A great piece on the true state of contemporary Christianity. Read the whole thing (and buy
Philip Jenkins
' books). Excerpts:
...For some centuries, European and American
Christians prayed fervently for the conversion of the wider world,
especially in Africa and Asia, and many devoted their lives to achieving
this end. And to an astonishing degree, they succeeded. During the 20th
century alone, around 40 percent of the population of Africa converted
from animism or primal religion to some variety of Christianity. Within a
few decades, the African continent could be, in numerical terms, the
center of world Christianity. Growth in Asia has also been impressive,
while enthusiastic new forms of Christianity have blossomed in Latin
America. Many denominations are discovering, to their surprise, that
large numbers of their adherents, even majorities, no longer live in
those areas that could once be claimed to represent the "Christian
world."
At least by the 1970s, churches were acknowledging, at least
in theory, that concepts of mission had to reflect these changing
realities, that mission could no longer be seen as a blessing bestowed
by Europeans and Americans upon those less fortunate dwellers beyond the
pale. But for all the well-intentioned egalitarian talk of "mission in
six continents," we still find people asking, semi-humorously, whether
someday we might even find African or Asian missionaries coming to
evangelize Europe and North America—as if such missionary efforts were
not already widespread and thriving. As to the intellectual effects of
the epochal southward movement of Christianity, no less a celebrity than
Father Andrew Greeley opines that "We will depend on them for vitality,
but they will continue to depend on us for the ideas." Uh-huh. I
somehow doubt that the global South's contribution to theological
inquiry will be confined to rhythmic dancing or hand-clapping.
In order to rethink mission, we Northerners must absorb a number of
basic points. Primarily, we must appreciate the wider context in which
we stand in relation to the wider Christian world. Already, we do not
represent the norm within Christianity, whether in racial, social or
economic terms, and we will over time be ever further marginalized. By
2050, white non-Hispanics could represent just 15 or 20 percent of the
world's Christians. Following from that fact, the world's "average
Christian" looks very different from the media stereotype. She or he is
above all likely to be an extremely poor person by Western standards,
with all that implies in terms of access to food, water, schooling,
transportation, medical care, and a healthy environment. Nor, probably,
does this ordinary believer live in a stable nation-state in which
government is limited by the popular will, and where human rights
receive more than lip service.
In terms of mission, that profile demands a reorientation of
priorities. Of course, it is far too early to think of abandoning the
basic task of proclamation, of introducing Christian faith and doctrine
to new sections of the world. For all the brilliant successes of the
past century, the gospel still remains unknown in much of the Muslim and
Hindu worlds, in the celebrated 10-40 window, and where Christianity is
known in those regions, its Western cultural associations often give it
a radioactive taint. But having acknowledged this, we must also
recognize how effectively and thoroughly the basic job of
foundation-laying has already been done across so much of the world. It
is impossible to travel in much of Africa without noticing the constant
revivals, healing services, and prayer meetings. (A bemused Kenyan
friend once asked me, "How do people find time to do any work?") Today, the primary
obligation is not trying to make people Christians, but to help the
Christians who are already there, and who are often living in dreadful
circumstances.
Rather than thinking about how to carry the message, then, the
churches of the Old Christendom must now undertake a rigorous
self-assessment to determine just what "we" have that "they" still lack.
High on the inventory, obviously, would be the incalculable material
riches of the global North, as well as the technological brilliance that
manifests itself in medicine, transportation, and communications.
Europe and North America still also carry the ambiguous blessing of
their immense political and military predominance, which could—if used
judiciously—be used to defend Christian communities under assault,
facing massacre or forced conversion...
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