The Chinese church in North America is an anomaly. In the last twenty years, more than three hundred new churches were started. There are three hundred student Bible study groups in Canada and the United States, almost every one of them started by the students themselves. Very evidently God has caused the Chinese in North America to be very responsive to the gospel. The Chinese church is educated, affluent and filled with talent.1 As Two-Third World missions come into prominence in mission circles, the church in the West is looking to the Chinese church to "pick up the baton" and carry out the Great Commission across cultural barriers. Yet with all seven hundred congregations the Chinese church is reaching only five percent of the Chinese community with the gospel.2 She is a small minority. And although endowed with a rich tradition of spirituality and evangelistic zeal, she is weak in two crucial areas: doctrinal maturity 3 and church consciousness.4 She is a young church. Jesus calls the church to disciple the nations (Matthew 28:19-20). Jesus calls us to seek His Kingdom and righteousness in all that we do (Matthew 6:33). Paul tells us that if any human being is in Christ, everything – including his or her whole life -- is made new. The individual is new, or more precisely, there is a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), a new world. This means that the Lordship of Christ includes His lordship over our work, our careers, our families, and our ambitions. We are to live as living demonstrations that Jesus is the answer. If Jesus is the answer, what are the questions? 5 In every culture and in every generation human beings ask different questions about life and the universe. These questions and their answers add up to what we call "culture." From the biblical perspective culture is human's attempt to either obey or disobey God's mandate; it was given at creation when humans were assigned to rule over the universe (Genesis 1:26-28).6 Part of the culture of a society is its attitude toward work. In this paper we will seek to explore the relationship between the biblical concept of calling and work, on the one hand, and issues arising out of the attitudes toward work found in the Chinese community in North America, on the other.

