Declining Christianity
A hundred years ago, the world population was approximately 1.6 billion, and Christians comprised 56.6 million, which was 34.5% of the global population. Since then, the population has increased exponentially; in 2020, it surpassed 7.7 billion, with Christians counting for 2.3 billion, which is 28.8%. Although the number of Christians is growing, the overall growth rate has declined significantly. According to the Pew Research Center, if current trends hold, Christianity may not remain the world's largest religion within the next fifty years.
Multiplying efforts and declining Christian growth
Each year, global mission budgets continue to increase, and efforts multiply. Christian literature, preachings, and teachings are being distributed in billions. Wycliffe Global Alliance, in their article, ‘2023 Global Scripture Access’, records that 97% of the world's population has access to some portion of the Bible. Due to these efforts, we would expect to see an increase in the Christian growth rate; however, that is not the case. It is declining, and those who are departing from the Christian faith are on the rise.
The reasons for the decline
Christianity has lost its influence across society, business, education, and politics, mainly due to rising secularism and a diminishing sense of need for God. Many people find it challenging to reconcile their faith with science or personal experiences. Doctrinal divides, theological disagreements, scandals, corruption, and the Church’s stand on social issues are increasingly fragmenting the churches, and people are leaving the body of Christ.
In many countries, rising nationalism has fueled widespread persecution, the banning of missionaries, and the restriction of religious conversion through legislation. However, some of the primary reasons for the decline in the Christian growth rate are that we have left the sharing of the gospel to those in Christian vocations, who make up only 0.14% of the population.
Most of the mission and outreach efforts focus on helping the poor or those in need. Thus have neglected or done very little to reach influential members of society, including educators, scholars, business leaders, professionals, and politicians. Additionally, it is crucial to note that, as Christians, we focus more on sharing gospel information than on building influential relationships.
The information vs relationships
The gospel is the love of God towards us, and love cannot exist in information but in relationships. If information were good enough to draw people to Christ, God could have displayed His message to the whole world on a giant screen across the sky, but He came and lived among us. “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14. Jesus calls us to follow His example of building relationships so that others may experience God’s love. However, in today’s transactional, isolating, and busy life, we often share Christian information out of sincere desire rather than building influential relationships. That may be helpful, but in this information age, they are often easily lost and quickly replaced by others.
The unseen opportunity
You may wonder how to form influential relationships with others in our busy lives. As a witness, you do not have to undertake it as an additional task on top of an already demanding schedule or seek out people who are outside your social circle. The vast majority of those who are not able to believe in Jesus Christ are not in a remote jungle; they are among our family members, friends, neighbors, and coworkers; they are your audience.
Paul wrote, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” 1 Peter 3:15. Answer to the hope you have and not the knowledge you have accumulated. You don't have to be a preacher, teacher, or trainer, nor do you need to have all the answers to spiritual, theological, and doctrinal questions. Some of the most powerful God moments they experience are when they come closer to us. There are two aspects: one is the genuine love they experience as we draw closer to them. The second is what they observe in our lives: the joy of salvation, the assurance of His abiding presence as we navigate through life's ups and downs, and the hope of eternity with God. This deep conviction and hope overflow and are reflected through our behaviors, actions, choices, reactions, decisions, and words.
We can stop the decline.
Leaving the responsibility solely to those in full-time Christian vocations will only continue to accelerate the decline in Christian growth. On the other hand, if each of us makes it a point to draw one person to Christ in our lifetime, we will double the number of those who believe in Jesus Christ within one generation and provide them the opportunity to spend eternity with God.