Christian hope

Many Christians today are discouraged by what they see happening to the church. As they witness society unraveling, they conclude Christianity is in rapid decline. While the Christian community has many challenges, things are not as bleak as many believe. Allow me to share several encouraging facts:

First, as Dr. Jim Denison wrote in his July 31, 2024, Daily Article, “The first Christians lived in an ungodly culture far more opposed to their faith than ours. They were rejected by the Jewish authorities and persecuted by the Romans. They had nothing like the religious freedoms we enjoy… and yet they birthed a spiritual movement that… centuries after the Roman Empire fell… continues to advance.”

Second, worldwide, the number of Christians continues to grow. The Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary reported in early 2024 that “global Christianity is experiencing remarkable growth, defying expectations and surpassing population rates.” Instead of shrinking, the number of Christians worldwide was expected to grow from 2.52 billion to 2.63 billion in 2024 and to exceed 3 billion by 2050.

Christianity is growing rapidly in Africa and Asia. Africa, in particular, has experienced explosive growth since the beginning of the 20th century. In 1900, estimates put the number of believers on that continent at fewer than 10 million. By 2024, it was home to 734 million believers, and by 2050, the Pew Research Center suggests Africa will have over 1.1 billion Christians.

Atheism peaked in the world around 1970, with 165 million saying there was no God. Agnosticism, which holds that we cannot know whether there is a God, has grown somewhat, but if you look at atheism and agnosticism together, the numbers are declining.

In 1900, there were 62,000 Christian missionaries; by 2024, that number grew to 445,000, and if the trend toward more missionaries continues, there will be 600,000 by 2050.

These facts suggest Christians should not be discouraged. The statistics I have written about today, however, tell only part of the story. We also need to remember Jesus’ encouraging words to Peter, “…I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.” (Matthew 16:18, NLT)

When we are tempted to become overwhelmed by current events, we must not lose hope; instead, we can maintain our perspective by reflecting on the words of the famous missionary, E. Stanley Jones, “The early Christians succeeded because they did not lower their heads in despair and say, ‘Look what the world has come to.’ Instead, they lifted their eyes in delight and said, ‘Look Who has come to the world.’”

May we each focus more on Jesus, who came to change the world, instead of on the hopelessness we see in our messy world! Let us cling to the hope God promises.