I. Work and Meaning

It is Tuesday morning, and the students in my English class in Chinatown are arriving. Harriet (not her real name), the wife of a contractor, is beaming with joy. In her hand is a newspaper clipping. Her son, a student in one of New York's most competitive high schools, made it as a semi-finalist in the annual Westinghouse scientific talent search. Two weeks later, she told me that he came in twelfth place. You can see the pride in her eyes.
* * * * * It is common knowledge that Chinese students in North America excel in the sciences. It is so fascinating to the Americans that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology conducted a research project to study the reasons behind such competence. Why do Chinese gravitate toward science and technology, and why do they do so well? The Bible tells us that God is a working God. He expressed Himself through word (John 1:1) and deed (Psalm 33:6) 7. He made humans in His own image so that they may work. Work is part of what it means to be human, to be created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-28). In a sense, work gives identity, dignity and meaning to the existence of humankind. Sin, pain and conflict came into human's world of work (Genesis 3:17-19, Romans 8:19-21). In Christ, however, this image of God is renewed in humankind (Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:10), so that they may follow the example of their Savior, the Second Adam, to live in obedience to and to the glory of God (Colossians 3:17; Romans 11:36). Though there is suffering and pain in life and work, there is hope that one day the world itself will be renewed. Traditionally the Chinese people, not knowing God as their Creator and Redeemer, held to a Confucian-Taoist, humanist worldview, which someone has called "mystico-pragmatism." 8 Part of this worldview is the belief that humans are nature's correlate.9 Humans do not act upon or exploit nature; rather they complement nature and live in harmony with it. Chinese paintings portray tall mountains and deep rivers, small fishermen in a boat, or a lady sewing in a hut. The Chinese paint flowers on the branches, not on a vase; fruits are picked off the tree and not from a bowl. The goal of the educated cultivated individual is to attain sagehood -- to be one with nature. So emperors and dynasties may come and go, but the sage, the chun-tzu, has inner harmony with himself or herself and with the world. This is the "mystical" part of the worldview. In the realm of human culture and society there is harmony as well -- but harmony based on the "pragmatic" part of the worldview. The emperor, the Son of heaven, rules over all of t'ien-hsia (under heaven). The peasant works according to the rhythms of the changing seasons, and since "the sky is high and the emperor is far away," his or her primary concern is that the crops do not fail so that his or her family gets to eat this year. At the local level, the scholar-official-gentry class rules over the peasants, according to classical Confucianism, by exemplar virtue.10 The "pragmatic" side of the Confucian-Taoist worldview is a system of social ethics and rules of etiquette, which lubricates Chinese society and preserves harmony in interpersonal relationships. The Confucian-Taoist worldview saw China as a cultural entity -- Chung kuo, which literally means "the center of the universe." This ethnocentric worldview, however, was shattered in the nineteenth century by Western and Japanese aggression, beginning with the Opium War (1839-1842) and culminating in the Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895). The Chinese could no longer view t'ien-hsia idealistically as a harmonious whole, a cultural entity embracing the universe. China was rudely awakened to the reality that she was a political entity, a nation among nations in a modern world about to be carved up in the "scramble for concessions" (1895-1900). "What is Chinese?" became a new issue.11 Related to this was the question, "If China is a political entity, how can China be strengthened and modernized as a nation?" These two issues -- that of national identity and national salvation -- has occupied China's intellectuals and political leaders for the past one hundred fifty years. The intellectual history of modern China may be summed up in these two issues. To put it another way, the Chinese people's pride in themselves was wounded, especially by foreign aggression. China sought to restore pride in herself through modernization, and the tools of modernization were to be found in Western science, technology and democracy. 12 Very few Chinese today would self-consciously choose to major in engineering, business, or one of the health sciences with a view to personally contribute to China's modernization (although we do find some students from the People's Republic of China expressing this concern). But underlying the self-perception of the Chinese people, subconsciously, is the desire to find economic modernization through science and technology, and political modernization through democracy. Wounded pride needs to be restored. Deep in the Chinese People’s collective psyche is a combination of pride and an inferiority complex. And through succeeding in the applied sciences, Chinese professionals have found an opportunity -- so they think -- to establish a place for themselves in the modern world. Beyond financial gains, there is respect as members of the upper middle stratum of society. We have found our identity in the modern world. True identity, however, can only be found through salvation in Jesus Christ. Humanity's basic problem is not national humiliation but sin, personal as well as collective. Humans are justified by grace through faith in the propitiation brought by Christ's death (Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 3:23-24). By trusting in Jesus Christ, we are accepted by God,13 declared righteous and adopted as His children (John 1:12). That is to say, we no longer need to prove anything to anyone because there is nothing to prove. Our work becomes an expression of who we are in Christ, not an effort to find or restore our identity.14 We are freed up from this search for selfhood and secure in Jesus Christ to give, to love and to serve. The church of Jesus Christ, with the Lord of Lords as her head (Ephesians 1:20-23), is the new humanity penetrating the world with the message of eternal life and a living hope. Chinese Christians have a tremendous challenge, first to appropriate the gift of justification (freedom and security in Jesus Christ) and then to demonstrate and share it among their kinsfolk. The world is filled with insecure people. It takes secure people to help insecure people find their security. True security comes only through faith in Jesus Christ. The question is, will Chinese Christians be honest with their own self-image, come to the cross of Jesus Christ, and there unload their pride and inferiority complex? This may involve a long painful struggle. But is not self-understanding worth the cost (John 3:32)?15

II. Work and Family

Eileen (not her real name) comes from a talented family. Her father went abroad many years ago to practice his profession, leaving his wife and children behind. When Eileen grew up she came to North America for further study. In the last ten years Eileen's family has come to North America, but Eileen's father and mother live three thousand miles apart in North America.

