At the beginning of this year, the famous retired NBA star Denis Rodman led a group of ex-NBA players to visit Pyongyang, North Korea, to perform in the birthday celebration for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un who had just executed his uncle. Rodman called his trip “Basketball Diplomacy”, and dedicated the match between the former NBA stars and North Korean national team to his “best friend” Kim Jong-un.
Kim watched the match together with his wife. Before the tip-off, Rodman sang Happy Birthday to Kim Jong-un and bowed to Kim in the center of the Pyongyang stadium that had a capacity of 14,000. Rodman said that he was honored to play in Pyongyang and called the match historically significant.
Before he left for North Korea, when CNN reporter, Chris Cuomo, asked Rodman whether he would discuss with North Korean leader about the fate of the Korean American preacher, Kenneth Bae, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison by North Korea, Rodman not only showed no sympathy to Kenneth Bae, but he implied that Bae had done something wrong to deserve his prison sentence.
These ridiculous acts of Denis Rodman to sing and celebrate the birthday for a dictator run against the public conscience of the American people, and incurred outcries from rous people around the world. The sister of Kenneth Bae, Terri Chung, told Fox News that she had hoped the former NBA super star to appeal for amnesty for her brother, and she was shocked by Rodman’s appalling allegations.
As the self-appointed “Basketball Diplomat”, Rodman not only danced with a blood thirsting dictator, but also despised an American citizen who was jailed for preaching Christianity. He not only saw past the countless anti-humanity crimes committed by the North Korean regime, but also flattered and whitewashed the little tyrant. His acts obviously reversed right and wrong, black and white. Is Rodman still an American citizen or a subject of the Kim Dynasty? Is he a star in a free society or a darling of a totalitarian regime?
Unfortunately, there are other Americans who are similar to Denis Rodman. They take advantage of the loopholes of free speech to flirt with the enemies of American values. I am talking about the renowned Christian preacher, Billy Graham, whose status in American Christian society is even higher than Rodman’s in NBA. However, he has made frequent visits to communist China since 1988, maintained a happy relationship with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-controlled “The Three-Self Church”, but never said a word about the persecution on Chinese house churches. To say that he is the Denis Rodman of American Christian society is not an exaggeration.
Like Rodman’s visits to North Korea, Graham felt good about his frequent visits to China, thought he was conducting “Christian Diplomacy”, promoting harmony between America and communist China. But the fact of the matter is, his so-called “Christian Diplomacy” was a diplomacy with the Chinese dictators, it trampled justice and conscience,confused right and wrong. What he did was only going to embolden the evil, and greatly threaten the American values.
Like Rodman who disregarded the human rights conditions in North Korea and slandered the Korean American preacher Kenneth Bae, Billy Graham, in his dealings with the Chinese religious authority, has constantly disregarded the lack of religious freedom in China and turned a blind eye to persecutions to house churches in China. With his power of influence, when he was interacting with Chinese religious authority, he should have made formal demands for more religious freedom in China and more freedom for Chinese house churches. But we have never heard that such demands had ever been made by him to the CCP regime. Just like Rodman who ignored the millions of North Korean people who had starved to death and the fact that the whole North Korea was one giant concentration camp, Billy Graham also ignored the hideous acts of the Chinese authorities of trampling on religious freedom and persecuting house churches. No criticism, only appeasement.
Same as Rodman who used his visits to whitewash North Korea’s image, to praise Kim Jong-un, to deceive the world, Billy Graham, in his various interactions with Chinese Communist religious authority, also defended CCP’s religious policies, supported the false image of religious freedom, let the world believe that American churches supported the Chinese official church, that America approved the current state of religious freedom in China. On September 27, 2011 and November 18, 2013, the Graham preaching group and Chinese official Christian group (CCC/TSPM) jointly sponsored two Sino-US Christian Leadership Forums, once in US, once in China. This kind of forums are propaganda tools for CCP to take advantage of the universality of Christianity to falsify an illusion of religious freedom in China in front of the international community, to cover up the reality of religious persecution on Chinese house churches.
Every time he went to China, Billy Graham mostly only visited the government sanctioned churches and the official religious authorities, he preached at the theology Seminary of the Three-Self church, and made big donations to them. His son, Ned Graham, founded the East Gates Ministries International, mainly engaged in supporting the Bible printing business by the official Three-Self church. Currently, Three-Self church is the only licensed institution that can print, publish and sell Bible in China. No other bookstores or institutions are allowed to sell Bible. Because of that, many believers in remote areas could not purchase Bible, furthermore, it could cause house church goers to reveal their congregation locations when they buy Bible. If Graham is wise, he should help house churches and institutions other than Three-Self to publish Bible instead of only giving financial assistance to Three-Self. Currently Three-Self has monopoly in Bible publishing, others cannot print, and many people could not purchase Bible. The root cause is the lack of freedom of religion and publication under the CCP regime. However, what Billy Graham did encouraged this monopoly and lack of freedom.
Because of Billy Graham’s status in American even the world Christian societies, his appeasement to the Chinese Communist religious authority has resulted in very bad influence, deceived many people. Currently, many overseas Christian universal organizations only contact the official churches in China. Most overseas Chinese churches, because of the influence from Billy Graham, only interact with the Three-Self while turning a blind eye to the existence and ordeal of the Chinese house churches. If we want to help Chinese house churches to go international and go public, if we want to root out the infiltration among overseas Christian organizations by the CCP religious authority, if we want to make overseas Chinese churches to really care about and help house churches in China, the repentance of Billy Graham and his organization is critically important.
Matthew3:2：And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Psalms51:17：The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
In the eyes of God, Billy Graham is only a blessed sinner, the same as all other Christians, he will need to face the lord when returning our home in heaven. Hence, we hope our brothers and sisters around the world can send kindly intentioned exhortations and warnings to Billy Graham and his organization, it is not too late to mend the fence after the loss of lambs. God values most those lost lambs who have sincere repentance, as Jesus said, “What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if T lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?” (Luke15:4)
