Government vs. Spontaneous Organization

Professor John of Economics, Zhejiang University lives on the first floor below us. John does not own a car. He and his wife grow their own greens in the garden. Each evening he listens to English while jogging in the neighborhood. When he feels a little down, John sings out traditional Chinese songs very loud to feel happy. He asked me to help him improve his spoken English to prepare for a three month study of city governments in Italy.

John asked, “How did you spend time with your family when you were a child?”
“Well, we went to church a lot.”
John wondered, “Were you interested in this topic?”
“Yes. I remember as a child it was very encouraging to sing songs and pray in a church group of 250 people. We would go to church three times a week Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night.”
John doubted, “Just go to the church and pray so much?”
“Yes. Also every summer we would go to Little Prairie Bible Camp. Our church would do a lot of work to prepare for camp. Our whole family would help on Saturdays. Mom would volunteer to be a cook. Dad and us boys helped build cabins and the bathhouse, and we would mow grass. The church worked together to maintain the church camp, which built the spiritual life of young people, which served God.”
John very impressed, “This kind of spontaneous organization is good. We don’t have it in China.”
John shifts to teacher mode, “There are two ways to organize people. First, the government organizes people by force. Second, the people spontaneously organize, because they want to. Our government does not want people to organize spontaneously. Our government says, ‘I will organize you. Why do you want to organize yourselves?’ ”

This conversation explains why my students just sit there when I ask them to form small groups and work on a certain English activity together. Only when I go around the room and say, “You, you, and you please make a group,” do they begin speaking.
There is some spontaneous organization in China. The home worship movement is a great example, and the Lord’s power is all the more evident as Chinese brothers and sisters step up to lead.