中國：教會領袖們與「天上人」劃清界線

本文譯自:China: leaders distance themselves from ‘the heavenly man’英國“今日福音派” Evangelicals Now (en)月刊報導(2004年12月1日)

儘管近年來主確實在中國帶領了數百萬人歸向基督，但「雲弟兄」的性格和一些說法——他的故事被收錄在《天上人》一書中——受到了中國本土家庭教會領袖們的質疑。

林獻羔（Samuel Lamb， Lin Xiangao）在八月出版的一本小冊子中強烈抨擊了“天上人”(雲弟兄)。北京兩位最受尊敬的家庭教會領袖謝模善和袁相忱也強烈反對他和徐永澤。袁相忱本身有五旬節背景，他稱他們是「擾亂教會的害群之馬」。

四月初，希尼團契大型農村家庭教會的主要領袖在上海開會，一致與雲弟兄和徐彼得劃清界限，他們認為這兩位異端邪說人士來自「重生派」運動，而該派被中國大多數家庭教會領袖普遍視為極端，甚至可以說是異端邪說。謝摩西（模善）撰寫了一篇文章，描述了「重生派」傳道者如何用其極端教義分裂現有教會。

重生派已經分裂成大約五個不同的分支派系。有人估計，彼得‧徐和雲弟兄仍然代表中國數萬名信徒，而不是他們常宣稱的五千多萬。
雲弟兄和徐彼得都已在海外待了七年了。中國家庭教會的領袖們不認為他們具有代表性，對他們在海外的活動感到不滿。

當事人的對錯難以辨別。但可以肯定的是：

回歸耶路撒冷

經常有人聲稱有「10萬」（甚至更多）宣教士正在接受培訓或準備前往中東。根據最可靠、在中國擁有多年經驗的中國事工機構估計，可能有幾百人正在接受某種培訓——估計人數在250到500人之間。

亞洲歸主協會的《亞洲報導》雜誌（該雜誌的觀點頗具魅力）的一篇文章中引用了這樣一段話：「中國家庭教會五大主流的領袖們都對最近逃離中國的傳教士（例如雲和徐）在西方的誇大其詞感到擔憂，他們聲稱家庭教會的目標是派遣10萬甚至50萬名「回歸耶路撒冷」的傳教士。首先，這完全是胡說八道！可能在未來幾年我們可以訓練100或200人，但絕對不是像這些被嚴重誇大的數字”，這些領袖們澄清道。”(《亞洲報導》，2004年5/6月)。

OMF内地會（海外福音使團）在其2004年9月的《中國禱告新聞》中警告說：“真正開始認真接受培訓的人數仍然很少。一家中國事工最近公開表示，全中國接受‘回歸耶路撒冷’認真培訓的人數約為200人。我們相信這是一個準確的估計。考慮到情況在不斷變化發展，實際數字可能更高，在200到500人之間。”

一些海外基督徒得到印象認為有 10 萬名福音傳道者準備離開中國，這與現實不符。鄉村家庭教會很難為漢族福音事工培訓傳道人…根據 2003-04 年非常可靠的數字，四大家庭教會「主流」聲稱擁有數百萬成員，總共擁有 130 所普通培訓學校。其中 100 所是一年制訓練學校，甚至缺乏最基本的設施。這些團體還有少數比較專業的訓練學校，是爲了向少數民族和回歸耶路撒冷。例如，中華福音團契聲稱擁有 200 萬名成員，有一所回歸耶路撒冷傳教學校，有 50 名年輕人在培訓中……一些家庭教會領袖對於海外有關回歸耶路撒冷運動的宣傳和爲了轟動效應的報導程度感到不滿。

中國教會支持事工的巴柝聲（Ross Paterson）在其2004年夏季發表的《中國挑戰》一文中寫道：「與此同時，我非常擔憂他（雲弟兄）的事工在西方教會的呈現方式。本質上，他所傳達的信息似乎只是『回歸耶路撒冷』的挑戰……西方的信徒必須明白，這不是某個群體或雲弟兄本人的異象和工作。這是我們許多中國信徒心中的一個願景，他們大多從來沒有聽過他的名字或事工。。。因此，我對我們今天對中國的態度感到擔憂。如果湧向中國境外的各地聚會的信徒們，只聽到這種「回歸耶路撒冷」的異象，那麼他們最終很可能會嚴重低估中國帶來的巨大挑戰。沒錯，中國正在差遣宣教士。但同時，中國迫切需要一支來自海外的基督教同工大軍，不僅要前往耶路撒冷沿途的國家，還要前往中國本土。中國13億人口中的大多數人仍然需要福音；她的大多數信徒迫切需要被建造和教導。

