Peace to you, brothers and sisters “who have access in one Spirit to the Father.”

At last week’s Parents’ Seminar, I shared about the relationship between the church and education. I read Ephesians 3:10-11 to the parents to help them understand the glory and purpose of the church:

So that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Earlier in the passage, Paul mentions that the “manifold wisdom of God” has a focal point: the mystery of the gospel. In verse 6, he says, “This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.”

In this letter, I would like to reflect with you on these two verses by discussing diversity and unity within the church. This is a topic I have been pondering and studying for the past two years.

In addition to the unity found in the gospel, there are two counterfeit forms of unity. The first is coercive unity, in which people are pressured to conform outwardly while they secretly harbor unspoken dissent. The second is token unity, in which people appear to tolerate everything but instead become detached from it all. The former represents an overreach of authority, while the latter represents an overabundance of love. With coercive unity, love is extinguished, leaving behind a temporary order. With token unity, unconditional love becomes a new form of tyranny, for it leaves no room for differences to exist. This type of unity is also often temporary.

In today’s church, the Catholic Church leans toward high-authority unity, while evangelical churches favor low-authority, all-inclusive love. The goal of Reformed churches, however, is to achieve (and sustain) a balance.

There is yet another kind of unity that closely resembles gospel unity which we can call homogenous unity. Many feel that small churches are more intimate and unified, and that larger churches lose this intimacy as they grow. Thus, they mistakenly believe that smaller churches have greater unity and better embody the grand purpose of the church described in the two verses above.

I believe this is mistaken because those who think this way fail to realize one thing: the smaller a group, the higher its degree of homogeneity and the lower its diversity; conversely, the larger a group, the greater its diversity and the lower its homogeneity.

The purpose of the gospel is not to achieve unity among a homogenous group, but to achieve unity among a highly diverse group. In Ephesians, the two groups with the least homogeneity were Jews and Gentiles. The gospel’s greatness lies in uniting that which could not possibly be reconciled, thus testifying to Christ’s impossible sacrifice and impossible resurrection.

Simply put, teachers easily connect with teachers; business people with business people; intellectuals with intellectuals; high-income earners with high-income earners; literature enthusiasts with literature enthusiasts; drinkers with drinkers; even children with children; and the elderly with the elderly.

When such affinities exist within a church, it is not necessarily a bad thing—in fact, it may even be good. But it is very likely not related to the gospel, for such relationships are the norm in human society. The church indeed preserves many aspects of human societies, but such norms are not the defining marks of church life, nor do they manifest the power of the gospel.

What, then, is the distinctive, gospel-powered unity that characterizes church life?

Let me pose a series of questions:

• Where else in this world can you find young men and 80-year-old women having lunch together, without any blood or legal ties between them?
• Where else in this world can you find children under 10 attending a funeral with their parents of someone with no familial ties to them, whom they have never even met?
• Where else in this world can you find a CEO attending a gathering with an ordinary employee, in which the CEO is the one serving and the employee the one being served?
• Where else in this world can you find men of vastly different incomes sitting and eating together, holding hands, closing their eyes, talking and weeping with each other, all without being in a same-sex relationship?
• Where else in this world can you find university professors, corporate executives, designers, and engineers singing and shaking hands with janitors, repairmen, petitioners, and ex-convicts, while calling them brothers and sisters?

In Chinese society today, such scenes are unusual—almost unimaginable. And yet, dear brothers and sisters, over the years I have witnessed these remarkable scenes among you. I have witnessed scenes even more astonishing than these. It is these scenes that continually inspire my ministry because in them, I see the glory of the gospel—the unity that comes only through the cross of Christ. I firmly believe that God is using the church to silence the cosmic powers in the heavenly places and to demonstrate that the “foolish” wisdom of the gospel is greater than the fleeting wisdom of this world.

Let me summarize with the following points:

1. The unity produced by the gospel is a unity in diversity. Only unity amidst diversity can be considered a “supernatural” unity. The greater the diversity within this supernatural unity, the more the gospel is glorified.
2. Homogenous unity is often an illusion. When extroverts befriend other extroverts, their friendship is natural, not supernatural. It is also likely untested and not rooted in the gospel.
3. The church’s mission is to continually break down this natural unity, to disrupt the tendency toward “homogenous associations” within the church, and to shatter our own cultural identities in order to humble us. Through constant evangelism, church planting, and missions, the church reduces the cultural homogeneity of the covenant community so that the glory of the gospel might shine more brightly, that the accuser might be silenced, and that the sins of this evil world might be condemned.
4. This is a dangerous task. As the church’s homogeneity decreases, interpersonal conflicts will inevitably increase. Being “fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel” will be an ongoing challenge in the lives of Christians as the church grows and diversifies.
5. This is a great and inescapable mission and task. It is even the very purpose of our lives. When believers leave a church, many say it is because the church has grown too large, or because their relationships are not as close as before, or because they do not feel sufficiently loved. In reality, however, they are unable or unwilling to accept the challenges that come with the church becoming less homogenous. Their thinking is, “Let’s just stop here.” Many Christians harbor an extremely alarming desire—that the church would stop growing. This is because they are not willing to personally bear the cost of the church’s growth. They are terrified of their comfortable, middle-class fellowship being disturbed by outsiders, of being intruded upon by someone with questionable habits. One theologian poignantly calls this tendency, which opposes the Great Commission, the “Great Disobedience.”
6. Many Reformed churches in the United States today, particularly Presbyterian churches, have long been in a state of homogeneity. Church members often come from similar socioeconomic backgrounds and have comparable educational experiences. They tend to dress alike, speak alike, earn similar incomes, and even share the same skin color. Their theological distinctives have successfully shaped their cultural distinctives, and their cultural distinctives have produced a false unity, which prevents them from becoming broken by the gospel. In such churches, the power of the gospel inevitably diminishes. Thankfully, many Presbyterian churches have recognized this and are re-prioritizing the gospel. They’ve become missional churches again, willing to face a fresh round of challenges brought about by diversity within their communities.
7. Compared to other local churches, the distinguishing feature of Early Rain Church is not its size but its low homogeneity. We are incredibly diverse—from income disparity to class differences to educational gaps to the proportion of migrants and temporary residents to differences in geographical origins, occupations, and even cultural and political views. This brings many challenges—whether it’s acceptance or comparison, inferiority or arrogance, clinging to cultural identities or letting them go, breaking free from self-imposed limitations or imposing them. We have been brought by the Lord into a complex “Christian community,” not merely a “Christian fellowship.”
8. We have witnessed the supernatural power of the gospel most profoundly in the breadth of our unity. (This is something that self-centered brethren often struggle to acknowledge.) We have encountered significant setbacks in deepening our unity. We have even lost our witness. However, the lesson is not to homogenize the church so that we can “safely” rely on natural unity. Instead, we must pray for the Lord to revive the gospel and to grant us its power, so that the depth of our unity may match its breadth.

