Just 50 years ago this was reversed, as over 60% of the Christian world population was western and Anglo. I have heard this for the past several years and the data I have seen from missiologists has continually affirmed the fact that the world's church growth movements are no longer western in nature, but instead tend to be Asian, African or South American. There are now more Christians in Africa than in North America. The Asian church dwarfs the American church.
Contrary to what many believe, we in America are not the center of the Christian universe.
Michael made the observation that we tend to think of the emergent church as 20 something white guys with goatees lighting candles, but in truth, the emergent church is more likely represented by a group of believers meeting in a house in China or South America.
Consider this from the UK magazine, Christianity:
For over 200 years the missionary movement has seen a stream of people sent from the UK, and later the US, to Africa, Asia and Latin America. Today the notion of the gospel ‘from the west to the rest’, has disappeared. The growth of the church in parts of world, and shrinkage of the church in parts of the ‘west’ has meant that there are more non-western Christians in the world.
The statistics are overwhelming. Missions statistician, David Barrett, records that in the 20th century, the Christian population in Africa exploded from an estimated eight or nine million in 1900 (8 to 9%) to some 335 million in 2000 (45%). In Asia the proportion of Christians grew from 2.3% in 1900, to 8.3% in 2000. The Atlas of World Christianity estimates that the number of Pentecostal Christians across South America grew 500% between 1960 and 1980.
The evangelical church in Argentina grew from 1m in 1980 to 3m in just 20 years, in Venezuela from 1 – 2.5m between 1990-2000. In Bogota, Columbia, Cesar Castellanos at MCI church has witnessed incredible church growth from 70 small groups to 20,000 cells in only eight years.
In Asia, the growth of the church in South Korea, China and Indonesia, means there are now more evangelical Christians in Asia than in North America. Singapore's churches are now the most evangelistically active in the world, with one missionary sent out per 1,000 Christians. In the Philippines 7% of the eight million overseas contract workers are evangelicals.
The tentmaker movement of the Philippine church plans to recruit 200,000 BY 2010 to engage in mission. Already many serving as nannies and chambermaids have seen churches planted some in countries where Christianity is not welcomed.
As further evidence of how the non-western church is now the biggest player in world missions, click and view this amazing video about the Chinese church.
Of course, this is very exciting stuff. But beyond the obvious reasons for rejoicing at these statistics, I see this as a natural outpouring of the work of the Holy Spirit for the following reasons:
1. This church movement is more related to the early church in that it is not affected by the western church's enlightenment individualistic worldview. Therefore, this church will be somewhat unencumbered by our existential humanistic tendencies.
2. This church seems to be more organic and grass roots and therefore shows signs of more dynamic multiplication.
3. Because the two thirds world church growth movement is primarily a house church movement, there is more focus on intense study and community life based around the teaching of scripture.
4. The small group nature of the church provides more opportunity for genuine biblical community. The irony of Christian history is that the more persecuted the church, the more "underground" it has been, the more dynamic it's growth.
5. The western church will get better. Perhaps there will come a day when the western church will look across the oceans to the south and see that we have as much to "unlearn" as we have to "learn".
