Chapter 2: Christianity Today: Worldwide

What impact has the Holy Spirit had on the Holy Christian Church?  A rhetorical question of course! It is difficult to say exactly what individual or group had the greatest impact, but we know from Scripture that some plant the seed, while others water, and still others reap. An article published by Wikipedia on Christian Population Growth is based in part from Global Christianity, Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary. The table below shows some significant gains, but compared to the total worldwide population, we have a long road ahead of us.

(1) Pew Research

There are two forms of new converts to Christianity.  One is from no belief in any religion and the other is conversion from another recognized faith. The Oxford Book of Religious Conversion reports that there are 15.5 million conversions from another religion with 11.7 million leaving the faith – primarily to no faith in any being – for a net gain of 3.8 million.  The areas of the world recording the major gains are Africa, Latin America, Asia, and perhaps China.

Data also reminds us that the Muslim population is growing rapidly but there are estimates (but not definable) that thousands of Muslims convert to Christianity annually in the western world.  Quantifying is difficult due to possible retribution from the Muslim/Islam base. While Christianity still claims the number one spot in the ranking of world religions, Islam claims 24.1% of the worldwide population. A report by the Future of World Religions: Population Growth, indicates that Muslims are the only major religious group projected to increase faster than the world’s population as a whole.

Pew Research also published some interesting data re: countries with the largest number of Christians in southeast Asia.  Amazingly, Papua New Guinea holds the eighth position regardless of its size. These data are relative to my research as my focus has been on two women Bible translators/linguists who served their LORD in Papua New Guinea beginning in early 1960s.

Here are data that I found interesting from a Christian perspective.

• The number of Muslims will nearly equal the number of Christians around the world.
• The global Buddhist population will be about the same as it was in 2010.
• In Europe, Muslims will make up 10% of the overall population.
• India, while remaining primarily Hindu, will have the largest Muslim population of any country in the world, surpassing Indonesia.
• Sadly, in the USA, Christians will decline from more than three-quarters in 2010 to two-thirds in 2050. Judaism will give way to Islam as the largest non-Christian religion.
• Four out of every 10 Christians in the world will live in sub-Saharan Africa.

What does this mean to you and me?  First, I am reminded that the prophet Isaiah said, “my Word will not return unto me void, but will accomplish that which I please and in the manner in which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11 paraphrased) That promise reinforces the continuing efforts of missionaries in total as to their work. As we continue to send men and women into the world, God’s Spirit will reside in their hearts and enable them to deliver His message of saving grace to those who have not heard!

Second, future data show that we have a long way to go to reach those areas in the world where spoken language is NOT written! And furthermore, literacy is and can be non-existent or scant at best. Thus, these missionaries are faced with multiple challenges – recording a language, teaching to read/write, and then translating His Word in their heart language. Fortunately, technology has afforded us great advantages in this process, which was not available to missionaries in times past.

Finally, the LORD “will” raise up local leaders as elders/pastors in the church to continue to preach His Word. May the God of all mercy, grant these missionaries the “zeal” to continue preaching the Word, even in Uncharted Waters. The next chapter will examine the “Great Century” in evangelism and missions.