The Way of the Cross and the Choices That We Made
by Wang Xiangheng
A house church pastor looks back on the choices of his generation when they were forced to choose between loyalty to the state and loyalty to God in 1950. In many ways unprepared for the test they were given, these saints who founded China’s house churches came to understand their path as “the way of the cross.”
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We should reflect deeply. When some of our predecessors wanted to both uphold the Lord’s name and cater to the current age in order to stabilize their own situation and continue working for the Lord, they were actually trying to find a middle ground between God and man, so as not to offend either. Although their levels of thinking varied, overall they have failed to distinguish the difference between “Caesar’s things” and “God’s things.” This is a mistake we often make. We have both the Spirit of God dwelling within us and the “I” of our corrupt flesh. If the Holy Spirit is not in charge of everything, our minds will take command, and we will become confused, trying to find a middle ground for our own benefit.
When those brothers and sisters who grew up together reunited, many of us, including myself, admitted that we had been lost, had not believed, and had even denied the Lord. Of course, most of us have now returned. I realized that the reason for our failures and weaknesses was that we did not know how to entrust ourselves to the Lord in earthly matters. We did not rely on the Lord because we wanted to find an easy path on our own. If we had leaned on the Lord and let him lead us, although we would still have faced suffering and hardship, it would only have been physical suffering, while our hearts would have been filled with grace and strength. Even in the face of hardship, we would have learned to face it with more composure by relying on the Lord. However, looking back now, we are already gray-haired and nearly eighty years old.
A person may not understand politics well, may not be clear about the context, may be very confused about the future, and may even go astray. But in his weakness, he says, “Lord, you know everything, and you know that I love you.” (John 21:17) Only with a very close relationship with Christ, founded on the cross, can we rely on the Lord and worship God alone in his grace and support. Only through a very close relationship with Christ, founded on the cross, can we follow the Lord’s word and walk a path that is pleasing to God in all kinds of challenges and confusion.
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Wang Xiangheng (1938–2024) was a surgeon and house church pastor who lived in the same courtyard in Beijing for 74 years. Born in Hengyang, Hunan, his faith was nurtured from an early age in a Christian home. He graduated from Beijing Medical University and served many years as a surgeon at Xuanwu Hospital. He embraced the gospel during his youth, and suffered a five year imprisonment and 19-year separation from his wife and two sons during the Cultural Revolution. Later in life, he devoted himself to working as a medical volunteer among the poor and started a house church in his home. He became affectionately known as “Dr. Wang” or “Uncle Wang,” and many neighbors came to embrace the Christian faith through his testimony.
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Category: Devotional
Date created: 2016
Scripture: 1 Peter 2:19-21, 2 Timothy 2:15-19, Romans 13:1-2
Key terms: house church history, the way of the cross, persecution
This article was originally published in Church China magazine in 2016. This English edition and introduction are copyright © 2025 by the Center for House Church Theology. All rights reserved.
Cover design and illustration by PC Ng.
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