Our low level of homogeneity is partly because of our size, but not entirely determined by it. In fact, it is driven to a greater extent by the church’s vision. For many years, we have pursued the “Threefold Vision”[1] by creating gospel ministries for prisoners of conscience, petitioners, intellectuals, and university students, by founding schools, by holding prayer meetings for the nation on June 6^th,[2]  by engaging in anti-abortion ministries, and so on, constantly pushing the gospel to its limits within China’s social and legal spheres. If not for our church’s commitment to this vision, this church, once known by outsiders as the “new urban intellectual church,” would never exhibit the social and cultural diversity that it does today. There are, in fact, several churches in our city that are larger than ours, yet their level of homogeneity is far higher than ours.

Therefore, I want to conclude this letter with two simple propositions:

1. The lower the degree of homogeneity within a church community, the greater the life challenges and relational conflicts we may encounter.
2. The greater the life challenges and relational conflicts we encounter, the greater the power and glory of the gospel among us may be.

Dear brothers and sisters, we need both; we cannot have just the one without the other. After the church split, I discussed the composition of our congregation with members of the church council. Although it has not been precisely measured by a mathematical model, we all noticed the same thing. The level of homogeneity among Early Rain members has not increased despite the reduced size of the congregation. Rather, it has remained largely stable; in fact, due to the overall decrease in size, this diversity has even increased to some extent.

This observation brings me much encouragement and affirmation. It means that the challenge of diversity and unity will continue among us. This is a battle we yearn for. The vision of Early Rain and the distinctives of our diverse congregation that we have cultivated over the years have been preserved, which makes our gospel-focus all the more urgent and our vision all the more clear.

I do not know if persecution will come, but I know that if it does come in accordance with the Lord’s will, it will not diminish but rather reinforce two things—the urgency of the gospel and the clarity of our vision.

This Pastoral Letter has already exceeded my intended length, but I want to add one more point to avoid any misunderstanding among the weaker brethren.

Some may ask, “Does the pastor mean we shouldn’t have men’s or women’s fellowships? Or that we shouldn’t have any functional fellowships based on cultural identity?”

I would say—not necessarily. Building friendships in the church with those who share your age, profession, or interests can be a wonderful thing, and God often uses them. There’s nothing wrong with forming relationships with people similar to yourself. However, if the church becomes defined by homogeneous friendships and groups, then the diversity brought about by the gospel and the supernatural unity that displays its glory are in danger of vanishing or becoming obscured.

The priority of the gospel is manifested primarily in the diversity of our congregation, not in its uniformity. If you are a Jewish Christian, this means you can discuss food preparation and dietary considerations with a few fellow countrymen. If you are a Greek Christian, you can discuss a certain Platonic ideal with brothers who have visited Athens. But in a fellowship where both Jewish and Greek believers are present, you must set aside your cultural identities and turn your focus to the gospel itself.

This is the source, power, and purpose of the “supernatural unity” that has come to us, and it is the vision for which I have passionately labored all my life: that from north to south, from citizens to officials, from rich to poor, from young to old, from liberals to conservatives, from the intelligent to the simple-minded, from celebrities to prostitutes, from prime ministers to tax collectors—that all would be made one through the cross of Christ.

Our mission “to the ends of the earth” at the very least entails becoming a community that comprises all communities and a people that embraces all peoples. Without the gospel, even department heads and bureau chiefs would be unwilling to attend the same Bible study group. Yet, on this very day, in this ancient city of Chengdu, university professors and elementary school graduates are sweeping the floors of the sanctuary together. And one day, mayors and petitioners will take communion together in the same church, and judges and ex-convicts will share a meal together in the same fellowship.

O gracious Lord, I know that unless you help us, these things will not happen.

Your brother and fellow heir,

Wang Yi
September 2, 2017 AD

[1] The sanhua yixiang (三化异象) or Threefold Vision contains three tenets: 1) the “kingdomization” of the church (jiaohui guoduhua 教会国度化), which stresses that the church should operate publicly and independently, as a part of God’s kingdom rather than as a private, underground institution or state-run organization; 2) the evangelization of China (zhongguo fuyinhua 中国福音化), which stresses church planting and evangelization throughout all of Chinese society; and 3) the Christianization of culture (wenhua jiduhua 文化基督化), which stresses that Christianity should not only shape individual faith or church life but the broader culture, including the arts, philosophy, education, and politics.

[2] The anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre.