THE HEAVENLY MAN

I have just finished reading the book The Heavenly Man, the amazing story of Brother Yun, one of the pioneers of the house church movement in China. Yun’s story is a glimpse inside one of the more incredible “book of Acts”-type stories taking place in today’s world.

By 1949 the Communist government had all but closed down the Christian Church in China.  Almost—but not quite! This book chronicles the life and exploits of one young Chinese Christian who refused to recant his faith. Persecution did not stop him; prison did not stop him; savage beatings and broken bones did not stop him; and threats of death did not cause his faith to waver.

Brother Yun tells of relentless persecution by the Communists. He tells of being warned and led by the Holy Spirit in his journey of faith to share the Good News with his countrymen. Reading how the Holy Spirit miraculously intervened for Yun reminds me of Peter’s deliverance from prison by the Holy Spirit in Acts 12, and Paul and Silas in Acts 16.

Yun’s stories are astonishing and at times somewhat difficult for me, a pampered Western Christian, to fully process. Some of our friends have read Yun’s book and when they found that Carol and I were reading it, they shared that they actually found parts of it difficult to read.

I believe the difficulty in reading a book like this is caused by a type of culture clash—a clash between the reality of life in other parts of the world and our Western-style Christianity. It’s a collision of the reality of life on the front edge of the spreading of the gospel and the pampered, babied, misled culture of contemporary Western Christianity.

I’m not going to say more about “Life is good—your best days are ahead” Christianity at this time except to state that a persecution storm of hellish proportions is coming. When the storm fully arrives, those who are not grounded in the Word, are not praying, and are not in step with the Spirit are going to struggle to keep their faith intact (see Thessalonians 2:3 and 1 Peter 1:10).

One of the questions that frequently arises when a book such as The Heavenly Man is read is, “Why does God allow situations like this to happen—doesn’t He care?”

The apostle Paul actually explains this type of situation for us. He was a true pioneer of the Church and his ministry constantly took him to the forefront of the spreading of the gospel. Out on the frontlines Paul was put through all kinds of persecution, threats, beatings and imprisonment and it happened more than once (see 2 Corinthians 11:23-24).

Paul helps us get an understanding of what his struggles and pain were all about when he writes in Philippians 1:12-13 (ESV): “I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.”

The phrase “advance the gospel” really unlocks the meaning of what Paul wanted to say and gives us a very clear understanding of his pioneer spirit.

In the original, the word advance means “to cut before.” In ancient times warfare primarily consisted of thousands of foot soldiers on one side fighting with thousands of foot soldiers on the opposing side. As the armies marched out to the field of battle, a smaller army of pioneers went before them to scout out a path and clear obstacles from in front of the main force. If the pioneers came to a stand of trees that would slow down the main army, their responsibility was to cut a path through so that progress was not disrupted. This is the meaning of the word advance as Paul uses it. Paul was a Holy Ghost pioneer who has gone before us and cleared the way so that our progress is not unnecessarily impeded. Paul's letters to the churches are the path he has cleared for us to follow.

Or so it should be! Unfortunately, when the Word of God is taken lightly and even essentially ignored, the Church loses sight of the path. This is the case in segments of the Church of today, especially the Church in America.

And this is what pioneers such as Pastor Yun have done for the Church in China. By the grace of God they have forged a path of faith for the Church that is now experiencing an incredible harvest.

I began this article with the statement that by 1949 Christianity was all but wiped out in China. This morning I looked at one report that said there are now approximately one hundred and sixty million Christians in China and the house church movement continues to explode and is now sending missionaries throughout the world—thousands of them!

Can you shout, “Praise the Lord”?