* * * * * According to the traditional Chinese worldview, the most basic relationship in human society is that between the parents and the child. Filial piety takes precedence over the husband's relationship with his wife. This parent-dominated social ethic is no longer dominant in Chinese culture, but it still affects family relationships. This and many other factors put tremendous pressure on the contemporary Chinese husband and wife. 16 As America enters the third generation of the broken home (where in some quarters, schoolchildren coming from a two-parent home constitute the minority), the Chinese are entering the second generation. The difference is that the Chinese broken home, until recently, did not look like an Anglo broken home. Like the example given above, every effort is taken to hide the fact that a marriage is dead. We are heirs to this kind of cover-up. As a community we need to learn all over again how to love our spouses. What does it mean to put our marriages first in life? Is this merely a Western trend, which the Chinese need not follow? Or rather is this a biblical imperative (Ephesians 5:25-33)? When God created man and woman, He assigned them work. The two tasks given at creation were to multiply and fill the earth, and to take care of the world (Gen. 1:27-28). Family and work go hand in hand. If anything, family in this creation mandate takes precedence over work. And this is part of the "creation order" given by God prior to the fall, a part of the economy applicable to both Christians and non-Christians alike. Today, as Chinese men and women work in a society characterized by free choice, they are increasingly opting for work over family as a priority in life. Marriage is delayed as much as possible. When people get married, childbearing is delayed as much as possible. When a child is born, parenting by the mother is delegated as much as possible. We are opting to turn over our rights and responsibilities as parents. And when the child grows to school age, he or she is instructed and pressured to achieve and succeed in academics. They are given many material things which the parents did not have when they were children (thus the children are asked to enjoy many comforts vicariously on behalf of the parents). But the demand to do well in school is a burden that many Chinese children and young people carry all of their lives. Parental love is conditioned upon acceptable performance in school; it is withdrawn if the child's grades are not up to the parents' standard. We cover all of this with the explanation, "We want the best for you. We do this because we love you." So the child grows up, becomes an adult, and likewise places work over family as a priority in life. How many Chinese children and young people have ever experienced, in a communicable way (physical and emotional), their fathers' and mothers' love? How might this affect the Chinese church's understanding of the love of our heavenly Father? God told Adam and Eve to multiply and fill the earth. God instructed Moses and the people of Israel to teach their children (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). In the New Testament God expected fathers to be a source of instruction and encouragement (Ephesians 6:4). The Chinese community in North America needs to learn how to express love to their children, who no longer share their parents' traditional Chinese concepts of loyalty and love. What does it mean to be a man? A woman? A husband? A wife? A parent? And on top of that, a Christian and a professional? It seems that we are called upon to do three full time jobs. It is not easy. Perhaps the first step is to recognize that it is not easy. The church needs to take steps to humanize her ministry to meet the needs of couples and families. Marriage is work, family is work. Hard work. Marriage and family takes precedence over work in God's economy. 17 What do we say? Is repentance in order (Mark 1:14-15)?

III. Work and Power

The World Journal is a Chinese community newspaper published in Flushing, New York. Every so often a story similar to this appears: a Chinese American young lady is appointed to a position just below a Cabinet member. A breakthrough in chemistry or physics was made by a Chinese scientist. The lieutenant governor of a nearby state stopped by in town to give a speech. The impression is that Chinese are increasingly moving into the mainstream of American life.

* * * * *

When God commissioned humans to work, He gave them authority over the birds, the fish and the animals. Adam exercised this authority when he named the animals (Genesis 2). Humans are exercising dominion on behalf of the King of Kings. But humans are, at the same time, to be servants: humans are to bring the fruits of their labors as an offering to God. Humans exercise their power best when they serve God and their fellow humankind. Because sin entered the world, however, individuals hoard power for themselves. Woman usurp power from her husband (Genesis 3:15 -- where the word "desire" can mean "to usurp"), and her husband rules over her.18 Power becomes an end in itself, rather than an instrument for service. We find this expressed in the Chinese community in North America in two ways. First, there is power in being an employer. God instructed the people of Israel to be merciful and just to their employees. Slaves have certain rights as human beings. They are to be freed in the Sabbath year. Mercy and justice are to be carried out (Exodus 21; Leviticus 25; Deuteronomy 24—26). Today, however, we find very poor working conditions in the factories and restaurants in the Chinatowns of North America. Deceit and exploitation abound everywhere. The workplace is a place of fear and drudgery. Mercy and justice are foreign to the whole ethos of Chinatown. It makes no difference that the employees are "fellow Chinese." Today, short-term profits are all that many employers work for. What does this say about the church's responsibility to proclaim God's justice and God's concern for the poor and oppressed? The Chinese church, like many American evangelical churches, seems to condone the practices -- by Christian and non-Christian -- and reinforce the position of the middle class. The working class finds the church to be a foreign culture. Does this mean that new working-class churches need to be established? What is the church's responsibility to re-educate herself in social justice? The second issue connected with power and work has to do with the fact that, whereas in years gone by ethnic minorities were discriminated against and even imprisoned, today it is acceptable to be part of an ethnic group in a multicultural society in North America. In fact, almost everyone is a minority. Not only in the secular arena is ethnicity accepted, the church is beginning to realize her responsibility to the many ethnic minorities in North America. The mission field has come home.19 Being part of an ethnic ministry means increasingly being in a position of privilege and power. There is power in being an ethnic person, an ethnic community. The question is, just at the moment when the Chinese church finds her place as an ethnic church in North America, will she serve the Lord Jesus Christ in humility, dignity and partnership with the Anglo North American church? Or will she exploit the advantages and privileges to her own benefit, while many Anglo-American Christians wallow in guilt and self-recrimination? 20 Gone are the days of cultural imperialism and "rice Christians"; but anti-Western bitterness and false guilt are contemporary temptations. 21 We are servants of Christ together. Power is ours in order that we might serve, to give away (Philippians 2:5-11). 22 As Chinese people step onto the world scene as full partners in the twenty first-century world community, will we be power mongers or servants? Are we secure enough to dare giving power away?