理清頭緒

數百萬農民（包括基督徒）正從農村湧入城市，導致農村家庭教會缺乏訓練有素的領袖，因此要求10萬農民傳教士離開中國是毫無意義的。在某些村莊，已有90%的年輕基督徒離開鄉村，到城市尋找工作。此外，大多數中國城市的基督徒比例不到1%。中國還有1億少數民族和部落尚未接觸福音。中國有2000萬穆斯林幾乎沒有接觸過基督的福音。對家庭教會成員來說，與其直接前往中東，不如先在本國接觸穆斯林，累積經驗，以此來應對接觸穆斯林這項艱鉅的任務，這樣更有意義。

反應

EN(本報)請《天上人》的出版商 Monarch對此事發表評論。

他們刊登了一篇題為《天上人－仍是迫害目標》的新聞稿。英國回歸耶路撒冷基金會協調員戈登·希克森在文中表示：“我與雲弟兄和回歸耶路撒冷基金會密切合作已有數年……對於那些了解雲弟兄及其聚會安排的人來說，如果事情並非如此嚴重，對他濫用資金的指控簡直可笑至極。”

事實是，雲弟兄從不經手他在世界各地聚會所得的任何一分錢。一直以來都是如此。他從不強調捐款，也從未向任何人索取任何東西，除了他們的禱告。

回歸耶路撒冷基金會（BTJ）是英國註冊成立的慈善機構。因此，BTJ 基金會根據英國法律運作。我們擁有一支由德高望重的基督教領袖組成的董事會，並不斷尋求與所有在中國開展業務的主要宣教機構建立聯繫。 BTJ 基金會完全負責，我們的財務每年接受審計……絕大部分資金最終都被用於回中國印刷聖經、書籍、運營培訓中心、支持傳教士和宣教士等。

在同一份文件中， 《天上人》和《重返耶路撒冷》兩本書的合著者保羅·海特威（Paul Hattaway）解釋：「我讀到最近針對雲弟兄及其部分同工的攻擊，心中不禁有些傷感。雲弟兄的部分經歷，尤其是他1984年在獄中絕食74天以及1997年奇蹟般越獄的經歷，被一些人宣稱是謊言。作為一名研究人員，我常常發現，傾聽任何相互矛盾的證詞對更準確地理解真相大有裨益。目前指控的問題在於……它並非證詞，而且忽略了可靠證人的積極證據。原告們並沒有參與他們所譴責的虛假事件。事實上，我很快就發現，許多指控雲的人從未見過他；其他人則在幾年前在中國與他短暫見過面。

雲弟兄自己說：“在主的面前，我想說，我對那些針對我寫小冊子的神的僕人絕對沒有任何怨恨，我已經完全原諒了他們……我知道有一天，我們會在天父面前擁抱，當我們一起敬拜神的羔羊時，任何誤解都將被遺忘。”

這場爭議最終將如何收場，還有待觀察。顯然，所有基督徒都應該為屬神子民的正直與團結祈禱。

英文原文(Original English text)：

China: leaders distance themselves from ‘the heavenly man’

 Date posted:  1 Dec 2004         

While the Lord has indeed brought millions of people to Christ in China over recent years, the character and some of the claims of ‘Brother Yun’ — whose story is told in the book The Heavenly Man — are being called into question by indigenous Chinese house church leaders.

Samuel Lamb (Lin Xiangao) has strongly attacked the ‘heavenly man’ (Brother Yun) in a pamphlet issued in August. The two most respected house church leaders in Beijing, Moses Xie and Allen Yuan, have also come out strongly against him and Peter Xu. Allen Yuan, who is himself from a Pentecostal background, has said that they are ‘black sheep disturbing the church’.

In early April the key leaders of the large rural Sinim Fellowship house churches met in Shanghai and all distanced themselves from Brother Yun and Peter Xu, whom they regard as heterodox, as they come from the ‘Born Again’ movement which is widely regarded by most house church leaders in China as extreme, if not downright heretical. Moses Xie has written an article in which he describes how the Born Again evangelists split existing churches with their extreme teaching.

The Born Again movement has fragmented into some five different factions. Some people estimate that Peter Xu and Brother Yun still represent a few tens of thousands of believers in China — not the 50+ million they often claim.

Brother Yun has been overseas now for some seven years, as has Peter Xu. House church leaders in China do not regard them as representative and are unhappy with their activities overseas.

The rights and wrongs of the people involved are difficult to discern. However, what is clear is:

Back to Jerusalem

Claims are often made that ‘100,000’ (or even more) evangelists are in training or posed to go out to the Middle East. The most reliable China ministries with many years of experience inside China estimate that a few hundred may be in some kind of training — estimates vary from about 250-500.

A quotation from Asian Report magazine of Asian Outreach (which is charismatic in outlook) said: ‘Leaders of the five streams of China’s house church movement were all concerned with the exaggerated claims in the West by recent escapees from China [i.e. Yun and Xu] that the house church is targeting to send out 100,000 or even 500,000 Back to Jerusalem missionaries. This is, first of all, totally untrue! “We may be able to train 100 or 200 in the next few years. But nothing like these grossly exaggerated numbers”, the leaders clarified’ (Asian Report, May/June 2004).

