Why Europe?

"... the burden of proof lies upon you to show that the circumstances in which God has placed you were meant by God to keep you out of the foreign mission field." -Ion Keith-Falconer, 19th century Scottish missionary

In preparation for this summer, I've been telling people I'll be doing missions work in Germany for two months. I've noticed that outside of church, there are two main reactions. Some respond with, "Oh, that will be fun!" Although said with good meaning, this statement seems to reflect the idea that the main focus of the trip were fun. This bothers me, because it is so far from the truth. The second statement I often get is along the lines of  "Germany? I've never heard of a mission trip going to Germany" or "That's interesting. My church doesn't do anything with Germany." The overall impression is that Germany is a primarily Christian country with no need for evangelization. In fact, this is far from the truth.

Germany was the center of the Reformation, and today it is filled with beautiful churches. Spirituality, however, Germany is a very poor country. According to Joshua Project, only 2.1% of Germans have been born again. 62.9% of the German population is Christian in name only, and another 30% are atheist, agnostic, or secular. Germans view those who follow Christ as either fools or radicals. To many Germans, Christianity is simply tradition. For example, whether one believes in or follows Christ, one goes to a church on Easter and Christmas, because that is family tradition. One might even be an atheist and still baptize their infant, because that is tradition. It is something one does, just like giving the infant a middle name.

Unfortunately, the rest of Europe is in the same spiritual condition as Germany. Dr. G.A. Pritchard, affiliated with the Evangelical Free Church of America, recently wrote a publication entitled "Why Invest In Europe?". In it, Dr. Pritchard makes four key points:

1. Europe is the intellectual center of the world from today stretching back to the Renaissance.
2. Europe is the global center of education  Many Asian and African students go to school in Europe. In fact, there are twice as many international students studying in Europe than in America.
3. Europe has been and is the center of atheism, the fastest growing religion in the world. Over the past century, European intellectual movements have spread atheism over the entire world.
4. To fight against European atheism and unbelief, the Church must go to Europe and minister the the lost.

I believe it is very import to carry the Gospel to every people group on Earth. In the 2,000 years since Christ's death, the Church has taken the Gospel to most people groups. Most. About 55%. It is terrifying to think of the Church standing before Jesus, looking Him in the eye, and saying "We know the great sacrifice You made for us. We told most of the world about it." Yet that's what we've done. It is critical to go out and bring the Good News to the other 45% of people groups. However, we also should not forget that there are still many people to be reached in the "Christian" west. It is crucial that the Church go and proclaim the Gospel everywhere.

A collection of graphs from Why Invest In Europe?