Introduction
In the parable of the sheep and the goats Jesus tells his followers that those who have compassion upon others in need are blessed by the Father. Yet, those who do not do this will be cursed. Neither group realized that they were truly caring (or not caring) for Jesus Himself. But Jesus does something radically unexpected and equates Himself with those who are least in the eyes of the world.[i] The North American Church is considerably wealthy while an impoverished world dies of hunger, disease, violence, and exposure. So my question for the Church in N. American is, “what in the world are we doing?” In this blog I will consider four thoughts to help answer this question. First, it is necessary to realize that Western Christianity is currently getting weaker not stronger. Second, I will discuss the rapid growth of Southern Christianity. Third, I will explore the devastations of violence, HIV/AIDS and poverty in the Southern world. Finally, I want to challenge the Western Church which has the resources to make a physical difference in these places where Christianity is growing.
Decline of Western Christianity
Western Christianity is changing radically and loosing ground in the world. According to the Barna Group there are 39 to 54 percent of US Americans who attend Church on a regular basis. Most of those who attend are elderly and the percentage decreases with age.[ii] The reality is that less than 50 percent of US American Christians claim to be absolutely committed to their religion.[iii] This means that at the highest 26 percent of US Americans are claiming to be fully committed Christians and at least only 19 percent. The US has much higher church attendance than most of the Western world. European author Stuart Murray says, “total ignorance of Church and Christianity may not be widespread, but it is becoming more common, especially in our inner cities.”[iv] He goes on to show the drastic decline of church membership in the UK.[v] The reality is that Christianity in the Western world is waning. Though Christianity is not dead, the idea of a Christian nation or Christendom is a part of Western History, not its near future.
It is not difficult to look and see moral decay within the US and much of the Western world. For example, State and federal Prison population nation wide has increased from 200,000 in 1960, to 1,400,000 in 2000.[vi] Child abuse and neglect reports have increased from 700,000 in 1976 to 3,500,000 in 1997.[vii] In another Barna survey 83 percent of adults in the US said that they were concerned about moral issues in the nation; however, when asked about certain moral behavior this was the results:
Of the ten moral behaviors evaluated, a majority of Americans
believed that each of three activities were “morally acceptable.” Those included gambling (61%), co-habitation (60%), and sexual fantasies (59%). Nearly half of the adult population felt that two other behaviors were morally acceptable: having an abortion (45%) and having a sexual relationship with someone of the opposite sex other than their spouse (42%). About one-third of the population gave the stamp of approval to pornography (38%), profanity (36%), drunkenness
(35%) and homosexual sex (30%). The activity that garnered the least support was using non-prescription drugs (17%).[viii]
These statistics give small glimpses of the moral attitudes in the US. I would say that the young people in the US are even more open to immoral behavior than those who where interviewed by the Barna Group. As a youth pastor I have the opportunity to talk with students about morality issues and very few have a deep sense of right and wrong. In a discussion about movie piracy a twelve year old said to me, “Your ethics are good for you, but I’m fine with my ethics.” Morality in the US is on a decline and it is not the Christian world that many have assumed. While this thought might leave many distraught and depressed, the reality is that God is still moving and growing His kingdom; however, he is not working in our own back yard as much as He is in our Southern neighbor’s.
Christian Growth In the South
The kingdom of God is growing; however, but it is not in the Western world where it has been before. The rate of Church growth in the world is phenomenal which may be a shock to many who look at the world around them and see much Christian decay and moral laxity. In the magazine Christianity Today, Philip Yancey says, “As I travel, I have observed a pattern, a strange historical phenomenon of God “moving” geographically from the Middle East, to Europe to North America to the developing world. My theory is this: God goes where he’s wanted.”[ix] Though European Christianity hangs by a thread and US Christianity struggle with morality and actual growth, Christianity in the world is far from dead. God is moving among people who are striving to follow Him. For the interests of this blog I will focus mostly on Africa; however, it is noteworthy that Christianity is growing and thriving in Asia, South American, and Africa. All three of theses politically and economically struggling parts of the world are seeing unparallel growth in Christian adherents.
