God Sticks Pretty Close to the Equator

A monument marking the actual line of the Equator near Quito – the capital of Equador, South America

I came across an interesting CBN article by Charles Colson titled The Rise of Christianity in the Global South published in 2015. The article revealed a fascinating trajectory of the movement of Christianity from unusual places to the countries of northern Europe. Colson, in his piece, quoted John Updike, who said, “I don’t think God plays well in Sweden. God sticks pretty close to the Equator.”^[1] He made this point to express his emotion concerning how the Christian faith is flourishing around that region of the globe. I disagree with Mr. Updike’s statement because God is a Global God and the creator of the whole universe who sticks pretty close to wherever and whoever He chooses. By His sovereignty, God chose Israel first – a country that is nowhere close to the equator. On the contrary, Updike’s assessment echoes most scholars’ sentiments concerning Christianity’s growth in these equatorial parts of the world with a mandate to spread the Gospel to the so-called enlightened world.

Another interesting perspective of Colson caught my attention when he said, “A recent Washington Post story described the impact that Christians from Africa, Asia, and Latin America are having on the Danes. Immigrants have started more than 150 churches in Denmark. These churches not only minister to foreign-born residents, but increasingly to native Danes as well.”^[2] No matter who carries the Gospel, its power to save and transform remains intact! Therefore, the audience of the Gospel, no matter how ostensibly educated and civilized they are, must receive the message with humility. The fact that immigrants from lowly places are now the dominant torchbearers of the Gospel confirms Paul’s statement in 1 Corinthians 1:27 that “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.” – NIV. In a related article by Wes Granberg-Michaelson in The Washington Post, titled Think Christianity is Dying? No, Christianity Is Shifting Dramatically; the author said, “One out of four Christians in the world presently is an Africa [sic], and the Pew Research Center estimates that will grow to 40 percent by 2030.”^[3] The author further added that “Asian and African immigrants who bring their faith with them across oceans likewise are also reshaping America’s religious landscape, especially the Christian community.”^[4]

These statistics and statements captured in these articles project the strength of the immigrant community to affect the religious landscape of America and other parts of the world with the Gospel of light. Furthermore, the truth of these articles mimics the trend in biblical times when the church was persecuted after Stephen’s death. Historically, persecution surprisingly has contributed to the spread of the Christian faith in ways unimaginable. Shaye I.D. Cohen and Samuel Ungerleider’s article in PBS titled Legitimization Under Constantine | From Persecuted Minority to Official Imperial Religion – What Caused This Extraordinary Reversal for Christianity? Claimed that “The Romans tried to beat down Christianity but failed. By the fourth century Christianity becomes the state religion, and by the end of the fourth century, it is illegal to do any form of public worship other than Christianity in the entire Roman Empire. There is a great mystery in how this happened.”^[5] For me, this mystery is the hand of God involved in the growth of Christianity as the church took the Gospel out due to persecution in the New Testament. Luke indicated in Acts 8:4-5 that “Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ” – ESV.

Today, religious persecution might not always be as lethal as it once was. Nevertheless, it might take different forms, such as economic, domestic, etc., with the same potency to make Christians situationally uncomfortable and perhaps capable of moving us to other places worldwide. Let us be mindful of the divine influence at work in these unpleasant circumstances and be empowered to speak about Christ on the campuses, grocery stores, buses and trains, parking lots, social media platforms, etc. In the end, I wish we could agree with Paul by personalizing his statement, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile” – Romans 1:16!!

Notes

[1] Charles Colson, “The Rise of Christianity in the Global South,” CBN.com, March 3, 2015, https://www1.cbn.com/spirituallife/the-rise-of-christianity-in-the-global-south.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Wes Granberg-Michaelson, “Think Christianity Is Dying? No, Christianity Is Shifting Dramatically,” The Washington Post (WP Company, October 27, 2021), https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/05/20/think-christianity-is-dying-no-christianity-is-shifting-dramatically/.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Shaye I. D Cohen and Samuel Ungerleider, “Legitimization Under Constantine | From Persecuted Minority to Official Imperial Religion – What Caused This Extraordinary Reversal for Christianity?,” PBS (Public Broadcasting Service, 2014), https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/why/legitimization.html.