The Window is Still Open

About six years ago, a friend of mine who had expressed interest in
doing Christian missions work in China conjectured to me that there
existed a unique window in that country for evangelization and church
growth. Ten years before, he said, you couldn't get into China. Ten
years from now, he predicted, you could get in – but no one would
listen, because their hearts would be dulled by growing material
wealth.

It appears my friend may be right. China's economic boom appears to
have no end in sight. Business Week ran an article last week on the
growing number of millionaires in China and the explosive growth of
luxury items there. Five years ago, China accounted for 1% of
worldwide sales of luxury items; today, it's 12%, and within a decade
it's predicted that China will leapfrog Japan and the US and become
the world's largest luxury market.

How will this boom affect church work in China? Is the window, once
gapingly open, now closing? Well, there are still many issues that
the Christian church – both indigenous to China and missionaries from
outside of China – can speak to. How to not make money your god.
Urbanization of formerly poor and rural areas, sparking possible
resentments between haves and have-nots. Of course, issues of human
rights and political freedoms. My friend was right about one thing –
that more and more Chinese would experience a higher standard of
living. I hope (and I'm sure he would say he hopes, too) he's wrong
about the other – that that means the window is closing in China in
terms of more and more Chinese experience a greater measure of God.