Jesus gave the mandate to disciple the nations (Matt 28:18-20) and to be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8) to His very Jewish disciples who only knew the streets of Palestine. They were mono-cultural, mono-ethnic, and pretty much parochial. How were they going to impact a multi-cultural and multi-lingual world, to say the least? The resurrected Christ spent forty days with his disciples (who, by this time, knew the historic and resurrected Christ) teaching them the things of the Kingdom (Acts 1:3). At Pentecost we see the phenomenal invasion of the Holy Spirit filling the lives of the then post-ascension disciples, who immediately witnessed to the nations gathered for the feast in Jerusalem (Acts 2:9-11).   

Jerusalem was the first geographic center and Judaism the first religious and cultural center of Christianity. Christianity began as a Jewish movement fulfilling Jewish hopes, promises, and expectations. It did not stop there, for this was the beginning of a vision bigger than humanity. The vision was rushing from Palestine to Rome to Europe and then to the New World. Where were you when the rushing Gospel intentionally found you? I was in an obscure village in Guyana, South America, immersed in paganism and dark despair. The Gospel lived up to every bit of its claim when Jesus walked into my village! Today there is a Bible-believing and practicing church in that village! From 1^st century Jews in Jerusalem to 20^th century Gentiles in Bush Lot Village, Corentyne, Guyana! How is that for transcending barriers? The Gospel is geographically and culturally translatable. And why not…Jesus the incarnate Word is still the Living Word who walks the earth today! What nation is closed to him? We are still post-ascension disciples with access to Pentecost. Yes? Pentecost is a season charged with heaven coming to the earth. 

We can look at history through many lenses. In some ways, our approaches to theological methods over the last five hundred years give us a historic time line. One such approach is what we have come to know as systematic theology. This approach is heavily influenced by the philosophical and the logical. Many would say these are the guys who remain in their ivory towers and make dry academic presentations devoid of life applications. I am sure there are exceptions. Systematic theology has its place and as Protestant systematization of beliefs in reaction to the Roman Catholic canons and traditions.  Another approach to theology is Biblical theology, which in some ways is a reaction to the systematic theology’s tendency to impose its system on individual teachings of Biblical books and authors. Sometimes I think history is a series of reactionary responses to solutions pushed to excess. In the late 20^th century the approach of Contextual Theology emerged on the scene. It laid claim to the need for contemporary cultural relevance. This was a reaction to colonialism and the dominance of western theology. Well most recently, in the 21^st century there came another approach to theology, Global Theology, a reaction to the fragmentation of theology in many contextual and local theologies. It seeks to gain a more balanced and synoptic approach. Closely associated with Global Theology is the term Global Christianity. Global Christianity is what missiologists and church historians refer to as the seismic shift in the center of Christian gravity from the West to the Non-West over the last one hundred years. 

Let us look at some facts and stats taken from Timothy Tennent's Theology in the Context of World Christianity, 2007. In the late 1800s, Christianity was predominantly white and located in the West. In 1900, there were over 380 million Christians in Europe and less than 10 million in Africa. Today, there are over 367 million Christians in Africa, one-fifth of the entire global church. Through out the 20^th century the African church grew at a rate of 16, 500 Christians daily. During 1970 to 1985, the church in Africa grew by over 6 million people. At this same time, 4,300 people per day were leaving the church in Europe and North America. Today, over 20 million Christians are in S. Korea. India, called the cradle of world's religions, gave birth to Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, and Jainism. Today, India has over 60 million Christians. The church in China has over 90 million Christians and is the fastest growing movement on the planet. 

Today at Yale University, the Intervarsity Christian Association has 90 % Asian students while the Buddhist group has almost 99 % white Westerners. 

After 100 years, William Carey Memorial Church in Lester, England was transformed into a Hindu temple (at the end of the 20^th century)! Who would have believed this?  

In 2000, 100 years later, on a typical Sunday morning, only 1 million Anglicans would gather to worship in Great Britain while 17 million Anglicans worship in Nigeria.  

These stats and facts describe changes that have been happening over the last century. Of course, these stats and facts are interpreted differently by different people. I am not writing to offer an interpretation of these recent historic descriptions. I do have some thoughts on Global Theology, but perhaps I will share them another time. I keep hearing ‘the vision is rushing towards completion!’ I know God gave Dr. Sam Matthews this phrase several years ago. Very often our tendency is to narrow our focus to our own timeframe and what we do in the Great Commission. I love the lat verse of Hebrews 11. 

Heb 11:40

God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.  

We often admire these heroes of faith in a disconnected way. In reality we are part of the continuum, of them, and of the same vision that is bigger than humanity. We see many Psalms giving a panoramic view of their history (Psalms 104, 105). How about Stephen’s historic and prophetic timeline in Acts 7? Every now and again we need to step back and see the bigger timeline and bigger vision that the Holy Spirit is administrating towards completion.  

It is very interesting to note that this mushroom of Christianity in the non-West or what is now called Global Christianity happened in a century riddled with many enemies of the Cross. There are the obvious contentions of ideologies -- Communism, Marxism, Socialism, etc. -- that have fostered a secular, liberal and atheistic agenda. Well, the failure of the ideology of communism as a global threat as evidenced by its collapse in the eighties and nineties has caused many to come to Christ. The vision is rushing…! There are other less visible contentions where predictions are leveraged against Christianity. Predictions were made that Christianity would die with the death of colonialism. That Christianity was nothing but an unfortunate by-product of Western, imperialistic colonialism! Did not happen! The church exploded! In the midst of the evils of colonialism, the vision was rushing towards completion! Others predicted that the forces of globalization would secularize the world and religion would become marginalized. Did not happen! A spiritual vacuum is being created and people are becoming hungry for God! The vision is rushing towards completion!

Samuel Huntington (The Clash of Civilizations) predicts that by the 21^st century, Islam will be the largest religion in the world. Do not underestimate the power of the Gospel, the blood of the martyrs, and the Living Word. We are disciples living with the ascended Christ in the spirit of Pentecost! The vision is rushing towards completion. Liberal Christians have long predicted the rise of a secular Christianity. They have sought to abandon the supernatural and argue that the deity of Christ, the Trinity, and the authority of the Bible are no longer credible! These liberal scholars are urging modern Christians to turn towards secular forces! Well they did not anticipate so much resistance. For one, the rise of Christianity in the non-West has a greater respect for the authority of Scripture and a special interest in the supernatural. The 'God is dead' movement started by Nietzche in the forties is dead! According to Harvey Cox (Fire from Heaven), "if God did really die, as Nietzche's madman proclaimed, then why have so many billions of people not gotten the word." The vision is rushing towards completion! 

In the midst of intense opposition, contentions, and warfare from all fronts, the visions described in Matt 28:18-20, Acts 1:8, and Rev 11:15, have been rushing towards completion and will not stop now. We see the judgments of the LORD in all the earth in light of Him realizing His covenant. Light is getting brighter and dark is getting darker. The middle ground is being taken away. 

Ps 105:7-8

7 He is the LORD our God; His judgments are in all the earth.

8 He remembers His covenant forever, The word which He commanded, for a thousand generations…NKJV 

What will stand in the way of God and His covenant, that word which He commanded? There are things that must happen for God to remember and keep His covenant. Yahweh judged the gods of Egypt. He remembered His covenant with Abraham and had to make the path clear for its fulfillment. What did judgment of the gods of Egypt look like?  

Ex 12:12

For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. NKJV

In the midst of many global and local happenings, He remembers His covenant, and His vision is rushing towards completion. My response to Global Christianity is simple – His vision is rushing towards completion…in the west and the non-West!