discovering missions - Southern Nazarene University

245187 Disc Missions ins 9/6/07 1:04 PM Page 64
64 A Global Church
became the hub of the faith. When Hellenistic society collapsed, Christianity’s
center of gravity moved northward. Now, the growth of churches in the majority
world of Africa, Latin America, and Asia has pushed Christianity’s center of
gravity into the Southern Hemisphere.
Plate 5.1 shows that in 1800, 99 percent of all evangelical Christians lived in
Western Europe, the U.S.A., and Canada. A hundred years later, the percentage
of evangelical Christians living in the non-Western or majority world had
jumped to 9 percent. Then, within an 80-year period, the demographics of evangelical
Christianity so changed that by 1980 more evangelical Christians lived in
the majority world than did in Western Europe, the U.S.A., and Canada.
What has happened since 1980 is really amazing. As plate 5.2 clearly
shows, evangelical Christians in the non-Western world now outnumber those
in the West by four to one. Thus, said Jenkins, the mass media need to learn
not to say “what Christians believe” when they have only interviewed Western
Christians. One further reason these figures are so astounding is that a significant
portion of the growth has come in areas that formerly seemed resistant to
Christianity, countries such as China and India.
The map shown in plate 5.3 depicts the growth rate and population percentage
of evangelicals in various parts of the world. As can be seen, the fastest
growth is occurring in the non-Western areas of the world. Jenkins and others
say this trend will continue. If it does and it is healthy growth unfettered by
paternalism, the face of the Church will change even more.
The Face of Today’s Church
What does it mean for the Church to be global? Is the Church global because
the same songs are translated and sung worldwide? Is the Church global
because believers are all reading the same books (translated, of course) and being
enamored by the same evangelists who use interpreters? While the story of
God’s relationship with His people does transcend cultural barriers, singing the
same songs and reading the same books is not what being a global church
means. Though the various parts of today’s global church are very much interconnected,
they are quite diverse and, in most cases, very indigenized.
Diverse
Of course, just because particular denominations describe themselves as
worldwide does not mean they are truly global. In some instances, they are simply
paternalistic Western churches with lots of international affiliates. Another
side of the story, however, is that the global growth of the Church does not always
mean more Southern Baptist churches, more Methodist churches, more
Assembly of God churches, or more Nazarene churches. As gospel proclamation