According to Andrew F. Walls it is the nonwestern world in which Christianity is growing the most. He points out that over half of Christians live outside of Europe or North America. He says, “This means that we have to regard African Christianity as potentially the representative Christianity of the twenty-first century.”[x] Population growth rates in Sub-Sahara Africa are astonishing. Between the eight largest countries that represent this area, they have a combined population of 400 million. According to Philip Jenkins, “by 2050, that figure could well rise to over a billion, an increase of 150 percent.”[xi] This growth rate in a Sub-Saharan country like Uganda could prove fertile ground for Christian growth. Already there has been an unprecedented growth since the mid nineteen fifties when missionaries planted Christianity. Jenkins says, “Today, about 40 percent of the population is Protestant, 35 percent Catholic, and 10 percent Muslim, while the remainder follow traditional African religions.”[xii] With 75 percent Christians and 150 percent population growth rate Uganda’s 17 million Christians could become 50 million in less than forty-five years.[xiii] It is important to note that this country has a small population in comparison to the United States, but it is geographically only the size of Oregon State.[xiv] If Jenkins is correct he says that by the 2050, “Uganda could …have more active church members than the four or five largest European nations combined.”[xv]
According to Andrew F. Walls it is the nonwestern world in which Christianity is growing the most. He points out that over half of Christians live outside of Europe or North America. He says, “This means that we have to regard African Christianity as potentially the representative Christianity of the twenty-first century.”[x] Population growth rates in Sub-Sahara Africa are astonishing. Between the eight largest countries that represent this area, they have a combined population of 400 million. According to Philip Jenkins, “by 2050, that figure could well rise to over a billion, an increase of 150 percent.”[xi] This growth rate in a Sub-Saharan country like Uganda could prove fertile ground for Christian growth. Already there has been an unprecedented growth since the mid nineteen fifties when missionaries planted Christianity. Jenkins says, “Today, about 40 percent of the population is Protestant, 35 percent Catholic, and 10 percent Muslim, while the remainder follow traditional African religions.”[xii] With 75 percent Christians and 150 percent population growth rate Uganda’s 17 million Christians could become 50 million in less than forty-five years.[xiii] It is important to note that this country has a small population in comparison to the United States, but it is geographically only the size of Oregon State.[xiv] If Jenkins is correct he says that by the 2050, “Uganda could …have more active church members than the four or five largest European nations combined.”[xv]
Devistation in Africa
Despite Jenkins positive outlook on the future, Uganda is not a bed of roses. Perhaps a bed of blood and horror would be a better description. In January of 2006 Christianity Today ran an issue on the terrorist evils in Uganda. A terrorist named Joseph Kony has been leading a resistant group known as The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) since 1986 in the hope of overthrowing the government. Kony claims that he is acting from the direction of the Holy Spirit; however, his actions are based on a combination of African witchcraft, Islam, and Christianity.[xvi] The violence employed by Kony is horrific. His tactics include brainwashing children and making them murder and fight under threat of death. There are accounts of children killing family members or beating fellow children to death. J. Carter Johnson says, “the physical and sexual torture of children is a deliberate process intended to create killers without conscience. Tragically, it works.”[xvii] This terrible distortion of religion is causing the children of the country to live in constant fear. As long as terror like this continues there can be little hope of Christianity growing the way that Jenkins projects.
Another devastation in this part of the world is the AIDS crisis. Uganda as well as many other Sub-Saharan African countries face the threat of AIDS in addition to the horrors of terrorist. According to the US Census Bureau, “70 percent of the global total of HIV-positive people, 28.5 million out of 40 million, live in Sub-Saharan Africa, even though this region contains only 11 percent of the global population.”[xviii] In Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe in 2002 20 percent or more of adults were HIV positive. In all of Sub-Saharan Africa 9 percent of adults have HIV and 2.2 million died of AIDS in 2001.[xix] Population is some African countries is expected to decrease by 2010 because of AIDS death. For example, in Botswana where HIV claims 39 percent of adults, a -2 percent growth rate is projected in 2010. South Africa is expected to decline by 1.4 percent and Swaziland 0.4 percent.[xx] These countries are literally dying because of the effect of AIDS. Life expectancy in Botswana has been cut down from 72 to 34 years. In Zimbabwe, 40 is the expected life span rather than 69. The Census Bureau says, “Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, and Zambia have life expectancy below forty years.”[xxi] The devastation of AIDS is contributing to poverty which leads to high rates of starvation and exposure in most of Sub-Saharan Africa.
