Who Do You Serve? 你所服事的是誰？

Christians in Hong Kong have every reason to be concerned at the rapidly evolving politics of Hong Kong when they see the promised implementation of ‘Two Systems’ within ‘One Country’ being totally overshadowed by matters of sovereignty and allegiance to China.

At the December 4th National Constitutional Day forum Liu Huining, director of Beijing’s Liaison Office in Hong Kong said that “Only through the recognition and respect for the constitution (of the PRC) can problems arising from the implementation of ‘One country Two systems’ be tackled”. While he is acknowledging that there are problems with implementing ‘two systems’ his assertion that they can only be solved by Hong Kong’s recognition of the ‘one country’ constitution raises all sorts of problems and issues. Hongkongers have a reasonable expectation from the Sino-British Joint Declaration that ‘One Country’ will abide by its commitment to foster and prosper the ‘capitalist system’ in Hong Kong (as stated in article 5 of the Basic law) but instead it seems we are being obliged to recognise the constitution of the ‘socialist system’ under the guise of obeying the Basic Law.

Constitutional problems aside, the outcome for Hong Kong’s Christians is that we are being pressed to pledge allegiance to China in ways that are becoming increasingly uncomfortable, if not downright dangerous, to our spiritual commitment to Jesus as our Lord. Our first commandment is to ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ (Matt 22:37-38). For the early church, there was no question about sovereignty. Jesus was proclaimed as their ‘Sovereign Lord’ despite the pressing claims of the all-powerful Roman empire that ‘Caesar is Lord’. When professor Chen Duanhong said at the same forum that Hongkongers should see the basic law as they might view religion then surely we are in very dangerous territory. There is no doubt that the control of politics over religion in China is a very worrying portent for Hong Kong’s Christians as they face up to the pressures which the socialist system is bringing.

香港政治發展急速變化，「一國兩制」漸漸被中國主權及效忠問題所取代，身於香港的基督徒也難免會有不安。

在12月4日的國家憲法日座談會上，中央政府駐港聯絡辦主任駱惠寧說：「只有認同和尊崇（中國的）憲法，⋯⋯才能破解近年來『一國兩制』實踐遇到的新情況新問題新挑戰。」他承認在實施「兩制」上存在問題，但卻認為只有當香港認同「一國」的憲法才能解決問題，而這種說法其實也帶來一些隱憂。根據《中英聯合聲明》，香港人期望這「一國」會信守承諾，保持原有的資本主義制度（正如《基本法》第五條所述），然而，遵守《基本法》似乎只是幌子，我們要承認的，其實是「社會主義制度」。

先撇開憲制問題不談，香港的基督徒面對著壓力，向中國宣誓效忠的做法愈來愈令人不安，這就是說，我們要宣認「耶穌是主」將會變得愈來愈困難，甚至可能是相當危險的。我們要守的第一條誡命，就是要「盡心、盡性、盡意愛主——你的神。」（太二十二37-38）。對於早期教會，他們對於「誰是主」的想法十分清晰。雖然強大的羅馬帝國宣稱「凱撒是主」，但信徒仍然宣認耶穌為主。然而，如今當陳端洪教授在同一座談會上說，香港人應像看待宗教那樣看待《基本法》時，我們肯定已經身陷險境。毫無疑問，當香港基督徒要面對社會主義制度所帶來的壓力時，中國以政治控制宗教的情況實在是令人擔憂的徵兆。