To Our Youth: Reflections on Twenty Years of China’s Urban Churches

Author's note: This is a reflection on an era. The vigor of our youth is fading into the past, and as we enter our middle age, we inevitably find ourselves looking back and forth, reflecting on what has been. This article is dedicated to that group of Christians in Beijing during the first decade of the 21st century. On many mornings, we hurried to church in the sunshine. On many cold evenings, we took the bus home after lively Bible study. Days like these left us with many beautiful memories. Yet an inadequate theological framework, coupled with the grand slogans proclaimed by church leaders, also left behind a fragmented and disordered faith. The past is set. It is time for reflection.