One of the leading causes of death in Africa is unclean water and lack of food. According to World Vision statistics in the Country of Uganda there is only 56 percent access to clean drinking water. Food production is limited and most people only provide enough food to live on. This leaves no excess to sell for clothing or other necessities such as health care.[xxii] In Zambia the water statistics are similar at 55 percent clean water. Droughts are often a problem which leads to bad crops and food loss.[xxiii] In the Democratic Republic of Congo the safe water access is as low as 46 percent. According to World Vision, “Nearly 2 million children lack proper nutrition and three-fourths of Congolese people are undernourished, struggling to survive on an inadequate food supply.” [xxiv]
Strategies For Change
These statistics and stories of horror leave each person with a number of thoughts I’m sure. As I have wrestled with this news myself I have felt a great responsibility. I see the Church in America in moral decline and wonder if there is much hope for Christianity. However, I am convinced that it is the responsibility of the Church in the West to help those in need. Western Christianity has at its disposal billions of dollars and yet children suffer and die because they do not have a dollar to live on that day. It is wrong that our blessed financial status would leave us heartless towards those who suffer in great numbers around the world. As I have shown above, God is working in Africa. Christianity is growing in a world that is torn by war, hunger, and disease. God is working in Africa and I believe that as Christians we should also be working in Africa. Bono, the lead singer of U2 says,
Simplicity is the key beginning for many. Especially for those who think that they do not have any extra. I have been looking at my own life and think that there is plenty to simplify even for those who live on a small income. Here are some really simple suggestions. Cut out fancy coffee from your weakly diet. Perhaps you drink Starbucks more than once a week. A twenty ounce Carmel Macchiato cost about three dollars and seventy cents in Oregon. If you quit drinking Starbucks one time a week you would have an extra fifteen dollars a month. That may not seem like much, but through International Child Care Ministries[xxvi] you can sponsor a child for only twenty-one dollars a month. Maybe drinking fancy coffee is not an issue. Perhaps riding a bike would help simplify life. If a gallon of gas cost two dollars and seventy-five cense and your car gets thirty miles to the gallon you could save a bit. If you ride a bike about two hundred miles a month (that is about six and a half miles a day) you would save about eighteen dollars. Another thought is matching what you buy for yourself. There are many things that we buy for ourselves all the time. Perhaps CDs, DVDs, MP3 players, PDAs or other electronic gadgetry are on your wish list. I would challenge you that every time you want to buy some unnecessary item for yourself, consider matching the amount you spend on Africa. So for every CD you buy you give 15 dollars to help. A final suggestion, shop at Goodwill or other thrift stores. You might not be able to find your favorite Abercrombie and Fitch jeans at Goodwill, but you can get what you need a lot of the time. Every dollar you save is a dollar that you could give to help bless a person in need in Africa.
This brings up the next question, “where do I give?” There are numerous relief organizations that are trustworthy and doing great work. International Child Care Ministries is a branch of the Free Methodist Church of North America. World Vision is another organization doing tremendous things in the world. World Vision was founded in 1950 and works in over one hundred countries across the world to bring hope and wholeness to those in need.[xxvii] World Vision has a list of over thirty-five ways that people or groups can get involved to make a difference.[xxviii] Compassion International is a great organization which has been a standard of child support ministry since 1952. Today Compassion serves 800,000 children in twenty countries.[xxix]
Another option for doing something is to join a cause. There are three causes that I will highlight here. First, you could join World Vision in signing the “No Child Soldiers” Declaration. The goal is to get one million signatures and send it to the Bush Administration and the UN to demand that action be taken in helping stop terrorists in Uganda from making children soldiers.[xxx] Second, you could join the One Campaign. The One Campaign is a movement to raise awareness of the emergency of AIDS and poverty in our world. It is also a campaign to redirect one percent of the US annual budget (Twenty-five Billion Dollars) to help stop AIDS and poverty in the world.[xxxi] Third, you can buy (RED). (RED) is an attempt to use business profits to help fight AIDS in Africa. There are many companies who have chosen to become (RED). When you buy there products or services they give money to buy anti-retroviral medicine to give to people suffering from AIDS in Africa.[xxxii] Though I would recommend simplicity over (RED), it is nice that when you do by a new product or use a credit card that you have an option of some money going to help buy medicine.
Finally, learn all you can and help to educate others. I challenge every person who reads this to look at the links provided in this blog and to talk to their friends about AIDS and poverty in Africa. I encourage you to simplify and start giving to one of the organizations mentioned above. I want to invite you to sponsor a child and give your heart and you money to them. So what in the world are we doing? The question remains up to you. How are you serving others, with what God has given you, in the places where God is working the most? The Church of the West may be dying, but it is not dead. And if we desire to be those who are blessed by the Father, then let us give to those in needs. Do not stand idle as Christ suffers with those who are least in the eyes of the world. Let us grow the kingdom of God by blessing our brothers and sisters in Africa where God is moving and welcome.
