The ‘Back to Jerusalem’ Church Movement in China is a world mission vision to evangelize not only Muslim, Buddhist, and Hindu countries but also unreached nations between China and Jerusalem till the Gospel is delivered to Jerusalem.
There are several biblical and mission-theological problems in the ‘Back to Jerusalem’ Movement: First, it is rooted in mystical experiences and direct revelations which result in the discussion of revelation finality. The reformed Churches believe in the revelation finality and that the revelations through the Scriptures are sole. The mystical experiences and direct revelations of Rev. Mark Ma are his subjective self-talks that came from humanistic and theological knowledge at that time.
Second, it excessively simplifies the mission direction which dates back to the early church as the westward mission. ‘Back to Jerusalem’ activists in China assure that “the flame of the Gospel has flared toward the West.” However, the Scriptures and the mission history prove that the mission is omnidirectional according to the will of the Holy Spirit. In particular, both Nestorian mission at the time of the early Church and modern mission are not westward but eastward.
Third, understanding the end of the earth as Jerusalem is not so much a biblical or theological interpretation as a geographically limited one. ‘Back to Jerusalem’ activists in China claim that the end of the earth is undoubtedly Jesus’s back where the Gospel goes around the earth and returns as Jesus who stood on the Mount of Olive in East Jerusalem said Acts 1:8 looking at the West. Acts 1:8 says how the Words of Jesus has been fulfilled. Among the cities shown in Acts the last city is Rome (Ac. 19:21; 23:11; 28), which indicates the end of the earth in Acts 1:8.
Fourth, ‘Back to Jerusalem’ Movement sticks to the opinion that the Second Advent of Christ Jesus will be achieved at the completion of mission to the end of the earth, Jerusalem. It is a wrong criticism that the Movement is a dispensational eschatology because there are not Dual Advent and dispensational premillenialism in it. However, unreasonably deploying eschatology by connecting ‘Back to Jerusalem’ with the Second Advent of Christ Jesus is a fallacy, which is derived from the a shallow theology and a pure passion of Chinese Home Churches.
Fifth, excessive goal orientation for Jerusalem is in danger of reducing the mission field between China and Jerusalem to the means for the target and there is lacking in the transparency of mission plan, its execution and finance use of ‘Back to Jerusalem’ activists in China.
If ‘Back to Jerusalem’ activists in China pay attention to these critic voices and make an effort to fix their problems, the movement can be effective in Muslim, Buddhist, and Hindu countries. The present writer here suggests the term ‘The Silk Road Project’ instead of ‘Back to Jerusalem.’ Chinese Churches can afford to play a lager role in the world evangelization only when they are associated with many Churches in other countries, taking steps toward ‘Transnational Network Mission.’