I generally don't have much patience for New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, but his column this weekend is good. Kristof writes about the growth of the Christian community in the developing world and how people must endure a great deal of hardship to practice their faith.
Whether in China or Africa, the commitment of new converts is extraordinary. While I was interviewing villagers along the Zambezi River last Sunday, I met a young man who was setting out for his Pentecostal church at 8:30 a.m. "The service begins at 2 p.m.," he explained - but the journey is a five-hour hike each way.
So where faith is easy, it is fading; where it's a challenge, it thrives. (my italics)
More people attended Christian services in China on this Easter Sunday than in all of Europe. Professor Franz Walter of the University of Göttingen surveys the empty church pews in Germany and concludes that the two dominant churches - the Catholic and the Lutheran - have run out of steam - spiritually speaking. They have become efficient service providers, but no longer address the spiritual needs of people:
Hoch angesehen sind die Kirchen überdies als verläßliche soziale Dienstleister. In der Entwicklungsarbeit und bei Umweltkatastrophen genießen die Hilfswerke der beiden Großkirchen eine höhere Reputation als die staatlichen Pendants. Als Träger von Kindergärten, Krankenhäusern und Altenpflegestätten sind die Kirchen ebenfalls wohlgelitten. Das hat die Kirchen gefestigt, das hat sie zugleich als religiöse Überzeugungsgemeinschaften aber auch geschwächt. In einer gewissen Weise haben sich die Kirchen in die ihnen zugewiesene Rolle als soziale Dienstleister devot gefügt. Dementsprechend entwickelte sich das institutionalisierte Christentum, etwas maliziös formuliert, zum ADAC für Passageriten und Altenpflege
In the United States we have seen a similar decline of the mainstream Protestant churches. The problem is not necessarily a new one. More than seventy years ago Dietrich Bonhoeffer watched the decline of the church in Germany. It had become - like the mainstream churches today - a peddler of 'cheap grace' (billige Gnade) - a Christianity without real discipleship. The church was undermining evangelical faith and this allowed it to be captured by alien ideologies such as Nazism. In the US, right-wing evangelical sects have filled the void left by the 'cheap grace' of the old line Presbyterian and Congregational denominations. So where faith is easy, it is fading; where it's a challenge, it thrives Can a new Confessing Church emerge that demands true discipleship and speaks directly to our spiritual needs? On Easter Sunday it is best to be optimistic:
Wer Ostern kennt, kann nicht verzweifeln.
Whoever knows the meaning of Easter cannot despair.
-Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Comments