Yes it seems hard to fathom, but Christianity is suddenly flourishing in – of all places – Communist China. As fast as westerners in Europe and America are turning away from God, the Chinese are turning toward Him.

 
The Economist reports on the Cracks in China’s atheist edifice ~

Christianity is hard to control in China, and getting harder all the time. It is spreading rapidly, and infiltrating the party’s own ranks. The line is blurring between house churches and official ones, and Christians are starting to emerge from hiding to play a more active part in society.
The Communist Party has to find a new way to deal with all this. There is even talk that the party, the world’s largest explicitly atheist organisation, might follow its sister parties in Vietnam and Cuba and allow members to embrace a dogma other than—even higher than—that of Marx.

 
By current estimates there are 75-85 million Christians in China, about 5% of the population. Rapid growth is forecast ~

In the 1980s the faith grew most quickly in the countryside, stimulated by the collapse of local health care and a belief that Christianity could heal instead. In recent years it has been burgeoning in cities. A new breed of educated, urban Christians has emerged. Gerda Wielander of the University of Westminster, in her book “Christian Values in Communist China”, says that many Chinese are attracted to Christianity because, now that belief in Marxism is declining, it offers a complete moral system with a transcendental source. People find such certainties appealing, she adds, in an age of convulsive change.

The West, ironically once missionary to the world, is now mired in self-centered materialism and moral relativism. But in a way that seems truly miraculous, these new Chinese believers recognize the Truth that we have rejected ~

Some Chinese also discern in Christianity the roots of Western strength. They see it as the force behind the development of social justice, civil society and rule of law, all things they hope to see in China. Many new NGOs are run by Christians or Buddhists. There are growing numbers of Christian doctors and academics. More than 2,000 Christian schools are also dotted around China, many of them small and all, as yet, illegal.

Like millions of others, these Chinese believers have discovered anew the social benefits of Christian “salt and light” that we in the West have forgotten or deliberately discarded…

“We have two motivations: one is our gospel mission and the other is serving society. Christianity can also play a role in maintaining peace and stability in society. Without God, people can do as they please.” ~ Shi Xiaoli ~ pastor of a 2,600 member church
 
“If everyone in China believed in Jesus then we would have no more need for police stations. There would be no more bad people and therefore no more crime.” ~ Jin Hongxin ~ a 40 year-old Chinese Christian

 
 
According to Open Doors, Christians still face moderate persecution in China, but conditions have definitely improved in recent years ~

… largely because many officials see advantages in Christianity’s growth. Some wealthy business folk in Wenzhou have become believers—they are dubbed “boss Christians”—and have built large churches in the city. One holds evening meetings at which businessmen and women explain “biblical” approaches to making money. Others form groups encouraging each other to do business honestly, pay taxes and help the poor. Rare is the official anywhere in China who would want to scare away investors from his area.
In other regions local leaders lend support, or turn a blind eye, because they find that Christians are good citizens. Their commitment to community welfare helps to reinforce precious stability.[…]
 
In recent years the party’s concerns have shifted from people beliefs to the maintenance of stability and the party’s monopoly of power. If working with churches helps achieve these aims, it will do so, even though it still frets about encouraging an alternative source of authority.

 
America was founded by people of steadfast faith who honored that same alternative, higher source of authority. An authority above kings, above governments of men. It was our founders’ allegiance to the Almighty that enabled the creation of our civil society and formed the basis of our Constitutional Republic. China’s Christians are coming to understand the truths that we all used to hold as “self-evident.”
Our sorrowful loss is China’s blessed gain.

Related:
China’s Seed “Pearls” ~ How an illicit shipment of Bibles helped the “seed” the faith in China.
China on course to become ‘world’s most Christian nation’ within 15 years ~

Prof Yang, a leading expert on religion in China, believes (the number of Christians) will swell to around 160 million by 2025. That would likely put China ahead even of the United States, which had around 159 million Protestants in 2010 but whose congregations are in decline.