God is with the vulnerable and poor. God is in the slums… God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both their lives… God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war… Well, God, as I said, is with the poor. That, I believe, is what God is doing. And that is what He’s calling us to do.[xxv]What in the world are we doing? You might be asking, “What in the world can I do? You might say, “I am only one person I cannot change Uganda or Zambia.” I want to propose four strategies that can help the Christians in the West see some easy ways that they can help people in Africa. First, I challenge you to simplify. Second, I challenge you to give. Third, I challenge you to join a cause. Finally, I challenge you to learn and educate.
Simplicity is the key beginning for many. Especially for those who think that they do not have any extra. I have been looking at my own life and think that there is plenty to simplify even for those who live on a small income. Here are some really simple suggestions. Cut out fancy coffee from your weakly diet. Perhaps you drink Starbucks more than once a week. A twenty ounce Carmel Macchiato cost about three dollars and seventy cents in Oregon. If you quit drinking Starbucks one time a week you would have an extra fifteen dollars a month. That may not seem like much, but through International Child Care Ministries[xxvi] you can sponsor a child for only twenty-one dollars a month. Maybe drinking fancy coffee is not an issue. Perhaps riding a bike would help simplify life. If a gallon of gas cost two dollars and seventy-five cense and your car gets thirty miles to the gallon you could save a bit. If you ride a bike about two hundred miles a month (that is about six and a half miles a day) you would save about eighteen dollars. Another thought is matching what you buy for yourself. There are many things that we buy for ourselves all the time. Perhaps CDs, DVDs, MP3 players, PDAs or other electronic gadgetry are on your wish list. I would challenge you that every time you want to buy some unnecessary item for yourself, consider matching the amount you spend on Africa. So for every CD you buy you give 15 dollars to help. A final suggestion, shop at Goodwill or other thrift stores. You might not be able to find your favorite Abercrombie and Fitch jeans at Goodwill, but you can get what you need a lot of the time. Every dollar you save is a dollar that you could give to help bless a person in need in Africa.
This brings up the next question, “where do I give?” There are numerous relief organizations that are trustworthy and doing great work. International Child Care Ministries is a branch of the Free Methodist Church of North America. World Vision is another organization doing tremendous things in the world. World Vision was founded in 1950 and works in over one hundred countries across the world to bring hope and wholeness to those in need.[xxvii] World Vision has a list of over thirty-five ways that people or groups can get involved to make a difference.[xxviii] Compassion International is a great organization which has been a standard of child support ministry since 1952. Today Compassion serves 800,000 children in twenty countries.[xxix]
Another option for doing something is to join a cause. There are three causes that I will highlight here. First, you could join World Vision in signing the “No Child Soldiers” Declaration. The goal is to get one million signatures and send it to the Bush Administration and the UN to demand that action be taken in helping stop terrorists in Uganda from making children soldiers.[xxx] Second, you could join the One Campaign. The One Campaign is a movement to raise awareness of the emergency of AIDS and poverty in our world. It is also a campaign to redirect one percent of the US annual budget (Twenty-five Billion Dollars) to help stop AIDS and poverty in the world.[xxxi] Third, you can buy (RED). (RED) is an attempt to use business profits to help fight AIDS in Africa. There are many companies who have chosen to become (RED). When you buy there products or services they give money to buy anti-retroviral medicine to give to people suffering from AIDS in Africa.[xxxii] Though I would recommend simplicity over (RED), it is nice that when you do by a new product or use a credit card that you have an option of some money going to help buy medicine.
Finally, learn all you can and help to educate others. I challenge every person who reads this to look at the links provided in this blog and to talk to their friends about AIDS and poverty in Africa. I encourage you to simplify and start giving to one of the organizations mentioned above. I want to invite you to sponsor a child and give your heart and you money to them. So what in the world are we doing? The question remains up to you. How are you serving others, with what God has given you, in the places where God is working the most? The Church of the West may be dying, but it is not dead. And if we desire to be those who are blessed by the Father, then let us give to those in needs. Do not stand idle as Christ suffers with those who are least in the eyes of the world. Let us grow the kingdom of God by blessing our brothers and sisters in Africa where God is moving and welcome.
