The Father, Son and Democratic Spirit?

I recently heard a speaker who is a legal scholar and a Christian from China. This man has helped farmers regain land illegally taken by corrupt officials, mobilized a recall and even sued the Chinese State Council.

This man is bringing democracy and legal aid to the Chinese people, which I deeply respect. However, I sometimes assume that if all countries adopted the same economic and religious liberties as America, then the world would quickly be evangelized and Jesus could return. Therefore, I often find myself preaching the need for democracy in communist countries. Democracy means freedom, and before communists can truly understand freedom in Christ, they must first be rescued from bad political ideology. Right?

Here is what the speaker said:

“And the deeper I knew the Chinese society, the more I realized that really, the root of the problem in China is not a lack of democracy. It is a problem of the soul, the spirit. If the Chinese soul is not fundamentally changed, nothing will truly change. The Chinese economy is booming, but the whole nation’s spirit is like a desert.”

It seems this wise man has a different idea about how to bring freedom to Communists. He realizes that complete political freedom will do nothing to heal a nation unless the people are first granted freedom in Christ and the spiritual healing that comes from a relationship with Him. Although it is still important to defend liberty, the primary concern of Christians must be people and their spiritual condition.