Every winter as Lunar New Year (LNY) draws near, Andrea Lee assists her Southern Californian Chinese church, New Life Christian Center, in preparing red envelopes, a conventional Chinese solution to give gifts through the holiday.
But these aren’t just any hong bao (红包, “red envelopes”). While they do contain crisp one-dollar bills, additionally they include bookmarks inscribed with Bible verses designed and printed by the church. Throughout the LNY season, members of the congregation pass these out to newcomers and people attending church-hosted celebrations, which regularly include a communal meal and a sermon from the pastor.
“This is a way of honoring the Chinese tradition, spreading the sensation of heat and goodwill to diaspora Chinese,” said Lee, a content manager with ChinaSource. “The elderly within the church are particularly delighted, and the youngsters adore it too. The joyful faces of the old, middle aged, and young, all ages, coupled with the pastor’s gospel message and encouragement, fosters a way of home and belonging.”
In Chinese culture, the colour red signifies celebration, and red envelopes symbolize happiness and prosperity. Thus, through the Spring Festival, Chinese individuals often jokingly say to one another, “Gong xi fa cai, hong bao na lai” (恭喜发财，红包拿来), which suggests, “Congratulations on the nice fortune, but give me the red packet first.” Today, a digital version of this playful practice has also moved to the realm of the Chinese social media app WeChat, where people can virtually “snatch” red envelopes.
Generally, red envelope gifting goes only in a single direction: from elders to the (single) younger generation, from adults to children, and from the employed to students. The actual sum placed within the red envelope varies. For those that are usually not particularly close, a nominal amount suffices as a token gesture. Only amongst relatives or at special occasions, equivalent to company parties where bonuses could be paid to employees, is a considerable money amount included.
Christians have increasingly appropriated hong bao for gospel ends. In Singapore, a Christian art gift company partnered with local churches to design a series of gospel red envelopes (called “ang paos” in Singapore) showcasing the 37 miracles performed by Jesus. Another business, The Commandment Co., employed “God’s creation” because the theme for his or her red envelope series, portraying God’s abundant blessings through colourful designs.
To learn more about how Chinese Christians on the mainland and among the many diaspora use red envelopes for his or her ministries, CT spoke with seven pastors and church and ministry leaders across five cities.
Diaspora Chinese
All the leaders of overseas Chinese churches and organizations interviewed by CT affirmed that distributing gospel red envelopes through the Spring Festival is a typical practice of their congregations and felt positively toward it.
Agnese Tan, editor-in-chief, Behold magazine, Los Angeles:
Red envelopes are a helpful tool for evangelism, making a sense of welcome and goodwill. We wish to include a 25-cent coin, a one-dollar bill, or a chocolate gold coin inside, which symbolizes blessing and conveys a way of friendliness.
[As Christians], we all know some will come to eat a meal and “benefit from the church.” But we do that because we’re genuinely pleased to serve others voluntarily. We achieve this without expecting gratitude or anything in return and resist complaining that our guests are there simply to eat.
James Hwang, former director of the Far East Broadcasting Company’s Chinese division, Los Angeles:
Although my church’s red envelope accommodates only the symbolic gesture of a dollar, the recipient continues to be pleased to receive it. Its presence allows the pastor to elaborate on the symbolism of the “renewal of all things” (Rev. 21:5), making a selected Chinese pun (in Chinese, 一元, “one dollar,” can mean “starting of all things”). Coupled with the eight fu (“blessings”), that’s, the Beatitudes, printed in Chinese on the red envelopes, on this context, it embodies the essence of a gospel tract.
Nan Qiu, editor of the Australian edition of The Herald Monthly in Brisbane, Australia:
As Christians, if we remain vigilant and never succumb to the love of cash related to the secular tradition of giving red envelopes, then the distribution of gospel red envelopes can function a solution to take part the fun, making the Good News more down-to-earth. It’s a practice that may conform to traditional customs in addition to serve the aim of glorifying God and benefiting others.
Karen Wong, Christian author, Hong Kong:
Note: In Hong Kong, the cash contained throughout the red envelope is known as “lai see ” (利是).
