The State of State Christianity

Today a more serious topic.
Disclaimer: Most of this information is taken either from my own personal experience so far or from this one conversation I've had with a member of a house church. It is by no means an accurate or complete picture of Christianity in all of China. It concentrates mostly on the province of Yunnan and my friend's personal experiences and the news which has come his way. I do not say this to cast doubt on him, but merely to let you know that it is only a tiny piece of the overall picture. Enough of that now.
I was privileged enough to have a meal with a member of a certain unofficial church here in China. We talked for quite some time both about the official churches here as well as those "house churches" which are so famous in America. Most of what he had to say concerned this province (Yunnan) and so should not be applied to the whole of China. For there most certainly is persecution here.
But my friend's point was this: there is change in the churches here. He said that religion, specifically Christianity, is becoming more and more of an issue for the government, since there is incredible growth. He said that the growth is startling. When I asked him why he thought there was so much growth, something which he said was like "revival" going on in China, he had a very eloquent answer.
In talking about the history of China, he told me that Christianity had been here for many, many years. Indeed there are some who say that it first came as early as the ninth century, but it was definitely established here in the 1500s. If you think about it, that is almost as early as it was brought to America. This alone was something that surprised me very much. However, there was more. He continued that despite the presence of missionaries and Christianity in China for so long, the number of Christians here had never been very large. He talked a little about how many of the Chinese beliefs in Confucianism and other superstitions are rooted deeply in the Chinese culture. But he said, with the arrival of the Communist Revolution all of this changed.
Now, I do not think I have ever heard a Christian speak well on behalf of the Cultural Revolution of China. For the most part I have heard this condemned in no uncertain terms, but my friend had an interesting point.
He continued saying that the Cultural Revolution not only wiped out much of what little Christianity was left in China, but it also cleaned the slate on the Confucian and superstitious side--as much as anything can successfully do this. After the Mao era and when the Opening and Reforms began (改革开放), many Chinese found in their beginnings of freedom that they could pursue wealth and religion again. Unfortunately it seems wealth has been winning out mostly. However, he told me, when you go up to a Chinese person and ask them what they believe, the most common answer is they don't know, or even "Believe? What?" He said there is a complete "emptiness" in many Chinese hearts. Many simply do not have any beliefs at all. And my friend said it is precisely because so many Chinese have nothing to believe in that they are able to receive good news willingly.
And so in a manner which is incredibly strange to us, but perhaps not so much to God, it seems that the Cultural Revolution, with all its Marxist-Leninist talk of religion being the "opiate of the masses" and with all its efforts to completely eradicate such "foolishness," has actually paved the way for the openness of many Chinese hearts today.
Now if you are someone who thinks that much of what I have said here is complete hogwash and the propagandist teachings of a mindless young Christian who is merely stating what he has been told all his life, think about this: I'm not saying the Cultural Revolution was something good and I'm not merely taking the perhaps coincidental order of events and listing them off to you so that you will be fooled into thinking with me. For the churches here are now beginning to experience a real time of relief from persecution, especially in Yunnan. It is not illegal to buy a Bible here, and a Bible which is as faithful a translation as the NIV if not better. There are also many different versions of the Bible, most of which, according to my friend, are true as any translations. Many have been translated directly from the Hebrew and Greek. I myself was able to purchase a Bible from a used book seller on the street. Despite this though, many of the major bookstores do not carry legitimate Bibles, especially the state owned stores. However you can purchase a Bible at most any church for a fair price.
My friend did say though that much of the churches here are lacking the spiritual teaching tools which would be of much help to them, and he said that some of the state churches have pastors who are really as spiritually immature as their congregation. Persecution still does exist in China, even in the lax Yunnan (I've heard as recently as 2006 several Christians were arrested here), but my friend believes there is change coming.
This man with whom I spent some time had a sense of hope which many in America have lost. He was not giving up on the official churches, indeed he said he was lucky to have been given the chance to be a Christian in China. He believes that being a Christian in China is better for your spiritual growth and health than being so in America. And I must say that I find I agree with him. We, who have always been so "privileged" with our freedoms, are suddenly finding that the freedoms have been more of a weight than we expected. Too easily can we fall into Christianity in America, too easily can we find that since so many others are, we might as well go along for the ride. Pretty soon we find that there are a whole bunch of people who are just hanging on the back hoping it ends up somewhere, but all too willing to hop off at a moments notice.

But alas, I'm no teacher. I'll try and keep you updated with all the different things I learn about the churches here--this being one of the things I am most interested in, you might expect to hear quite a bit about it. However my mind often gets in the way of my self and I welcome whatever you guys might be able to add to help me understand the things I say.
Phil.