Here’s a completely different kind of Christmas reflection for you: my BreakPoint column, Incarnation, Mission, and Worldview. It begins,
It was about a dozen years ago that our church’s pastor came back from a pastors’ conference and told us our denomination was growing rapidly everywhere in the world except North America. We were shrinking here, he said.
I remember what I thought. I don’t remember if I said it to him out loud. In a way I hope I didn’t, because it was overly simplistic, but still I think it was on the right track. The problem, I thought then and still think now, is that this denomination’s leaders overseas understood that they were missionaries. Its pastors at home didn’t.
What does this have to do with Christmas? A lot. Read it and see.
«Christianity is expanding mightily in all of the world except the West.»
To take the United States as a case in point, in a country where around 80% of the population is Christian, is it possible that Christianity has simply reached its saturation point? In any market there comes a time where a product simply can’t expand… at some point does it not come to preaching to other Christians instead of the unsaved?
Re: Sault says
“…… at some point does it not come to preaching to other Christians instead of the unsaved?”
A big problem with Christianity here is the focus on ‘preaching to the unsaved’ even when the majority of the crowd are Christians who need discipling.
But when it comes to the Christmas story there are few who will “Go tell it on the mountain” outside of their four walls.
” The problem, I thought then and still think now, is that this denomination’s leaders overseas understood that they were missionaries. Its pastors at home didn’t.”
What happened to the pastor’s role as set out in Ephesians, where he is to “equip the saints for the work of ministry”? Too many pastors have not undertaken that role and thus we have silent saints with a ticket for heaven who will never know what it is to be a disciple.