It’s 7:30 p.m. on a Saturday night, and Marian is waiting with her friends for the evening service to begin at Flow Church in Tsim Sha Tsui. She talks animatedly about how she felt after Beijing imposed a strict national security law in 2020 that silenced critics, decimated press freedom, and curtailed civic action in Hong Kong. At the time, Marian was filled with questions about how Christians should respond, “but my former church couldn’t answer my questions,” she said. CT agreed not to use her real name, as criticism of the government is sensitive in Hong Kong.
She started looking for a church that was discussing these issues. Later that year, she heard several sermons by John Chan, the founding pastor of Flow Church, on Romans 12, where Paul urges his readers not to “conform to the pattern of this world.” Chan didn’t shy away from discussing Hong Kong’s political situation but urged Hong Kongers to focus on integrating Christ into their lives without being overly concerned about worldly politics.
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