IV. Work and Kingdom Calling

I met Pastor Wong (not his real name) at a picnic in another pastor's home. We knew one another from my childhood days in Hong Kong. Within five minutes after our conversation began, Rev. Wong asked me, "Is there any way to get my immigration status here?"

* * * * *

Jesus' demand for His disciples is to seek first God's Kingdom and His righteousness. Everything else in life -- food and clothing -- will be given in due time (Matthew 6:33). The Christian needs to subject all his or her decisions and plans to the overall objective in life: to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever (Colossians 3:17; John 15:4, 9, 11). Why do Chinese people immigrate to North America? Pastors follow their laypeople, and laypeople follow their secular fellow Chinese into greener pastures in North America. Have we stopped being the light of the world? What are the reasons given for immigration? It depends on whom you ask the question. The parents respond, "I did it for my children's education. It is for their future." If you ask the children, their answer is, "I came so I could bring my parents over." And both parent and child will admit that they came for the grandchildren. Who came for whom? There is no virtue in not immigrating.23 We need to guard ourselves from a martyr complex. There also is no inherent virtue in immigrating, either. How can the Chinese church learn to live with a free conscience, without attaching false spiritual values to either staying in Asia or living in North America? Jesus' lordship is over all of our lives (Romans 12:1-2). We are to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength. This is the sum of the law. This means that we are to take the demands of the gospel and practice them at the place of work, at home, and at play. We worship and honor our God by thinking God's thoughts after Him, by loving and obeying Him, and by working for Him. The Chinese evangelical church is heir to a kind of spiritual schizophrenia, which segments spirit, soul and body into three compartments of existence. For example, in Watchman Nee's scheme of things, "spirit" is the arena of human's relationship with God. "Soul" consists of the mind, the emotions and the will. 24 When we fall into sin, the "spirit" only became dead. In regeneration, the spirit is quickened. Filled with the Holy Spirit, Christians are to commune with the Lord in the "spirit." Does this mean that we are to do so without mind, emotion or will? What kind of worship is that? An anti-soul, anti-intellectual theology still prevalent in many quarters of the Chinese church promotes a kind of schizophrenia in the lives of Chinese Christians. Work and church, work and discipleship, and work and prayer are irrelevant to the other. How and when will the Chinese church re-formulate the gospel message she proclaims so that Christ's claims over all of life is clearly heard? 25 What is needed is a mass movement of lay theological education and continued pastoral education. Not only the mind, but the emotions as well, need to be emancipated and mobilized to the highest goal in life -- worshipping God. 26 Then the Chinese people in North America can find a new meaning for life, a new reason for "Why am I in North America? What am I doing? What am I doing what I am doing?"

V. Work and Money

It's Sunday, 12:45 p.m. at a popular restaurant in Chinatown. Four professionals are impatiently waiting in line for a table. They finally are seated, and have a quick meal of dim sum. They leave the tip (9% as usual), complain about the service, pay the bill, and exit in a hurry to attend the deacons' meeting at their church.