Concludiong Thought
This blog is only scratching the surface of all that can be done. I desire to receive feed back and input from many who can share what they have done or other opportunities. I have not yet talked about World Vision’s work in Sudan and Northern Uganda to liberate children from the LRA.[xxxiii] Nor have I spoken on how Rick Warren and the Saddleback church have adopted Rwanda with the desire to help restore a broken country.[xxxiv] There are many doing what they can and striving to bless Africa and others in need around our world, are you?
Endnotes
[i] Matt. 25.31-46 TNIV (Today’s New International Version).
[ii] The Barna Group. Church Attendance in the United States. http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=Topic&TopicID=10 accessed November 28, 2006.
[iii] The Barna Group, Is America’s Faith Really Shifting? http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdate&BarnaUpdateID=133 accessed November 29, 2006
[iv] Stuart Murrey, Post-Christendom. (Waynesboro: Paternoster Press 2005), 2.
[v] Ibid., 4-7.
[vi] David G. Myers, The American Paradox: Spiritual Hunger in an Age of Plenty. (Newhaven:Yale University Press, 2000), 106.
[vii] Ibid., 64.
[viii] The Brana Group. Morality Continues to Decay http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdate&BarnaUpdateID=152 accessed Dec 5, 2006.
[ix] Philip Yancey, Christianity Today (Feburary 2001): quoted in Philip Jenkins, The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002), 15.
[x] Andrew F. Walls., The Cross-Cultural Process in Christian History. (New York: Orbis, 2002), 85.
[xi] Philip Jenkins. The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002), 83.
[xii] Ibid., 91.
[xiii] Ibid., 91.
[xiv] Ibid., 90.
[xv] Ibid., 91.
[xvi] J. Carter Johnson, “Deliver us From Kony: Why the Children of Uganda are Killing One Another in the Name of the Lord,” Christianity Today. January 2006, 30-31.
[xvii] Ibid., 32.
[xviii] U.S. Census Bureau. The Aids Pandemic in the 21st Century. http://www.census.gov/ipc/prod/wp02/wp-02006.pdf Viewed December 7, 2006. 71.
[xix] Ibid.,
[xx] Ibid., 75.
[xxi] Ibid., 80.
[xxii] World Vision Select Children by Country. Uganda http://www.worldvision.org/worldvision/projects.nsf/35f1e3cbd0502cbd8825669d0059a32d/33609c142091752e88256a1c00067fe4!OpenDocument accessed December 8, 2006.
[xxiii] World Vision Select Children by Country. Zambia http://www.worldvision.org/worldvision/projects.nsf/35f1e3cbd0502cbd8825669d0059a32d/19f56d03d90c3585882567d0006e7bd5!OpenDocument accessed December 8, 2006.
[xxiv] World Vision Select Children by Country. Democratic Republic of Congo http://www.worldvision.org/worldvision/projects.nsf/35f1e3cbd0502cbd8825669d0059a32d/a13c6cffd79a144088256abf0065848d!OpenDocument accessed December 8, 2006.
[xxv] Bono, 'Remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast.' http://www.data.org/archives/000774.php accessed December 8, 2006.
[xxvi] International Child Care Ministries. http://www.childcareministries.org/ accessed 8, 2006.
[xxvii] World Vision About Us. http://www.worldvision.org/about_us.nsf/child/aboutus_wherewework?Open&lid=topnav_aboutus_where_intl&lpos=topnav accesses December 9, 2006.
[xxviii] World Vision Get Involved. http://www.worldvision.org/get_involved.nsf/child/getinvolved?OpenDocument accessed December 9, 2006.
[xxix] Compassion International About Us. http://www.compassion.com/about/aboutus.htm accessed December 9, 2006.
[xxx] World Vision “No Child Soldiers” Declaration. https://www.worldvision.org/Worldvision/guest.nsf/nochild_soldiers?Open&lid=Declaration&lpos=main accessed December 9, 2006.
[xxxi] One Champaign About One. http://www.one.org/about#What%20does%20ONE%20aim%20to%20do/change? accessed December 9, 2006.
[xxxii] (RED) Manifesto. http://www.joinred.com/manifesto.asp accessed December 9, 2006.
[xxxiii] J. Carter Johnson. “Brutality Therapy,” Christianity Today January 2006, 34-5.
[xxxiv] David Van Biema, “Warren of Rwanda,” Time Aug 22, 2005,. viewed at http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1093746,00.html accessed December 10, 2006.
