Written by a Missionary in a Creative Access Country
“You should visit Mao Mountain, it’s a Taoist mountain. You know about Taoism, right? Unlike Buddhism, it’s a religion that originated in China.”
I had just asked my cab driver what were some fun things to do in Zhenjiang. Not that I had time to see any more sites, but I was praying the question would lead to a good conversation. The Lord blessed!
“Yes, I know about Taoism. Are you Taoist? Are you religious?”
“No, no, no, no, no. I’m not religious at all. I just believe in money. I don’t have time for religion.”
“You believe in money? Taoism has a wealth god, right? That’s kind of like being Taoist then, don’t you think?”
“Hahaha, I don’t worship the wealth god. I just believe in money directly. To be honest, we Chinese have no time for religion. We’re too busy scrapping by trying to make ends meet. If we had time we might trust in religion.”
“Well have you heard of Jesus?”
“Jesus? Yes, he lived in Jerusalem, right?” He was audibly unsure of himself.
“That’s the one! He lived around there.”
“You know there is a church here called Gospel Chapel. It’s the oldest church in town.”
“Gospel Chapel? Interesting. Do you know what ‘gospel’ means?”
“Gospel?” He rolled the word around in his mouth a bit. “No, I don’t know any of that sort of thing. Like I was saying, no time. I’m too busy trying to earn a living.” He caught a glance of me in the rearview mirror with that last sentence. He cracked a smile.
“The gospel isn’t hard to understand,” I continued. “It’s the good news about Jesus. God created us, and then we sinned against Him, breaking His law. But He loves us so much that He sent His Son to become a man and die in our place.”
“I saw a video about Jesus once. It included His death.”
“His death on a cross, right?”
“Yeah, that’s it.”
“The Bible says…you know what the Bible is, right?”
“Uh…I have a Muslim friend who’s told me some about that sort of thing.”
“The Bible is a book. A book written by God for us to read. It says that when Jesus died on the cross, He bore our sins dying in our place. The wages of sin is death, but the Lord commends His love toward us in Jesus and His death for us.”
He was silent for a bit, and before the conversation could go on, we had reached my destination.
“Well, we’re here.”
“Wow, that was quick. Thank you, sir. Here’s a little gift for you!” I handed him a gospel tract and a copy of John and Romans. “You really ought to read it!”
“Thanks!”
Conversations like this are all too often in China. I don’t recall how many times I’ve been told that they don’t have time to think about the unseen because they are too busy worrying about what they can see. They are too busy concerning themselves with accumulating in this life to consider the next. They have set the wealth god of Taoism aside, but it’s in word only. Though most are too busy to ascend Mao Mountain to pray at an idol’s feet, they become his errand boy, running themselves and their families into the ground in search of his “blessings” and “bounty.” But what will it profit them if they gain the wealth of Ma or Musk and forfeit their soul? They don’t claim Taoism, but many are still Taoists in Tisguise.
Pray for China. Pray for the Lord to do a work in this man’s life through the power of His Word. Pray that the Lord Jesus would be exalted above the wealth god and the rest of the Taoist pantheon in this nation. Christ is worthy!
