ENCOURAGEMENT FROM GROWING CHURCHES

Good News! While recent polls have indicated that the percentage of Christians in the United States has declined, as has churchgoing, and the number of Nones (those who indicate they have no religious affiliation) has grown, that is not true in the rest of the world. At the turn of the 20^th century only 18% of the world’s Christians lived in Africa, Asia and Latin America. In 1980 the the majority share has shifted and more Christians live in the Majority World than in the West for the first time in 1,000 years. By 2050, it is estimated that 73% of the world’s Christians will live outside the western nations. As of 2020 there are now 130 million more Christians in South America (397m) than in North America (267m).

In Western Europe in 2020 there were 126 million Christians as compared to 1970 when there were 147 million. In Africa in 1970 there were 85 million Christians. In 2020 there were 450 million. In Southeast Asia there were 51 million Christians in 1970. In 2020 there were 153 million.

What can we in the West learn from the churches in the Majority World? Ajith Fernando, former national director of Youth for Christ in Sri Lanka, gives two reasons that are of great value.

1. All Christian truth is cruciform, coming from a theology of the cross of Christ and from a belief that obedience to Christ cannot be divorced from taking up a cross of suffering. Suffering and material deprivation can foster deep thinking about God’s truth which Christians living in the affluent West could easily miss. As suffering and persecution are realities in most churches in Majority World nations, these churches are uniquely positioned to enrich the church with deep, health-giving, cruciform truth.
2. In many parts of the western world churches are in decline and are losing the positions of influence they once had. In response to this, some Christian communities, trying not to cause offense to outsiders, are soft-peddling radical Christian essentials and losing their cutting edge. Others are trying to assert that their views are the official values of the nation and should therefore be enforced. Sadly, many are pursuing these paths in ways that are viewed by outsiders as intolerant and arrogant. Christians in the West can be emboldened and instructed by hearing the voices from churches where growth and vitality is evidenced in the midst of persecution. There are helpful models of winsome witness amidst hardship. When you are insecure you attack the enemy. When we are secure about our truth we respond to them lovingly, compassionately. And in that way I think we can have a powerful witness for Christ. Their vibrant experiences of growth and of God’s power have contributed a unique flavor to their interpretation of an approach to God’s truth. When Christians experience God powerfully at work among them, their eyes are opened afresh to discovering certain biblical truths, especially about the ability of God. Those discoveries could bring new light and encouragement to Christians who are discouraged by being in churches which are in decline.

(Material provided by the Langham Partnership, Cultivate, Fall 2021)