* * * * *

Money is a powerful symbol. It stands for our accomplishments, and it pays for those comforts in life we crave for. It is a symbol of our security. It is a proverbial fact that the Chinese are frugal. They often hold onto their money, save as much as they can and work hard toward their dream -- for many, having their own restaurant or retail business. Partly due to the "wounded pride" and insecurity in the Chinese consciousness, we hold onto our money tightly. We expect the restaurant to give us the best service and the lowest prices, and we give the waiters as small a tip as we possibly can. We were some of the world's best "consumerists" before the word "consumerism" was invented. This frugal attitude is found in the church's treatment of the pastor and the church's other needs.(27) Life is a paradox. We work hard for our material things to enjoy them (Ecclesiastes 5:18-20), yet in death we give it away to others who may or may not use them wisely (Ecclesiastes 2:4-11). All is vanity, says the author of Ecclesiastes. 28 Paul says that we are to work hard so that we may have extra to give away (Ephesians 4:28). I remember my father telling us the story of his schoolmate, who was a businessman in Hong Kong. When my father was ready to come to America, he paid his friend a last visit. The businessman thereupon pulled open a drawer in his desk, and gave my father a few hundred dollars. The point was that he was ready with funds to help others. Generosity is a lesson many Chinese Christians have yet to learn. We are generous to our children, but we find it hard to extend that love to those outside our family. We work hard for our money. We invest it in our children. Jesus says, where your treasure is, there your heart is also (Matthew 6:21). God wants us to watch over our heart (Proverbs 4:23). Perhaps in the faith-promise mission programs of several Chinese churches in North America, we are witnessing the beginning of a movement of generosity and sacrificial giving. May God bring the increase!

VI. Work and Rest

The deacons promptly begin their meeting at 2 p.m. All had a good lunch. Today the meeting is progressing very smoothly. It looks like everyone may be able to go home by 6:30 for a late supper with their families. On other occasions, deliberations and debates continue well into the night.

* * * * *

God created Adam on the sixth day. The first full day in Adam's life was the seventh day, the day of rest and delight in the Lord. We are to work and rest. We cannot work without resting. Indeed we need to rest first, then work. To the Type A workaholics among both Chinese and Anglo North Americans, rest is difficult. Rest is work! 29 As modern Chinese, we have lost the "mystical" part of the traditional Chinese worldview which stresses the cultivation of the inner self. As evangelical Protestants, we are heirs to an activity-oriented form of church life which stresses performance over solitude. (Evangelicals are beginning to discover meditation, from Roman Catholic as well as Protestant sources of inspiration!) We need to learn how to rest and worship God. God says there is an eternal rest for the people of God (Hebrews 3—4). Worship now is a foretaste of the eternal rest and fellowship with God. We have come to the heavenly Jerusalem (Hebrews 12:18-24) -- at least, to a vision and foretaste of glory divine, with the Holy Spirit as our guarantee and firstfruit. How can the Chinese church restructure her ministry so that her people may learn to enjoy rest? And how can Chinese laypeople learn to put down their anxieties from work and experience a child-like trust in the Lord (Psalm 46:1-2)? From rest comes security. From a secure soul comes true rest. It is a lesson in faith, a pilgrimage. The Chinese say that "a man is in the river and the lake, and he cannot help himself," meaning, we live in a world filled with power struggles. Jesus says, unless we become like a child, we cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. How can we learn to be like children? By coming to the cross. By unloading our baggage of guilt, inferiority and insecurity. By resting in order that we may work. By coming to Christ and receiving His rest (Matthew 11:28-29).

Conclusion

The Chinese church in North America is heir to great traditions. She carries with her tremendous burdens from history. May she know the gospel afresh -- the gospel that the Kingdom has come because the King has come, the gospel that true freedom, security and rest can be found in Jesus Christ. May our work reflect this kind of true freedom and security, "until He comes."

Notes.

