Lausanne World Pulse – Research Articles – One Hundred Years of Christian Growth

By Bradley Coon
April 2007

Graph 4 is less detailed than graphs 2 and 3, only providing growth data at the continental level. However, some important trends are observed in the growth rates of megablocs that sociologically consider themselves Christians. Independent and marginal Christians are by far the fastest growing denominations in almost every area of the world. We must remember that growth rates are only part of the story. Almost twenty percent (385 million) of the world’s Christians were categorized as independent Christians in 2000, and only slightly over one percent (twenty-six million) were categorized as marginal. From these figures we can see just how significant the high growth rates of independent Christians has been to the whole landscape of Christianity—a fact which should prompt even lay Christians to think about their understanding of Christian unity through a global lens.

The decline of Christianity in certain areas of the world is certainly discouraging for some, and all would be wise to dismiss statistics like these as definitively indicative of who is and is not a part of the true Kingdom of God. We must remember that even Jesus in just a few verses before the often quoted Matthew 24:14 warned his disciples that “you will be hated by all nations for my sake” as well (Matthew 24:9). It is the calling of the Lord, not the state of the world, that drives us to ministry, missions and evangelism. However, with a better understanding of the state of the world, we can more effectively complete the task given to us to “go and make disciples of all nations.”

Endnotes

1. Jenkins, Philip. 2002. The Next Christendom. New York: Oxford University Press.

2. Megablocs refer to denominational groupings. For definitions of megabloc groupings see: Johnson, Todd USA “Evangelicals/Evangelicalism in a Global Context” in Lausanne World Pulse, January 2006; or Barrett, David, George Kurian and Todd Johnson. 2001. World Christian Encyclopedia, 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press.