It’s not your city… really, it’s not. I understand your city is the provincial, gubernatorial, military, extraterrestrial capital or regional headquarters of whatever, but it’s not really that different there! This is the most tired of excuses to live without boldness in China (and I find myself wanting to use it, too). It’s much easier to believe that I live in the exceptionally difficult city, rather than to believe that maybe I should be bolder than I am!
Everyone thinks their city is the special exception – people think so in our city, too! Beware of this if you’re heading to China. Someone will tell you, ‘Maybe it’s like that in other places, but you have to understand, it’s different here…’ But you’ve got to decide if you’re gonna believe that or not.
Just a quick thought on this crucial decision – you will find that almost anywhere you go in China, no matter how strong peoples’ opinions are of the dangers, the boundaries are simply not being tested! Many people have been here for years, do not personally know anyone who’s ever had any run-ins with the law, and yet they operate under the assumption that they’re in grave danger! I understand why – we’re all told how dangerous it is! But shouldn’t we be running along the fence and testing it for weaknesses? Shouldn’t we be doing all in our power to get the Gospel out, even if it means we have some close calls? It seems that a bunch of our heroes – from the Apostle James to Jim Elliot – ran a little too close to that fence.
We have learned so much in our time here in China because I was strongly encouraged by my mentor to not buy into everything we hear and to experiment to find out what really can and can’t be done. I would in turn encourage you to test the limits in your city and don’t just accept that things are a certain way. Ask some hard questions. Find out the facts behind the fears. They’re often precious few. Wouldn’t you hate to find out you missed out on countless opportunities because of a groundless fear?
Let’s face it. There’s a thousand reasons why people can’t be saved in your city. Why churches can’t be planted. Why the Word can’t be proclaimed. And there’s one big reason why then can: the Gospel. The point of the Gospel is that God has destroyed every obstacle that lay between himself and his sinful creation in order to restore us to a right relationship with him. You won’t find a bigger obstacle to a man’s salvation than his depravity – but the Gospel of Jesus Christ is sufficient. If God went to those lengths to reconcile us to himself, let’s trust that he will miraculously overcome much smaller obstacles as we bear the news to the world!
The Gospel in China 
EXCELLENT! Thanks for the challenge and wake-up call! I’ll pass it on.