These churches are subject to rules governing their existence. They include:
• The Communist Party is the head of the church in China (Three Self churches report to the Three
Self Patriotic Movement, which reports to the State Administration for Religious Affairs, which is
controlled by the Chinese Communist Party).
• The Communist Party decides how many people can be baptized per year.
• The Communist Party has the final decision on who can preach and what can be preached.
• Preaching should focus on the social rules and the social benefits of Christianity.
• Preaching about resurrection and the second coming of Jesus is forbidden.
• Preaching against religions that deny the deity of Jesus is forbidden.
• Preaching that atheist communist heroes went to hell is forbidden; good communists go to heaven
• Preaching against abortion is forbidden.
• Gathering to worship outside Three Self churches and official "meeting points" is forbidden.
• Preachers cannot preach at a Three Self church other than the one to which they were assigned.
• Evangelizing or giving out tracts is forbidden.
• Importing Bibles is forbidden, even if they are given away for free.
• Printing Bibles is forbidden, even if they are given away for free.
• Government officials cannot be Christian.
• Teachers cannot be Christian.
• Soldiers cannot be Christian.
• Police officers cannot be Christian.
• Children and teenagers cannot be Christian.
In short, they are puppet churches set up by the state to co-opt Christianity and use it as a means of promotion of the party, for what they can't stamp out (religion), they seek to control. As one pastor at a state-sponsored church in Beijing reminded his congregation: "We have to remember first of all we are a citizen of this country," he says. "And we are a citizen of the Kingdom of God. That comes second."
While they may have the veneer of authentic worship to the unassuming eye, anyone who is filled with the Holy Spirit in China and looking to worship the one true Lord recognizes that such churches are a sham. Those who wish to worship "in spirit and truth" must do so in underground house churches that operate in secret, risking fines and imprisonment to do so. Such unsanctioned forms of worship are seen as subversive, and such accusations are not entirely inaccurate. Whereas Communism subjects the individual through coercive measures to submit to the state, Christ breaks the chains that bind us in slavery (Is 9:4). It is not a co-opted freedom, for those who continue in the Word "are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” (Jn 8:31-32). It is hard to control free men. Because they are free.
For those sensitive to issues of religious freedom and its slow erosion in our current culture here in America, China looks like an extreme example. But it paints a picture of what blatant, unchecked state-control of religion looks like. To the true believer, the sham-nature of such churches is obvious upon closer investigation and appears almost laughable, for true religion loses its authenticity the moment Christ is taken off his throne and replaced with liberal ideology. But how many undiscerning have accepted it sight unseen, apostatizing unknowingly? How many accept that the "Kingdom of God comes second?"
For those who have no love of Truth, keep your sham churches and your sanitized worship. For those who submit to the One True God, the Holy Spirit gives them eyes to see, for "the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people" (Jn 4:23). But pray they might persevere to the end, because the road to life is narrow. And the State does not tolerate subversion so kindly.
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