The Transfer of Christianity - The Great Commission, Part 22
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Week 22, 2014
Last week we addressed the elements of truth in the saying, “In Jerusalem, Christianity became a religion. In Greece, it became a philosophy. In Rome, it became an institution. In Britain, it became a tradition. In America, it became an enterprise.” Not all of this was bad or unintended. The Christian culture that was to be received by all nations was also intended to receive from all nations.
Even so, the expression of Christianity has picked up a lot of baggage from its passage through the nations that it needs to get rid of. Much of this will come as the center of gravity of Christianity transfers to Asia. One thing we can expect to see is Asia becoming a great filter that removes many of the impurities that the expression of Christianity has picked up. This will come from one of the great strengths of the Asian culture—its honor of history. They will be prone to go back to the roots of the faith, to the purest forms, and embrace them more than trends and fads that were added.
As we look at the history of Christianity, we can also note that its center would transfer from one place to another at different rates. It was only centered in Jerusalem for a few years. Then it remained in Greece, or to be more accurate, where the Greek culture was dominant which included Asia Minor, or what is now modern day Turkey. This is the region of the Seven Churches of Revelation and Constantinople, one of the most influential of all Christian cities, where it remained for centuries.
Rome emerged as the dominant center of gravity, as a counterpoint to Constantinople, and held the dominant position in European Christianity for over a thousand years. Then Germany and Switzerland became two of the most powerful centers of the advancing church with the birth of the Protestant Reformation.
America’s time as the center of the advancing church has been short, but powerful. This is typical of the innovation and initiative America is known for. The Evangelical, Pentecostal, Charismatic, and Third Wave movements all were either birthed in America, or quickly found a receptive home there. Many other smaller but very influential movements were spun off of these.
However, many problems and heresies spun off of these movements as well, probably due to the great weakness of the church in America—its lack of devotion to knowing and understanding the lessons of history. For all of its talk about devotion to biblical truth, studies have revealed that even in the Evangelical movement, less than 10% have a biblical worldview. This is bad, but not surprising. America’s DNA is from pioneers and risk takers—those always trying to expand the limits and look to the future. Such are not prone to stop and look backwards into history, or take much time on the slow, tedious work of laying strong foundations. Therefore, it seems fitting that the Christian center of gravity is moving toward a culture where the lessons of history are so honored. The balance is needed.
Of course, over the last century some of the greatest revivals in history were ignited in South and Central America, as well as Africa. Their contributions have been great and will likely be even greater in the future. Such paradigms for understanding history are never completely smooth or perfect, but the centers where the biggest and most enduring influences were brought has mostly been in the Northern Hemisphere, and moved from east to west.
The Lord said that the end of the age is the harvest. The greatest ingathering of all time is beginning, but it is also more than this. The harvest is when all of the seeds that have been planted mature. Even as the center of Christianity moves to Asia, we can expect all of the other homes of the faith to come into a greater maturity. Just because the center of gravity may have moved elsewhere, it does not mean that their contributions are over.
How long will the center of Christianity remain in Asia? Could it be that their contribution, rooted in depth and long history, can be accomplished quickly? Regardless of how long it takes, the center of gravity of Christianity will return to Jerusalem before the end comes. At that time, we can expect Isaiah 19:19-25 to be fulfilled.
Source: Morningstar Ministries Resources
The Lord wants to increase your hope. No matter what you're going through right now, whether you view your life overall as a positive or negative experience, whether things are going well or things are going poorly, if you are in good health or poor health, if you are living in surplus or in need, if you are content or sick at heart - the Lord wants to increase your hope.
