worthy of our attention. But if we examine this carefully, we will see that in much past evangelistic work, most attention was given to teaching doctrine, the Bible, and church governance, and that less attention was given to the practical aspects of living out Christian doctrine in daily life and using Christian teachings to develop a progressive view of life. In other words, in the past evangelism was quite successful with regard to form and organization, but our ideal results—building a new view of life, setting new standards, and forming the basis of a new Christianized society—have not yet been reached. This is like the revival movement that has been popular in the last few years. Superficially it appears to be a very positive phenomenon, but in fact many wonder whether those who are moved have a fundamental change in the way they approach life or permanent changes in the way they live their lives. Various other kinds of traveling gospel teams, “boat and cart” evangelistic bands, “new spring” evangelism teams and so forth do only the work of introducing the gospel, but probably too few can thoroughly inject the Christian spirit into the lives of the audience. There are various kinds of fellowship group movements that have deeper impact, and such efforts are very hopeful, but because of issues such as geographic limitations, limited time, and narrowly focused interests such fellowships can rarely become widespread movements. Also, fellowships have a natural tendency to become cliques, which is an inherent feature of group psychology, and if we are not careful this could become an obstacle to evangelism efforts.
In general, it has been common for past evangelistic work to place too much emphasis on promotion and to neglect deeper study. Too many people only see the form of Christianity and the outline of its doctrine, but their real understanding of it is all too shallow, so Christianity doesn’t have much impact on their lives or give them any strong guidance. This is a lesson from the past to which we should pay much attention in our work of construction.
In order to correct the mistakes of the past and make up for weaknesses, we should thoroughly re-evaluate our evangelistic work, and should invest a little more effort and time in ensuring that those who accept Christianity see the implications of Christianity for their lives. From the Christian faith, we should seek out truths that fit into our nation-building goals; we should hold onto Christian faith as the rudder of life, as the ideal for life in new China, and as our goal in living, so that out of this grows hope and strength. This is the most basic task in constructing a new China, and what is most effective in shouldering this task is not temporary evangelistic and revival meetings but rather a church that has become integrated with its society; the most essential people for this kind of work are pastors and evangelists because it is they who have the deepest interactions with both believers and the common people, and are hence able to show Christian spirit and faith through their lives and give the people a powerful challenge. What we should now give the most attention to is this basic construction, strengthening the evangelistic work of all the churches so that they may spread the spirit of Christianity at the most fundamental levels of society, building strong faith among the people and serving as a base for constructing a new China.
2. Educational work.
In the past the educational work of the church has been its most fruitful. From the perspective of the average person who doesn’t pay much attention to evangelism, the educational efforts of the church have made the greatest contribution to China; church schools have made an undeniable contribution in China’s modern cultural history. But in the past ten years, like other aspects of church work, church school work has been gradually giving ground to a trend to emphasize other church organizations. Educational institutions are among the most important institutions in society, and in the work of constructing a new China the use of education as a tool is very important. So we should research how to use education to best effect in this great movement to build the nation.
The noun “education” is very broad, so in order to avoid repetition for the moment we should narrow our definition. By the term “education,” here we mean only three kinds—church schools, education in the home, and Christian education. Ten years ago, church schools were the leaders in contributing to education and cultural circles in China. They introduced Western academics and use of Western methods, establishing the foundation for a new culture in China. At that time, many of the schools in China with the best equipment and highest standards were church schools, and many outstanding people in cultural circles were graduates of church schools. If the same trend had continued to the present, the situation of churches in China today would probably be very different. However, the voices protesting the cultural imperialism of the foreign powers became louder, and people became more suspicious of Christian education and schools. Also, both private and public education in China advanced rapidly, and in many respects surpassed that of church schools, so now church schools are experiencing decline. This is something we should pay attention to and take seriously in our work of construction.
Church schools are the institutions through which the church cultivates talent for society, which is the greatest contribution of the church to society, something on which almost all both inside and outside the church agree. But the question now is, in the process of building China, what is the special responsibility of church schools? Now many state and private schools have disbanded or suspended their work, and temporary schools with special missions have sprung up in the rear areas of China. Those church schools which have not been ravaged by war should recognize the needs of the times and work effectively, so that the work of building the nation is not undermined by the closing of schools, and so that our nation building ideals are not diverted by the current special situation. Producing educated and talented people for the needs of constructing the nation is a most important work. But it is even more important to train such people so that they have noble ideals and goals, great character, and will definitely use their talents and learning to serve the nation and the people. In the past there was one failure of church schools that we must admit; many students who underwent “religious molding” were not obviously any better than students who did not undergo “religious molding,” and some were actually worse. In this War of Resistance3, many people see that China’s past education was a failure and, in the past, most education was in the hands of church schools. Thus, the failure of Chinese education is the failure of church education, and as we undertake the task of constructing a new China this lesson of past experience is worth our attention. Therefore, in church schools, religious and character education plays a very important part.
If we tie the Christian spirit and faith to this question we are discussing, the contribution of church schools to constructing the nation is even greater. Church schools are the institutions that give the Christian spirit to the people to make them effective workers in constructing the nation, and are the places where Christian faith is passed on to most people. If they are well run, church educational institutions will be the places where personnel for the construction of a new China are produced.
The work of Christian education in the home is as important as the work of Christian schools. In the past, the achievements of Christian education in the home have not been so visible because this is a relatively personal matter. However, the Christian family movement flourished for a time, and this was a beneficial effort. In the process of building a new China, this is an indispensable link.
The family is the smallest among society’s social units, and is the most important among society’s primary groups. We cannot say that ideal individuals can form an ideal society, but ideal families are the main factor in organizing an ideal society. The Christian family movement is an aspect of social education—a very fundamental one—and is the foundation of a new China’s society. For education in the home, there is no education that is more perfect and efficacious than education in Christian love, and this is also one of the greatest contributions of Christianity to the constructing of a new China.
Religious education is slightly different from the two kinds of education mentioned above. The religious education referred to hereconsists of the work of religious education groups other than schools and families. These groups are often attached to churches, voluntarily organized by children or young people and guided and trained by religious education staff of the churches.
