Inscription at ancient Corinth quoting 2 Corinthians 4:17 (author’s photo)
In the week prior to publishing this article, I received at least three e-mails that deal with “the future of Christianity.” One suggested that the question primarily comes from those who want to see the Church die. At the very least, they want to see it transformed into something completely different. Another promoted a book to help us return to the early days of the Church. Apparently they believe the Church was “better” before divisions and interaction with the political world. I found the timing of these e-mails to be interesting, given that I had already decided to address this subject. Being a firm believer in God’s sovereignty and ongoing involvement in this world, I don’t believe in coincidence! Those e-mails certainly served as a confirmation for me of the decision to write this article.
Will Christianity survive the 21st century? I suppose the answer depends on how you define “Christianity.” If your understanding of “Christianity” is embodied by the American church of the 20th century, it may not survive. However, that’s not how I define “Christianity.” I would recast the question in the title this way: “Will people still be seeking to faithfully live as followers of Jesus Christ in the next century?” The answer to that question is unquestionably “yes!”
What is “Christianity”?
As I alluded to in the introduction, there are many ways that people define or understand “Christianity.” In our setting – American culture in the 21st century – many people view “Christianity” as a sociological category; it is a common way that people identify themselves. Do an online search for polls on “Christianity in America,” and headlines like these appear:
“Belief in God in US dips to 81%, a new low” (Gallup)
“Number of Americans Who Identify as Christian Further Declines” (Pew)
“Americans Belief in God Is Dropping” (Washington Post)
Additionally, the first two “additional searches” are“Decline of Christianity in America” and “Decline of Christianity in America 2022.” No wonder people ask whether Christianity will survive!
But Christian faith is far more than “Christianity in America” or even whether people “identify” as Christian. I would suggest defining “Christianity” as “life-transforming faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, as revealed in the Bible.” (This definition is not original, but I cannot identify a particular source for it. I base it on my personal faith as well as my study of Scripture and theology. You don’t have to agree with this definition; I simply offer it for context for the rest of this article.) Hopefully, you can recognize the difference between people who simply identify themselves as “Christian” and those who would profess a relationship with Jesus that is grounded in a life-transforming faith that He is the Son of God as revealed in the Bible.
Historical Context
In response to the question, “Will Christianity Survive the 21st Century,” I pose this question: “Would anyone have expected it to survive the 1st century?” Let’s go back about 2000 years. Jesus has been crucified. His disciples claim that He has risen from the dead, and then ascended back to heaven. The Roman Empire regarded it as an offshoot of the Jewish religion, until the Jews made it clear that they had nothing to do with Christians. The Roman government either ignored Christianity or tried to eliminate it.
Additionally, ugly rumors spread about Christian worship gatherings. Even when the Empire didn’t actively try to stamp out Christianity, the culture opposed it. It’s interesting to read the comments of Gamaliel, a prominent Jewish rabbi, in Acts 5. The Jewish ruling council wanted to put the apostles to death, but Gamaliel cautioned them to wait. He pointed out that there were at least two others who had appeared and gathered followers, but after they died, their “movements” died with them. His attitude was to wait and see: “if the source is from men, it will be overthrown; but if the source is God, you will not be able to overthrow them; or else you may even be found fighting against God” (Acts 5:38b-39, NASB, emphasis mine).
“Christianity,” as a movement of people professing faith in Jesus as the Son of God, came into being in far more hostile circumstances than it faces today. Yet in the midst of those circumstances, it not only survived; it flourished. If history is any guide, Christianity will indeed survive the 21st century!
Current Conditions
There must be reasons why people ask whether Christianity will survive. The question is probably grounded in the state of “the Church” in the United States. The surveys and articles I referenced earlier focused on individual belief and identification, but it does not appear that “the Church” is very healthy. (I use the phrase “the Church” to refer to organized Christian churches, whether or not they are connected with a denomination. While it is dangerous to generalize a group that has such a broad diversity of theology and practice, the observation about the health of these groups apply across the board to a large degree.)
Two primary factors that people consider in regard to the health of churches are statistical and influential. The statistical factors include attendance, membership, and finances; the influential factors are less measurable, but relate to things like reputation and positive involvement in their communities. While individual exceptions obviously exist, most people would acknowledge that those “measurables” have declined over the past 50 years. That decline in participation has led to a corresponding decline in influence and involvement. If the health of the American church is equivalent to the health of “Christianity,” pessimistic predictions would seem warranted.
Christianity Around the World
However, “Christianity” is far more than the institutional Church – particularly the Church in America. For years, the growth of the global Church has been driven by regions outside the Wetern world – namely, Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Rather than focusing on statistical information about one segment of the Church, we need to look around the world, and look particularly for places where people are being transformed by the gospel. It should not be surprising, given the history of the Christian movement set forth above, that people are coming to faith and lives are being transformed in those places where Christianity is most opposed: China and the Muslim countries of Africa and the Middle East.
Several years ago, I attended a conference on the global church. One of the speakers was a field director of our denomination’s mission work in the Horn of Africa. Pastors were planting churches by the hundreds, in spite of threats and violence against the pastors and anyone who attended those churches. The director shared that one or more of those pastors had even been beheaded. To make things worse, those beheadings were recorded and posted online as a warning to future pastors and believers. Yet the Church continued to thrive! The health and the future of Christianity cannot be underestimated, despite some discouraging signs in our day.
The Future
While “Christianity” may mean many different things, the “survival” of Christianity rests on its ability to transform people. As I suggested at the beginning of this article, the real question is: “Will people still be seeking to faithfully live as followers of Jesus Christ in the next century?” Because Jesus Christ has been transforming lives for the last two thousand years, there’s no reason to think that the power of the gospel will suddenly diminish in our day.
When we focus on metrics – attendance, membership, finances – as the evidence of church health, it is easy to get discouraged. That discouragement can then lead us to try to improve the metrics, rather than sharing the gospel. Followers of Jesus are called to bear witness (Acts 1:8) and to make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20). When we lose sight of those priorities, we lose our way.
The Church must focus its attention on the power of the gospel to transform people’s lives. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…” (Romans 1:16 NASB, emphasis mine). Any “Christianity” which forgets about the life-transforming power of the gospel will not survive – nor should it! But the power of the gospel will not change, will not fade away. “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away” (Matthew 24:35, NASB). Followers of Jesus Christ proclaim Scriptural truth and the power of God to transform lives. If we do these that, “Christianity” will not “just” survive. Christianity will continue to change the world!
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In