Finding Religion, Hopefully Worshipping the Right God

There's an article in last week's Economist about the growth of the Christian church in China.  I find it extremely encouraging that the Gospel is going forth despite attempts by the government to control its message and curtail its growth.  It seems as if the Chinese authorities didn't do a routine check of church history and realize that driving the church underground and persecuting its members wasn't so effective in suppressing growth in 70 A.D. either.

What I find intriguing is what happens to the church in the near term.  The article speaks of the need for discipleship, which is why I am strongly supportive of missionary efforts to provide theological training and and discipleship training the underground church leaders. My concern, maybe even more than the legitimate worry of heresy as an unstructured church movement teaches without safeguards against bad theology and opportunists, is that the other burgeoning movement, namely the Chinese economy, will lead to the same spiritual stagnation that has occurred in the Western world.  How many Chinese who rightfully recognize that they cannot put their hopes in the State, and have turned to God, will be enticed by affordable consumer goods and the promise of Western-style affluence?  How many Chinese will wrongly intertwine "Western" (in their minds) religion with the American dream, and thus succumb to variations of the prosperity gospel?  Will the comforts and security of middle-class living numb the need for a Savior?

Ironically, we may very well be going in opposite direction here in the United States.  I understand that Friday after the demise of Lehman Brothers  and acquisition of Merrill Lynch, there was an attendance boom at a Redeemer's Financial Services Ministry event, and I heard many people who attended it talking about what an eye opener it was, and how people needed to get back to their first love in putting God first.  Not to be at all pessimistic or cynical, but I saw with my own eyes how church attendance exploded after 9/11.  Two years later, those crowds were largely gone, and people went back to their lives.  We can only pray that the lessons of the folly of greed and career idolatry are lessons truly learned.