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What is the Three-Self Church?

Three-Self Church
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The Chinese Communist Party has routinely suppressed the Christian faith. Despite this, Christianity has grown rapidly in China over the last century. One prominent expression of this growth is the Three-Self Church. Also called the Three-Self Patriotic Movement, it is the state supervisory body of the Protestant church in China. The movement promotes three core values: self-governance, self-support, and self-propagation.

The Three-Self Church is the “registered” church in China, operating with the sanction of the Chinese Communist Party. It represents a unique approach to Christianity in China, in contrast to the independent house-church movement. While house churches often teach with greater boldness, they face significant risks, including government raids and the imprisonment of leaders. By comparison, the Three-Self Church operates under government restrictions, avoiding a lot of the persecution house churches endure. However, this compliance has a cost—fewer opportunities to proclaim the whole counsel of God (cf. Acts 20:27).

The Three-Self Church operates within the legal restrictions imposed by the Chinese government. Its values emphasize “self,” not in relation to Western individualism, but as an organizational strategy. This approach consists of Chinese people governing, supporting, and spreading Christianity in the country. The Three-Self Church intends to show the communist party that Christianity is for every culture, not just the West. It also counters claims that foreign powers are orchestrating a takeover of Chinese religion and culture.

The church’s values are summarized in three principles: self-governance, self-support, and self-propagation. Self-governance means that the church should be led by Chinese people, not foreign missionaries. This principle focuses on building the church in China through indigenous Chinese people. It is not a slight to non-Chinese missionaries.

Self-support indicates that the church should achieve financial independence rather than rely on foreign funding. This principle does not suggest that foreign assistance is inherently wrong. Instead, it emphasizes the impact of Chinese Christians financially supporting their own church as a powerful witness.

The third value, self-propagation, emphasizes the church’s mission to spread the Christian faith without foreign assistance. This principle refers to Chinese people spreading the gospel rather than relying on foreigners to do it.

The establishment of the Three-Self Church in 1951 was a response to the communist party’s crackdown on missionary activity. Christianity was seen as a Western belief system and lifestyle that contrasted with the traditional Chinese worldview. As a result, the government saw it as a threat. In response, the Three-Self Church seeks to demonstrate that becoming a Christian does not require adopting Western culture. A person can honor, respect, and value Chinese culture and be a Christian.

Historically, some missionaries sought to “Westernize” cultures as part of their mission work. Rather than letting the gospel work within the culture, they imposed Western norms, altering how people dressed or ate. As a result, governments sometimes suppressed missionary activity to protect their way of life from outside influences.

Building on these lessons, missionaries in the last century have made efforts to spread the gospel, not Western culture. After all, becoming like the West won’t save anyone—but the gospel of Jesus Christ will (Mark 1:15). This truth is illustrated in John’s vision of the great multitude in heaven, made up of people of different nationalities. They are in heaven because they accepted Jesus, not because they adopted Western norms. John saw “a great multitude . . . from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages.” They were “standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands.” They said, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Revelation 7:9–10, ESV).

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This page last updated: January 20, 2025