Should Christians Evangelize at the Beijing Olympics?

You would probably think that most evangelists and Christians worldwide wouldn't hesitate before answering this question with a resounding "yes."  But in reality, this question has caused significant cause for debate among many international Christians.

Religious freedom in China is a complex issue, and hardly without controversy.  Some portray religion in China in extremely bleak terms, documenting arrests of religious believers and crackdowns, whereas others consider China to have a thriving religious community with churches overflowing with people.

Even China's Constitution,which guarantees citizens freedom of religion, isn't as straightforward as it might appear.  According to Article 36:

"Citizens of the People's Republic of China enjoy freedom of religious belief. . .   The state protects normal religious activities.  No one makes use of religion to engage in activities that disrupt public order, impair the health of citizens or interfere with the educational system of the state.  Religious bodies and religious affairs are not subject to any foreign domination."

So while citizens enjoy "freedom of religious belief," that belief can't "interfere with the educational system of the state."  In terms of evangelism or proselytization, this issue can be fairly murky- what if certain tenets of your religious belief conflict with the education or general interests of the state, as determined by the authorities?

Worshipping in a government-approved religious house of worship is legal, but proselytization and unregistered house churches are not.  This dynamic leaves overseas Christians who want to work in China with two basic options: work within the legal framework of China, or work illegally and covertly in China.  

Some Christian leaders, like evangelist Franklin Graham, advocate working within the existing governmental framework.  Last May he made headlines and angered many when he said, "I would not support any illegal activity at all," in terms of proselytization and religious activities during the Olympics. 

These comments were not received well by other Christian leaders, including Bob Fu, founder of the China Aid Association, one of the most prominent China watchdog groups. 

According to Fu, "when an unjust law demands them to go against their faith and Jesus’ teaching of the Great Commission, they can not and will not succeed to a ‘faith moratorium’ in order to please an atheistic government during the Olympic Games, even if that means enduring imprisonment and torture."

Graham later clarified his comments, which were directed more towards international Christians, rather than Chinese in house churches.  In a June 4 statement, Graham says,

"I support Christian groups that want to do ministry in China during the Olympics. However, I believe we must be sensitive to and respectful of the local church and the impact we as outsiders could have on them. We are guests in China and anything we do or say has a lasting effect on Chinese Christians that will be there long after the Olympics when we are gone. If we intentionally or inadvertently engage in any illegal activity we could jeopardize the well being of these Christians and the church in China."

Graham makes a strong point- if international Christians came to China for just a week and flagrantly disrespected laws, they probably wouldn't personally face the consequence for those actions.  Instead, Chinese Christians, the very people they intended to help, could experience heavy repercussions.    

Christian Solidarity Worldwide and China Aid Association recently released a report entitled "China: Persecution of Protestant Christians in the Approach to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games," which cited various accounts of Christians who were arrested for their faith. 

If Franklin Graham's ministries were to take the same approach, however, he would not have the same type of strategic influence within China.  To date, his ministry, Samaritan's Purse, has spent an impressive $1.1 million towards earthquake relief work.  He was also able to preach at China's largest official church of 12,000 people, and has several meetings with prominent government leaders.

Graham has been the ideal poster-boy for China's thriving state-sanctioned churches and even legal evangelism, but those who only understand China's Christian community in those terms have an incomplete perspective.  Similarly, those who only see China through a lens of persecution or view Christians that worship in official churches as heretics, also only see part of the picture.

Given the complex make-up church in China, in both legal and underground forms, it's probably fitting that the overseas Christian groups in China are similarly diverse.  While they probably won't reach a uniform consensus on evangelism in China, both are supporting China's Christians.