About two years ago, a good friend
(Shane J. Wood) introduced me to the story of “Brother Yun”. Shortly after hearing some about Yun I
promptly ordered “The Heavenly Man,” which is basically his story. I have already read the book once, but am reading it again and will share some reflections as I progress through the book this time.
The book’s title uses the nickname
affectionately given to Yun, whose given name is Liu Zhenying, by brothers and
sisters in China as a result of an incident back in 1984. While under arrest Zhenying refused to
endanger his fellow believers by giving his name while being interrogated. As he yelled “I am a heavenly man! My home is
in heaven!” local believers were made aware of the danger so they could flee
and avoid arrest (p13).
The first chapter gives a brief history
lesson of governmental control in Yun’s home province of Henan. The chapter tells of atrocities committed
against Christians during the Communist government takeover in the mid 20th
century. While these accounts are awful,
it is often hard for us to relate to such hardship. However we should not ignore them. In fact, it seems we ought to be led to ponder
if a lack of hardship in America is for the good or ill of The Church here. Granted, this may not be a popular question, yet it is worth
considering. Another way of posing it could be, “Is God more concerned
about our comfort or the advancement of His Kingdom?” Or is that too direct or inaccurate?
I would say that of course God is more concerned with advancing His Kingdom than He is about our comfort.
ReplyDeleteIn the movie "Blue Like Jazz," Mother Theresa is quoted as saying something to the effect of, "The physical poverty of India [or the East] is nothing compared to the spiritual poverty of the West."