Covenanter Witness Vol. 55 - Rparchives.org

question."me."others."Christian Missions and World RevolutionArthur F. Glasser*Assistant Home Director, China Inland MissionIn United Evangelical Action (Used by permission)(Continued from October missionary number)Indoctrination in CommunismReal benefit can be derived from a careful studyof the theory and practice of Communism coupledwith the appeals this movement is making in theworld today. Why is it so attractive ? The EvangelicalChristian missionary today should seek to projecthimself into the thinking of the peoples to whom hewitnesses overseas to see why they respond to Communist propaganda.One book we have recommended that our Columbia Bible College missionary candidates read is TheGod That Failed, a record of the experiences of several intellectuals who were drawn to Communism butwho later apostatized in disillusionment. It is a vividportrayal of the essential bankruptcy of Communism.But more, it is a sharp reminder as well of the utteremptiness of the intellectual position of the modernwestern materialist. One of its contributors is Arthur Koestler, a prominent novelist. He describes hisconversion to Communism while reading Communistbooks as follows:"By the time I had finished with Feuerbach andState and Revolution, something had clicked in mybrain which shook me like a mental explosion. To saythat one had 'seen the light' is a poor description ofthe mental rapture which only the convert knows.The new light seems to pour from all directionsacross the skull ; the whole universe falls into patternlike the stray pieces of a jigsaw puzzle assembled bymagic at one stroke. There is now an answer to everyMissionary candidates coming from America,have a tendency to be unaware of the impact of thismovement on the minds of men. Theyshould be encouraged to realize that the human heart in its totality and that includes its political thinkingneeds to be studied if it is to be won to Christ.Have you ever read the Communist explanationsfor the sicknesses of society ? Communists are expert diagnosticians. Have you ever given their solution for mankind's ills a careful study? Try to feelthe way the common people feel when they hear thispropaganda. Try to appreciate the fervor with whichthey say: "The Communists use the correct labels.They call injustice, exploitation, oppression by theirtrue names. They have a basic honestyabout things.They look facts in the face."Have you ever tried to sense how the powerof the Soviet Union must appeal to the helpless, disinherited of earth? Can you hear them say: "TheseCommunists represent the Soviet Union. That nationhas power enough to set me free. It claims to have aconcrete, workable solution for my need. Its powerimpresses me. Just think, it is interested inHave you ever tried to ponder the total Communist outlook on life? It is attractivehardly to us;we are followers of Christ. But it is attractive to372many : those who have never had contact with realChristianity. Listen to them say: "Why, these Communists have an explanation for everything. Theyare scientific. They are up-to-date. Look at whatthey have done in so short a time in Russia. Lookhow dedicated they are to their cause. Look howselflessly they live forAt this point, bear with a word of testimony:I used to regard Communism as "just another oneof those things." Of course it was all of the devil.Why study it? Then I went to China. I wanted toreach the Chinese for Christ. I wanted to help in thevast task of enlisting that wonderful people underthe Banner of the Crucified. And what did I find?Well, in the course of ministering in China I visitedboth universities and prisons. God blessed His Wordin both. But in both I met the Communists in theuniversities and in the prisons especially in theprisons. Prisons crowded with university studentsstrong, defiant, contemptuousso sure that theircause would win out in the end. And in the end wemissionaries were driven out, driven out by the wearers of the Red Star. Frankly, I was not able to copewith the situation. Communists talked a blue streak.I felt that in my talks with them I was always on thedefensive. In my ignorance I didn't know how to takethe offensive. A sense of futility and defeat overwhelmed me at times. I failed my Lord. But, therewere those Chinese Christians who knew what to doand who enjoyed the blessing of God. Their veryusefulness made me ashamed. Since then, I haveprayed that the Lord enable me to profit from myfailure that I might help my fellow missionaries dealwith this problem of Communism.Due to the delays of sickness and the opportunities for study at a teaching post at the ColumbiaBible College the Lord graciously helped me in seeking to evaluate this problem. I soon found that it wasvery complex. But it is not a hopeless problem. It canbe dealt with positively. The keys to the solution areknowledge and action.Mind you, I do not think that Communism, oreven the Social Revolution, is our basic missionaryproblem. Our task is to preach the Gospel of God'sGrace. The basic problem is the unregenerate humanheart in all of its rebellion against God. And thebasic opposing power is the spirit of disobedience,implanted by the devil, the god of this world, in theflesh of man and in organized society on earth. Andyet, if we are to reach men for Christ we shouldknow what men are thinking about. They are thinking about Communism. Hence we must know whatCommunism is. This brings us to the first key.The Need for Knowledge1. Missionary candidates need to become awareof the worldwide social revolution of the TwentiethCOVENANTER WITNESS