At my church, we print lai see envelopes with Bible verses and place a small amount of cash inside. Apart from the outer envelope, it’s indistinguishable from the peculiar red envelopes distributed amongst friends and relatives.
I actually have also heard of non-believer friends who received red envelopes from churches, but once they saw Bible verses inside along with the cash, they felt uncomfortable because they felt they were being proselytized.
Another drawback of the gospel lai see envelope is that recipients may not read the verses or Christian messages—most individuals discard the paper card or the envelope printed with such words quickly.
Chen Daode, Southern Baptist pastor, Los Angeles:
Red envelopes and the Spring Festival are cultural symbols of the Chinese. Christians express their love for his or her neighbors with specific items (equivalent to red envelopes) at a selected time (through the Spring Festival), providing a chance to construct relationships, similar to sending out Christmas cards at Christmas.
We shouldn’t expect an excessive amount of from the evangelistic efforts of the red envelope distribution process. The important purpose of distributing gospel red envelopes is to construct relationships and convey goodwill. Therefore, we approach the outcomes of distributing gospel red envelopes with realistic and relaxed expectations.
Mainland China
Pastors and church leaders of Chinese mainland house churches told CT that their churches didn’t distribute gospel red envelopes through the Spring Festival, and so they had not heard of other Chinese house churches doing so. Some of them said they were “not opposed” to this practice, while others said they “wouldn’t support” it.
These pastors consider that the difference in attitude toward distributing gospel red envelopes between overseas Chinese Christians and mainland Chinese Christians in house churches is primarily because of cultural differences brought on by different environments.
Note: CT interviewed a couple of pastors and leaders in China and two of them are quoted below.
Han Jianshe (pseudonym for security reasons), pastor of a house church, Shanghai:
Our ministries are the appliance of our theology in specific situations. I feel that overseas Chinese churches could also be influenced by the gospel movement and fasten more importance to evangelism. The culture of giving red envelopes can assist achieve the goal of “information reaching” and of fulfilling “evangelism KPIs”—the rejection rate could be very low, so I can see why this sort of ministry model could be adopted.
However, for domestic churches in China, the overall culture of giving red envelopes has declined. In today’s urban culture, accepting red envelopes from strangers often ends in suspicion reasonably than [being perceived as] a friendly ice-breaker gesture.
From my personal pastoral perspective, we now have so some ways to evangelise the gospel to people, whether from the Sunday pulpit or through day by day conversations, charity and mercy ministries, or workplace testimony.
Therefore, carrying out gospel outreach by way of a declining cultural phenomenon isn’t an excellent practice. Moreover, the custom of giving red envelopes has a folk religious background, so we’re more cautious with this practice (Chinese Christians with a fundamentalist tendency often oppose “lucky money” because the thought originated from bribing ghosts and gods).
Sean Long, pastor of an urban house church in China currently studying for a doctorate in theology within the United States:
We have to be mindful in our approach to the connection between the gospel, faith, and culture, reasonably than merely amalgamating all of them together.
One potential pitfall of disseminating gospel red envelopes is the chance of materializing the blessings God bestows upon people. Even from the standpoint of Chinese culture, the true great thing about the Lunar New Year celebration lies primarily within the reunion of family and the expression of affection, not in winning money from mahjong or receiving red envelopes. Moreover, from the attitude of Christian faith values, material blessings don’t equate to the blessings of the gospel. The biggest blessing God provides us is present in Jesus Christ.
In light of those potential drawbacks of churches distributing red envelopes, I would really like to suggest a constructive and revolutionary idea for utilizing red envelopes in care ministry.
When the church disseminates gospel red envelopes to more effectively embody the gospel spirit of “it’s more blessed to provide than to receive,” we could use actual money-filled red packets to support and assist those in need, equivalent to refugees and the impoverished and vulnerable.
However, the church would in a roundabout way insert money into the red envelopes. Instead, the church would supply the outer casing and include a gospel leaflet or blessing card with Scriptures inside after which distribute these money-less red envelopes to brothers and sisters, who, if moved by the Holy Spirit, would contribute a certain quantity of cash, after which distribute it to those in need, expressing Christian love.
