文/HuSir （设想查理·柯克在中国家庭教会演讲）

　　女士们、先生们，亲爱的基督徒弟兄姐妹们，今天能以这种方式与你们相聚，讨论中国家庭教会的信仰与挑战，我深感荣幸。作为一名长期捍卫宗教自由和福音真理的人，我看到中国地下教会的光芒在压迫的阴影中依然闪耀。在美国，我们为维护信仰与文化对抗，而你们在中共政权下的斗争提醒我们，当无神的威权主义试图扑灭基督的光芒时，信仰将面临何等考验。你们的家庭教会，在住宅、公寓和隐秘场所聚集，体现了早期基督徒的模式——简单、热忱、不受国家控制的妥协。然而，这种形式也带来了危险，因为中共将你们的独立视为对其权力垄断的威胁。下面我们就各个方面的提醒展开阐述：

一、教会必须回到真理，而非安全

亲爱的弟兄姊妹，
我知道你们的聚会并不公开——在城郊的一间旧仓库、公寓，或租来的民房里。
你们唱诗要压低声音，祷告时要看窗外是否有车停下。
有的教会刚建立两个月就被查封，圣经被没收，牧者被带走。

我听说有一个山东的姊妹，只因为在微信群里转发了一篇查经笔记，就被单位约谈三次。她哭着说：“我只是想让别人认识神。”
这就是今日中国的现实：信仰成了风险。

但我想说，这正是初代教会的模样。
他们也曾在地下墓穴中敬拜，也曾被视为“国家敌人”。
没有安全的信仰，只有真实的信仰。
若教会只求苟安，不敢为真理发声，那它便只是社会的装饰品，而非基督的身体。

二、不要让恐惧取代福音的使命

在你们当中，有公务员、教师、医生，也有国企员工，也有很多人同时也是中共党员。
你们知道，体制里的恐惧是最深的。
有人信主十年，却从未敢公开受洗，因为“党员不能信教”；
有人是中学教师，被人举报后被调离岗位，只因在课堂提到“圣诞节的真正意义”。

我理解这种恐惧。但请记住：恐惧不是出于神。
恐惧让你活着，却让你的灵魂死去；
真理让你冒险，却让你的生命有意义。

中国的体制早已把顺从训练成一种“美德”——
孩子学会沉默，家长学会妥协，职员学会圆滑。
但基督徒若也以此为智慧，那教会就失去了盐的味道。

三、真理不是抽象的，而是生活的见证

在这个国家，你不能用选票表达意见，但你可以用诚实的生活表达信仰。
有人拒绝参与职场造假，被降职；
有人拒绝行贿，被孤立；
有人在病房里祷告，被家属指责“封建迷信”。
这些都不是政治行为，而是信仰的见证。

我知道在贵州，有一位家庭教会牧师被以“非法经营罪”判刑七年，只因为印刷圣经教材；
在河南，有信徒聚会被指“危害社会秩序”；
在北京，一个年轻的弟兄因为帮教会租场地被公司开除。

这就是现实——政治可以压制教会的活动，却压不住真理的力量。
每一次拒绝谎言、坚持公义，都是福音在行动。

四、不要用宗教批判他人，而要用生命传递真理

我也知道，在中国教会内部，有不同声音。
有的教会说：“顺服政府是神的旨意”；
有的教会说：“与世界分离才是真敬虔”。
于是，一边沉默，一边逃避。

我想说：神从未呼召我们逃离世界，而是呼召我们在世界里作光作盐。
若教会因为害怕污染而拒绝进入社会，那社会就会被黑暗完全占据。
神要的不是清高，而是担当。
不是论断谁属灵，而是谁仍然肯说真话。

五、在被压制的土地上，信仰必须化为行动

我听说一位来自四川的弟兄，在工厂里被迫签假账。
他拒绝签，结果工资被拖欠半年。
他的上司讥讽他：“信神能当饭吃吗？”
他回答说：“不能，但能让我不说谎。”

这就是信仰在中国最伟大的见证。
不是站在讲台上的演说，而是日常生活的抵抗。
当体制要求每个人都沉默，而你仍然选择做一个诚实的人，
那一刻，你就是教会，就是福音。

六、教会的希望不在政治，而在灵魂复活

我并不天真地以为，体制会为你们改变。
但我相信，神在你们的生命里已经开始改变中国。
从心灵开始的革命，才是真正的复兴。

中国教会若能在压迫中坚持祷告、在困境中互助、在恐惧中扶持，
那这片土地就不会彻底黑暗。
因为每一盏小灯，都是天国的预兆。

结语：在黑暗中坚持，就已照亮

亲爱的弟兄姊妹，
有一天，也许你们仍然要在密室中聚会，
也许牧师被带走，圣经被查封，网络被监控。
但我告诉你们——真理从不消失，它只会转入地下生根发芽。

黑暗无法熄灭光，恐惧无法吞没信心。
你们不孤单，世界各地的信徒都在注视着你们，
你们的坚守，正在让全世界重新认识“信仰的真实”。

愿你们记住：
不被恐惧统治的教会，就是自由的教会；不被谎言诱惑的灵魂，就是光明的灵魂。

　　愿上帝坚固中国的家庭教会，将你们的困境化为得胜的见证。阿们！

The Courage of the Church: Standing Firm in the Darkness

By HuSir (Imagining a speech by Charlie Kirk delivered to China’s underground house churches)

Ladies and gentlemen, dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
It is an honor to meet you in this way and to speak about the faith and challenges of China’s house churches. As someone who has long defended religious freedom and the truth of the Gospel, I am deeply moved by the light that continues to shine from China’s underground church amid the shadows of oppression.

