The Chinese Church

Last week I made a connection that has encouraged me about the missional church movement. As you probably know, the Chinese underground church has grown rapidly--impressively--over the last decades.

The Chinese church forms cell-like structures because they have to. The government's persecution and interference have forced them underground, but they've stayed connected and networked. These Chinese house churches simply can't become a religious institution with "baggage"--buildings, famous leaders, theological and political debates. They have to "travel light," as Alan Hirsch says in The Forgotten Ways.

And the movement has spread because they're driven to prayer, and the Holy Spirit, and the responsibility and passion for sharing Christ comes back to the individual and away from an institution.

I see some connections here with how a missional church usually works. We can learn alot from the Chinese church--and come to think of it, it's not too different from the early church, is it?