It's a Big World Out There
I think I am a typical Westerner in the sense that I believe that I am the center of the universe. I live in the greatest country in the world, the home of the smartest and most succesful people. We have the right government, the right culture, and most of all, the right view of God and how to worship him. Sure there's a world out there, but it's not like anyone actually lives there...
I picked up a book not too long ago that looked interesting - The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity by Philip Jenkins - and so far it's doing quite a bit to make me see that the previous paragraph couldn't be farther from the truth. Consider these snippits:
"Over the past century, however, the center of gravity in the Christian world has shifted inexorably southward, to Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Already today, the largest Christian communities on the planet are to be found in Africa and Latin America. "
"Even if Christians just maintain their present share of the population in countries like Nigeria and Kenya, Mexico and Ethiopia, Brazil and the Philippines, there are soon going to be several hundred million more Christians from those nations alone."
"All too often, statements about what 'modern Christians accept' or what 'Catholics today believe' refer only to what the ever-shrinking remnant of Western Christians and Catholics believe. "
The book details population growth rates, as well as the numbers of the booming church of the Southern Hemisphere, and it's astounding. By 2050, only 1 out of every 5 followers of Christ will be a White and non-Latino, which means that I am actually becoming the minority in the Christian world. This is something that's very new to me. I've always grown up thinking that the rest of the world was full of pagans waiting for me to come save them. It turns out that there will soon be more Christians in Africa, in Latin America, and in Asia than there are in Europe or the United States. It may not be long before they send missionaries to help us!
Furthermore, there are definite theological differences between my church, and a traditional church in these developing areas. The Gospel is new and fresh, and many of the things that we see in the New Testament that our churches seem to frown on these days - faith healing, prophecy, spiritual warfare, and so on - are big parts of the churches down south. When the apostles cured the sick, spoke in tongues, and worked miracles, they were not exercising an archaic spiritual practice, but utilizing the power of a Holy Spirit that is still with us.
It's kind of an eye-opener to think that there is so much going on in the world, and how Christianity is an ever-changing and adaptive faith. As the population continues to explode down South and religious participation continues to go down in the Western world, this seemingly "primitive" faith of the Third World will start to become he norm. It's exciting to think about how God is working and creating disciples all over the world. It makes me realize that my faith is not the center of the Christian world, and that I am just a fingertip of the body of Christ.
I picked up a book not too long ago that looked interesting - The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity by Philip Jenkins - and so far it's doing quite a bit to make me see that the previous paragraph couldn't be farther from the truth. Consider these snippits:
"Over the past century, however, the center of gravity in the Christian world has shifted inexorably southward, to Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Already today, the largest Christian communities on the planet are to be found in Africa and Latin America. "
"Even if Christians just maintain their present share of the population in countries like Nigeria and Kenya, Mexico and Ethiopia, Brazil and the Philippines, there are soon going to be several hundred million more Christians from those nations alone."
"All too often, statements about what 'modern Christians accept' or what 'Catholics today believe' refer only to what the ever-shrinking remnant of Western Christians and Catholics believe. "
The book details population growth rates, as well as the numbers of the booming church of the Southern Hemisphere, and it's astounding. By 2050, only 1 out of every 5 followers of Christ will be a White and non-Latino, which means that I am actually becoming the minority in the Christian world. This is something that's very new to me. I've always grown up thinking that the rest of the world was full of pagans waiting for me to come save them. It turns out that there will soon be more Christians in Africa, in Latin America, and in Asia than there are in Europe or the United States. It may not be long before they send missionaries to help us!
Furthermore, there are definite theological differences between my church, and a traditional church in these developing areas. The Gospel is new and fresh, and many of the things that we see in the New Testament that our churches seem to frown on these days - faith healing, prophecy, spiritual warfare, and so on - are big parts of the churches down south. When the apostles cured the sick, spoke in tongues, and worked miracles, they were not exercising an archaic spiritual practice, but utilizing the power of a Holy Spirit that is still with us.
It's kind of an eye-opener to think that there is so much going on in the world, and how Christianity is an ever-changing and adaptive faith. As the population continues to explode down South and religious participation continues to go down in the Western world, this seemingly "primitive" faith of the Third World will start to become he norm. It's exciting to think about how God is working and creating disciples all over the world. It makes me realize that my faith is not the center of the Christian world, and that I am just a fingertip of the body of Christ.
Labels: Christianity
posted by Matt Andrews at 12:43 AM
2 comments
