China Projected to be “World’s Most Christian Nation”

According to a report in The London Telegraph, Christianity is growing so rapidly in China that it is projected to be the “world’s most Christian nation” by 2030.

Churches have gradually been reopening since Chairman Mao’s death in 1976. This includes the 5,000-capacity Liushi church that opened last year, which housed thousands of worshipers who gathered on Easter Sunday.

This £8 million church features a 206-foot cross and has twice as much seating capacity as Westminster Abbey. It represents China’s rapid conversion from Communism to Christianity and its transformation to one of the largest Christian populations in the world.

Although China is still officially an atheist country, its population does not reflect that as much as it did previously. China currently has 1.3 billion citizens, and if current trends continue the country could soon have more Christians than any other nation, even if they will remain a minority.

Fenggang Yang, a professor of sociology at Purdue University, affirmed the above statements by predicting that China will be the “largest Christian country in the world very soon.” He said it could even happen by “less than a generation.”

Protestant Christians numbered one million in 1949, as opposed to the 58 million it has now. Professor Yang estimates that the Protestant Christian numbers will increase to approximately 160 million by the year 2025, putting China’s Christian population ahead of the United States, whose 159 million Protestant members are declining. By 2030 China’s Christian population would be more than 247 million people.

Many congregations have consented to Communist Party oversight in order to worship in their churches. However, millions of Christians worship illegally in underground “house churches” to avoid the “prying eyes of the Communist party.”

In an interesting “role reversal” China is now sending out missionaries of its own, even though it had often been the country receiving missionaries in the past. One underground church leader said that it is easier for China to send missionaries than it is for countries like Britain, South Korea, or America.

The Communist Party does not know quite what to make of it. There have been recent reports of government moves against one large Christian church, while a Roman Catholic shrine has been desecrated.  But some leaders say that religious groups benefit society by providing social services and relieving moral crises.

Liushi’s preacher, Ms. Shi, carefully calls her church “patriotic,” and says that her church’s two missions are the gospel and serving their society. She said that “without God, people can do as they please.” She believes that Christianity offers moral stability in a society.

However, this rapid growth of Christianity might not come without its challenges. Despite China’s constitution guaranteeing citizens their right to practice “normal religious activities,” Christians are still closely watched by the government. The goal is to ensure that church services “do not diverge from what the [Communist] Party considers acceptable.”

The state, according to the unnamed house preacher, still wants the churches to preach in a Communist manner. In order to keep with this pro-Communist mindset, the Party “shunned” sections of the Bible that show people refusing to obey the king in order to obey God.

The church leader said that the Communists “do not trust the church, but they have to tolerate it…because the growth is there…they do not want the 70 million Christians to be their enemy.”

Many government leaders still believe that religion is a “sickness” that needs curing. Their overall fear is that Christianity will become an opposing political entity that might eventually overthrow their Communist system.

The Communist Party is at a loss as to why Christianity is growing so quickly. It is ironic that China is turning toward Christ as Britain is abandoning its faith. Let us pray that this growth of the Church in China will continue, and that it might spark new life in our church to stand strong amidst persecution.

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