Heavy is the Head that Wears the Crown by Clint

I often try and imagine what the world will look like in a given number of years. For instance, where will we be in 25 years? How different will our world look from how it looks now? Back in 1983- no one could have imagined the impact of the internet, nano-technology, 9/11, and the war in Iraq. These were things that just couldn’t be predicted, or at least the magnitude of the impact of these things could not be predicted. So, as much as we know now, and as best we try, 2033 is going to look different from our best predictions. Kind of scary isn’t it? It’s even more scary thinking about 2033 in terms of where our culture will sit in relation to faith. One cannot help but notice that the place of faith at the American table and certainly the European table is getting pushed farther down the row. Is it possible that soon we will find ourselves at the kids table, while other philosophies and world views sit at the adult table?
Brian McLaren, in his book Everything Must Change, draws the world into two categories. He splits the world into the colonizers and the colonized. The colonizers encompass most of Europe and the people of the world who have directly benefited from the European colonization of other lands. The colonized are those who have lost land and power and sovereignty to the control of the colonizers. The colonizers brought the Christian faith to the new lands, along with abuse, disease and guns. Up until recently, the colonizers represented the majority of the Christian faith. However, recently, the numbers of growth in Christian faith is marked by the group which would be labeled colonized. Christianity is growing rapidly in places such as Africa, places in which people have had little power and no ability to colonize others. On the other hand, the impact and influence of Christianity is shrinking in the places of the colonizers. In most of Europe, Christianity is rapidly shrinking. Thus, the nations with the power to colonize seem to be turning from faith, as the ones who had no choice but to receive visitors looking to find gold, fertile land, and other resources are receiving faith in great numbers. The face of belief is changing.
In the Coldplay song, “Viva la Vida,” Chris Martin’s lyrics appeal to the vainglorious nature of power. His words speak to castles made of pillars of salt and sand, he even asks, “Who would want to be King?” Earlier he expresses the view of one who had the power of a king. “Seas would rise when I gave the word, now I sweep alone, sweep the streets I used to own.” In this humiliation, though, he expresses strength. In this loss of power, he finds power. This is a beautifully true expression of real power. Christ shows the truth in this. As Paul expresses in Philippians,
Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Where has our humility gone? Should it be surprising that faith is exploding in nations in which people are humbled by daily needs? Is it really shocking that people are turning to Christ in places where they have been trampled on and humbled? And in our culture, we feel entitled to everything- material and behavioral. So, as we imagine what the world will look like into the future, know that faith will still be alive and well. Christ promises that even the gates of hell will not prevail over the church (Matt 16:18). But, unless the current course here is changed, the church may be thriving in a place a little farther from home.