robots that need to be intellectually reprogrammed! Emotionally, they also need to be reassured that, yes, this works. And behaviorally, they need to be shown that this is how we handle reason, this is how we talk about our talents, this is how we use knowledge.
In all of this you need to realise that often, you won’t just be working against intellectually held positions with little emotional significance. You are actually working against patterns of behaviour and thought built up over decades. These have been modelled in their early years by those who discipled them, and reinforced for many years by Christians they have great respect for. These things are hard to change because they are emotionally held - they just seem to make sense deep down!
Which doesn’t mean we avoid the issue! But it does mean we have to be smart in how we deal with it…
[ PS: any other suggestions about how to respond to Chinese pietism? ]
