Photo by Andrew Stutesman,| Unsplash

Christianity is not on decline in the world. It is exploding.

In a Washington Post article on May 20, 2015, Wes Granberg-Michaelson noted,

"While Christianity may be on the decline in the United States, the world is becoming more religious, not less. While rising numbers of 'nones' — those who claim no religious affiliation when asked — claim the attention of religious pundits, the world tells a different story. Religious convictions are growing and shifting geographically in several dramatic ways."

Granberg-Michaelson goes on to support his argument with some bullet points.

"The center of Christianity has shifted from Europe to the global South."

"In Latin America, the massive Christian population is becoming more Pentecostal or Charismatic."

"Global migration matters … About 214 million people have moved from one country to another as migrants and refugees, or are in that process."

"Immigration shapes the U.S. religious landscape. In the United States, about 43 million residents were born in another country, and immigrated here. Of these, about 74 percent adhere to the Christian faith, while 5 percent are Muslim, 4 percent Buddhist and 3 percent Hindu."

"There are three times more Protestant Hispanics in the United States than Episcopalians."

In a June 2019 article in Facts and Trends by Aaron Earls, he makes seven observations on the global growth of Christianity. Four of them are:

Christianity is growing faster than the population.
There are 2.5 billion Christians in the world and Christianity is growing at a rate of 1.27%. World population growth is at a 1.20% rate.

Pentecostals and Evangelicals are growing fasted and picking up speed.

Atheism has peaked."There are fewer atheists in the world today (138 million) than there were in 1970 (165 million)."

Christianity is growing in cities.

In a Faith and Leadership article last year, Granberg-Michaelson said, "As Christianity shifts to the global south, Christians in the U.S. must ‘de-Americanize the gospel’ and be open to movements of the faith in other cultures, says the author and denominational leader."

The mindset of the average American Christian is both euro-centric and Americanized. We view the gospel movement through lenses of our own culture and presuppositions. Missional and kingdom-centric followers of Jesus will need to change glasses in order to see more clearly what God is doing in the world.

It may also take a fair share of humility with a dose of humiliation to acknowledge that we are no longer the leaders of the movement.

For many of us, this will come as good and encouraging news.

It is great to think that the focus and center of modern Christianity is no longer English speaking.  Even in America, the epicenter has moved from the Anglo/European church to the more recent diaspora among us.

Those who cite a decline in Christianity are not taking a world/missional view. We are revealing our biases.

Christianity is growing.

Status of Global Christianity