As usual, I’m right in the middle of reading several books and thought I would share some thoughts from one of my reads. “The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity” (Oxford, 2002) by Philip Jenkins will rock your world – especially if you grew up (like me) in the cul-de-sac of American fundamentalism. Not only is the world bigger than I previously believed, but the church is much bigger, and much more diverse.
The simple fact of the matter is that most of the West is no longer Christian, and most Christians no longer live in the West. To quote the Kenyan Scholar John Mbiti, “the centers of the church’s universality are no longer in Geneva, Rome, Athens, Paris, London, New York, but Kinshasa, Buenos Aires, Addis Ababa and Manila” (cited in Jenkins, 2).
While scholars are rewriting the history books to reflect the shifting center of Christianity from West to global South (South America, Africa and Asia), we are left to grapple with the question of how this change will impact local churches in America. Perhaps the biggest question is related to our mission strategies in local churches. How will missions change in the 21st century? This is an important question for a church that is sending out teams to the Dominican Republic, India, Greece, and Peru all in the space of about 4 weeks. (I applaud these efforts by the way - in fact, I'm on one of the teams!)
For example, Jenkins points out that churches in South America, Africa and Asia are now sending missionaries to Europe and the United States because what they are learning about the West from television, movies, and the media is leaving them with the distinct impression that we could really use the help. Interestingly, I spoke at a conference in Nairobi this year that was attended by some 130 pastors from around Kenya and when the emcee asked those in attendance, “How many of you would like to go to America as a missionary?” every hand in the room immediately shot up amidst uproarious shouts of excitement! I have no doubt that they are motivated by zeal for the gospel and that the only thing keeping them from coming is the money.
So what do we have to offer the rest of the world? What is our unique role? And with our own culture in so much trouble, should we be focusing more energy on missionary work at home while we engage in missionary work abroad?
The simple fact of the matter is that most of the West is no longer Christian, and most Christians no longer live in the West. To quote the Kenyan Scholar John Mbiti, “the centers of the church’s universality are no longer in Geneva, Rome, Athens, Paris, London, New York, but Kinshasa, Buenos Aires, Addis Ababa and Manila” (cited in Jenkins, 2).
While scholars are rewriting the history books to reflect the shifting center of Christianity from West to global South (South America, Africa and Asia), we are left to grapple with the question of how this change will impact local churches in America. Perhaps the biggest question is related to our mission strategies in local churches. How will missions change in the 21st century? This is an important question for a church that is sending out teams to the Dominican Republic, India, Greece, and Peru all in the space of about 4 weeks. (I applaud these efforts by the way - in fact, I'm on one of the teams!)
For example, Jenkins points out that churches in South America, Africa and Asia are now sending missionaries to Europe and the United States because what they are learning about the West from television, movies, and the media is leaving them with the distinct impression that we could really use the help. Interestingly, I spoke at a conference in Nairobi this year that was attended by some 130 pastors from around Kenya and when the emcee asked those in attendance, “How many of you would like to go to America as a missionary?” every hand in the room immediately shot up amidst uproarious shouts of excitement! I have no doubt that they are motivated by zeal for the gospel and that the only thing keeping them from coming is the money.
So what do we have to offer the rest of the world? What is our unique role? And with our own culture in so much trouble, should we be focusing more energy on missionary work at home while we engage in missionary work abroad?
2 comments:
The topic of this post has been on my mind all week. I have come up with two possible actions to consider: (1) We (Christians who are United States citizens) can fund and support the missionaries around the world who feel called to serve in the USA, or (2) we make an effort to transform the cultural image the media broadcasts to the rest of the world.
In my small allotment of time for personal reading, I'm working through Dick Staub's Culturally Savvy Christian, which is a corrective commentary on the current state of the Christian culture. He uses the phrase 'Christianity-lite' (same taste, less filling), to describe the Christian imitation of a superficial, pop-culture driven by celebrities and money. We created 'American Pop-Christianity' which is 3000 miles wide and 2 inches deep.
If Staub's assessment is accurate, then this is the image of Christianity that the media picks up and delivers to the new centers of church universality. It is no wonder they want to step in and help stop our conformity to secular pop-culture.
Staub mentions the failed attempts to react to our culture: isolating ourselves from it rather than living in it with discernment; combating the 'liberal bad guys' instead of loving; and finally conforming to it (we are influenced by culture more than we influence it.)
His solution is one of transformation by applying a deeper meaningfulness, namely glorifying God. He mentions passionate people like Bach, Dante, Pascal, and Rembrandt who produced great work motivated to glorify God and enrich their culture. If we want to return to this, we need to strive to become fully human. He means put God as central importance, reflect God's likeness into the world, be culturally aware and caring, reject mindlessness and spiritual delusion, bridge the gap between culture and faith, and identify and nurture our talents. By pursuing God's transforming presence in our lives, we can become a transforming presence in the world (even through our secular media).
It seems to me that action #2 is more difficult, but would best be carried out as identified in Staub's book (which, in itself, does not contain 'new' ideas). I see no reason why action #1 is not possible, and should be a very sobering experience for us. But unless we have the proper mindset which is necessary for action #2, I think no lasting impression would remain.
Thanks for your thoughts Jeff. "Cultrually Savvy Christian" sounds like a book I would enjoy. I can't disagree with anything you have said - I only want to add to it that I believe that part of the solution to both of your suggestions is to "revive" the existing "missionary centers" already in existence. I am speaking here of the local church. Historically, local churches were more than local churches - they have always been (perhaps up until the modern period) "missionary outposts." This is how local churches came into existence - through the work of a missionary with a vision for a long-term, "self-propogating" gospel presence. Imagine if the members of local churches became passionate, "cultural savvy" Christians who really began to "deepen" their faith - and then "spread" their faith in their neighborhoods! I really beleive the key is "revived/renewed" local churches that are passionate about God, thier nieghbors and their world.
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