OMF, in its September 2004 China Prayer News, cautions: ‘The number of those who have begun actual training in earnest is still quite small. One China ministry publicly stated recently that the total number across China of those receiving serious training for Back to Jerusalem is about 200 people. We believe this to be an accurate estimate. Taking into consideration that the picture is constantly changing and developing, it is possible the number could be somewhat higher, in the region of 200-500.

The impression that some Christians overseas have that 100,000 evangelists are poised to leave China does not tally with the present reality. The rural house churches find it difficult to train evangelists for their general gospel ministry to the Han Chinese… According to very reliable figures for 2003-04, four of the major house church “streams” which claim millions of members have a total of 130 general training schools. Of these 100 are one-year training schools which lack even the barest essentials. These groups have a handful of more specialised training schools for outreach to the national minorities and Back to Jerusalem. For example, the China Gospel Fellowship claims two million members and has one school for BTJ with 50 young people in training… Some house church leaders are unhappy with the level of publicity and sensationalism overseas about BTJ’.

Ross Paterson of the Chinese Church Support Ministries in his China Challenge, Summer 2004, said: ‘I do at the same time have a very deep concern for the way in which his [Yun’s] ministry is being presented in Western churches. Essentially the message seems to be only that of the “Back to Jerusalem” challenge… It is important that believers in the West understand that this is not the vision and work of one group or of Brother Yun himself. It is a vision in the hearts of many Chinese believers, many of whom have never heard of his name or work… I am therefore concerned about our attitude to China today. If this “Back to Jerusalem” vision is all that the believers flocking to the meetings in various lands outside of China hear, then there is a very real danger that they finish with a seriously reduced view of the huge challenge of China. Yes, China is sending out missionaries. But at the same time China urgently needs an army of Christian workers from overseas to go not just to the countries on the way to Jerusalem but to China itself. Most of China’s 1.3 billion people are still in need of the gospel; most of her believers urgently need building up and teaching’.

Making sense

It makes little sense to call for 100,000 peasant evangelists to leave China when millions of peasants (including Christians) are pouring from the villages into the cities, causing a dearth of trained leadership in the rural house churches — in some villages already 90% of the young Christians have left seeking work in the cities. Also most Chinese cities are under 1% Christian. There are, too, 100 million minority and tribal peoples in China unreached by the gospel. There are 20 million Muslims in China virtually untouched by the gospel of Christ. It makes sense for house church people to train for the difficult task of reaching Muslims by reaching out to the Muslims in their own country first to gain experience, rather than going directly to the Middle East.

Response

EN asked Monarch, publishers of The Heavenly Man, to comment on the situation.

They produced a press release with the title ‘The Heavenly Man — still a target for persecution’. In it Gordon Hickson, co-ordinator of the Back To Jerusalem Foundation in the United Kingdom, said: ‘I have been working closely with Brother Yun and Back to Jerusalem now for several years… For those people who know Yun, and how his meetings are organised this accusation that he misuses finances would be totally laughable if it wasn’t so serious.

The truth is that Brother Yun does not handle a cent of any money that comes in from his meetings anywhere in the world. This has always been the case. He never emphasises donations at all, and has never asked a single person for anything except their prayers.

‘The Back To Jerusalem Foundation was set up as a registered charity in the UK. Accordingly BTJ operates according to UK law. We have a board of respected Christian leaders and are constantly seeking to network with all the major missions agencies that are involved in China. The BTJ Foundation is totally accountable and our finances are audited annually… The vast majority of funds end up being used back in China to print Bibles, books, operate training centres, support evangelists and missionaries, etc.’

In the same document Paul Hattaway, who co-authored The Heavenly Man and Back To Jerusalem books, explained: ‘I have read the recent attacks on Brother Yun and some of his co-workers with a measure of sadness. Parts of Yun’s story, especially his 74-day fast in prison in 1984 and his miraculous escape from prison in 1997, have been declared to be lies by some. As a researcher, I often find it instructive to listen to any conflicting testimony in order to have a more accurate understanding of what is true. The trouble with the present accusations … is that it isn’t testimony and it neglects positive evidence of reliable witnesses. The accusers were not part of these events they denounce as false. In fact I soon discovered that many of Yun’s accusers have never met him; others have met him briefly, years ago in China.’

Brother Yun himself is quoted as saying: ‘In the presence of The Lord, I would like to say I hold absolutely nothing against the men of God who wrote the booklet about me, and I have completely forgiven them … I know that one day we will embrace before our Father in heaven, and any misunderstanding will be forgotten as we worship the Lamb of God together.’

It remains to be seen how this controversy will play out. Obviously all Christians should be praying for integrity and unity among the Lord’s people.