1. Thomas Wang, "Potentials of Chinese Churches in North America and Their Relationship to Chinese Churches Worldwide," North America Commission of Chinese Evangelicals Bimonthly, January 1984. 2. Gail Law, ed., Chinese Churches Handbook, Hong Kong: Chinese Coordination Centre of World Evangelism, 1982, 243. 3. Jonathan T'ien-en Chao, "Chung kuo shen hsueh chieh huang wu ti yuan yin" (Reasons for the Theological Desolation in the Chinese Church), Hsin yang yu sheng huo (Faith and Life), 20:3, No. 79 (July-September 1969), 4-11, 14; Stephen Tong, "The Cost of Revival," Chinese Around the World, December 1984, 1-5 (an address given at the International Prayer Assembly, Seoul, Korea, June 1984). 4. Kenneth Scott Latourette's critique, in Ruth Rouse and Stephen C. Neill, ed., A History of the Ecumenical Movement, 1517-1948 (second edition) (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1967), 386. 5. Lloyd E. Kwast, "Understanding Culture," Perspectives on the World Christian Movement: A Reader, ed. Ralph D. Winter and Steven C. Hawthorne (Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 1981), 361-364. 6. Harvie M. Conn, "Conversion and Culture -- A Theological Perspective with Reference to Korea," Down to Earth: Studies in Christianity and Culture, eds. John R. W. Stott and Robert Coote (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1980), 147-172. 7. Charles H. Kraft, Communication Theory for Christian Witness (Nashville: Abingdon, 1983), 15-34. 8. Personal conversation with philosopher N. Z. Zia. 9. Derk Bodde, China's Cultural Tradition: What and Whither? (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1957). 10. Chung-li Chang, The Chinese Gentry: Studies on Their Role in Nineteenth-Century Chinese Society (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1955), 3-70. 11. Joseph R. Levenson, Confucian China and Its Modern Fate: A Trilogy (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1968). 12. Chow Tse-tsung, The May Fourth Movement: Intellectual Revolution in Modern China (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1967). 13. Milton Wan, "'You Are Accepted': Psychotherapeutic Implications of Tillich's Interpretation of Justification," China Graduate School of Theology Journal, No. 2 (January 1987), 75-97. 14. Gordon MacDonald, Ordering Your Private World (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1984), 29-65. 15. M. Scott Peck, The Road Less Traveled (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1985).
16. Che Bin Tan, "Chinese Church in Tension between Two Cultures," A Winning Combination, ABC/OBC: Understanding The Cultural Tensions in Chinese Churches, ed. Wally Yew (Petaluma, CA: Chinese Christian Mission, 1987), 3-15; Lin Kuo-liang, "Pei mei hua jen chi tu t'u hun yin hsien kuang" (Present situation of Chinese Christian marriages in North America), Ambassadors, March-April 1987, 11-14. 17. Ronald J. Sider, "Sex, Feminism and the Family," a lecture given at the Tenth Anniversary of China Graduate School of Theology, Hong Kong, 1985 (cassette tape).
18. Susan Foh, Women and the Word of God (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1979), and Susan T. Foh, "What is the Woman's Desire?" Westminster
Theological Journal, 37:3 (Spring 1975), 376-383. 19. Heirs of the Same Promise, eds. Wesley D. Balda (Arcadia, CA: National Convocation on Evangelizing Ethnic America, and MARC, 1984). 20. C. Peter Wagner's comment at Fuller Theological Seminary. 21. Jonathan T'ien-en Chao, "Hsi ts'ai hui yu Chung kuo shen hsueh chiao yu -- Tai wan ti ke an yen chiu" (Foreign missions and Chinese theological education-- Taiwan, a case study), A Report on the Consultation of Chinese Theological Educators and Church Leaders, 10th-13th Jan. 1972 (Hong Kong: The Association for Promotion of Chinese Theological Education, 1973), 58-83. 22. Lee See-king, "Chiao hui ch'i chen juan jo? -- Wu ch'uan wu shih che ti ta neng" (Is the church truly weak? The power of the powerless), Na Han, 1:6 (April 15, 1984), 18-19. 23. Philemon Choi, "Wei shen mo yi min?" (Why immigrate? -- an interview with Dr. Philemon Choi), Chinese Churches Today, August 1983, 3-5; Lawrence Yuek-yu Chan, "T'an yi min wen t'i" (On the immigration issue -- an interview with Rev. Chan Yeuk Yu), Chinese Churches Today, August 1983, 5-6. 24. Watchman Nee, The Release of the Spirit (n.p.: Sure Foundation, 1965). 25. Harvie M. Conn, Evangelism: Doing Justice and Preaching Grace (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1982). 26. Che-Bin Tan, "Sheng ming, sheng lin yu chih shih" (Life, the Holy Spirit and Knowledge), Ambassadors, 19:5 (October 1978), 20-24. 27. Jonathan T'ien-en Chao, "Low-Salary Tradition of Chinese Preachers: Its Historical Origin," Chinese Churches Today, October 1978, 1, 4, 5; Jonathan T'ien-en Chao, "Chung kuo chiao mu shih feng mo shih chih fa chan" (The development of ministry models of the Chinese pastor), Shih feng ti jen sheng (A life of ministry: essays presented to Philip Teng on his 60th birthday by members of the faculty of China Graduate School of Theology) (Hong Kong: China Graduate School of Theology, 1982), 280-314. 28. Peter S. C. Chang, "Kung tso ti shen hsueh" (Theology of work), China Graduate School of Theology Journal, No. 1 (July 1986), 34-51. 29. Gordon MacDonald, Ordering Your Private World.