In America, we fight to preserve faith and culture in the face of secular hostility. Yet your struggle under an atheistic regime reminds the world of the true cost of belief—what it means when godless authoritarianism seeks to extinguish the light of Christ.

Your house churches—meeting in apartments, basements, and hidden rooms—reflect the pattern of the early believers: simple, devoted, unyielding to state control. But this form of worship also carries danger, for the Communist Party views your independence as a threat to its monopoly on power.

Let us look together at a few vital reminders for such a time as this.

1. The Church Must Return to Truth, Not Safety

My dear brothers and sisters,
I know your gatherings are not public. You meet in rented apartments, abandoned warehouses, or small homes on the city’s edge.
You sing softly, pray while watching the street, and hide your Bibles when footsteps approach.
Some churches have been shut down only weeks after forming; pastors arrested, Scripture confiscated.

I heard of a sister from Shandong who was interrogated three times at work simply for sharing a Bible study article in a WeChat group.
Through tears she said, “I only wanted others to know God.”
This is the reality of faith in China today—faith itself has become a risk.

But I tell you: this is also the picture of the early Church.
They, too, worshiped in catacombs and were called “enemies of the state.”
There is no safe faith—only true faith.
If the Church seeks survival but refuses to proclaim truth, it becomes a social ornament, not the body of Christ.

2. Do Not Let Fear Replace the Mission of the Gospel

Among you are civil servants, teachers, doctors, and employees of state-owned enterprises—many also members of the Chinese Communist Party.
You know that the deepest fear lives inside the system.
Some have believed in Christ for ten years but have never dared to be baptized because “Party members cannot have religion.”
A teacher was reassigned after being reported for explaining the real meaning of Christmas in class.

I understand this fear. But remember: fear is not from God.
Fear keeps your body alive but kills your soul;
truth makes you risk everything but gives life its meaning.

The Chinese system has long trained submission as a virtue:
children learn silence, parents learn compromise, workers learn to be smooth and cautious.
But if Christians accept this as “wisdom,” the Church loses its salt and light.

3. Truth Is Not Abstract—It Is Witness in Everyday Life

In this country, you cannot vote your conscience, but you can live it.
Some have refused to falsify company records and were demoted;
some have refused to pay bribes and were isolated;
some have prayed at hospital bedsides and were scolded as “superstitious.”
These are not political acts—they are testimonies of faith.

I know of a house-church pastor in Guizhou sentenced to seven years for “illegal business operations” merely for printing Bible materials;
believers in Henan accused of “disturbing public order” for worshiping together;
a young man in Beijing fired after helping rent a meeting place for his church.

This is the reality—politics can silence activity but never suppress truth.
Every act of honesty, every refusal to lie, every stand for justice is the Gospel in action.

4. Do Not Use Religion to Judge Others—Live Out Truth Instead

I know there are differences within the Chinese church.
Some say, “We must submit to the government—it’s God’s will.”
Others say, “We must separate from the world to remain pure.”
So one side stays silent; the other hides.

But I say to you: God never called us to flee the world, but to be light and salt within it.
If the Church withdraws from society out of fear of contamination, darkness will fill every space.
God desires not pride, but courage—not those who debate who is more spiritual, but those who still dare to tell the truth.

5. On This Oppressed Land, Faith Must Become Action

I heard of a brother from Sichuan who worked in a factory.
He was ordered to sign falsified accounts but refused.
As a result, his pay was withheld for six months.
His supervisor mocked him: “Can your God feed you?”
He answered, “No, but He keeps me from lying.”

That is the greatest witness of faith in China today.
Not grand sermons, but quiet acts of resistance in daily life.
When the system demands silence and you still choose to be honest—
in that moment, you are the Church, you are the Gospel.

6. The Hope of the Church Lies Not in Politics, but in Spiritual Resurrection

I do not naively believe that the regime will change for your sake.
But I do believe that God is already changing China through you.
The only revolution that endures is the one of the heart.

If Chinese believers can keep praying amid persecution,
keep helping one another in hardship,
keep encouraging one another in fear—
then this land will never be wholly dark.
For every small lamp that remains lit is a sign of the coming Kingdom.

Conclusion: To Stand Firm in Darkness Is Already to Shine

My beloved brothers and sisters,
There may come a day when you still must meet in secret rooms;
when your pastor is taken away, your Bibles confiscated, your network monitored.
But hear this—truth never disappears; it only takes root deeper underground.

Darkness cannot extinguish light; fear cannot overcome faith.
You are not alone.
Believers around the world are watching, praying, learning from your endurance.
Your steadfastness is revealing to the world the reality of faith.

Remember this:
A church not ruled by fear is a free church.
A soul not deceived by lies is a soul of light.

May God strengthen the house churches of China,
turning your suffering into victory,
your oppression into testimony.
Amen.