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In terms of mission, that profile demands a reorientation of priorities. Of course, it is far too early to think of abandoning the basic task of proclamation, of introducing Christian faith and doctrine to new sections of the world. For all the brilliant successes of the past century, the gospel still remains unknown in much of the Muslim and Hindu worlds, in the celebrated 10-40 window, and where Christianity is known in those regions, its Western cultural associations often give it a radioactive taint. But having acknowledged this, we must also recognize how effectively and thoroughly the basic job of foundation-laying has already been done across so much of the world. It is impossible to travel in much of Africa without noticing the constant revivals, healing services, and prayer meetings. (A bemused Kenyan friend once asked me, "How do people find time to do any work?") Today, the primary obligation is not trying to make people Christians, but to help the Christians who are already there, and who are often living in dreadful circumstances.
Rather than thinking about how to carry the message, then, the churches of the Old Christendom must now undertake a rigorous self-assessment to determine just what "we" have that "they" still lack. High on the inventory, obviously, would be the incalculable material riches of the global North, as well as the technological brilliance that manifests itself in medicine, transportation, and communications. Europe and North America still also carry the ambiguous blessing of their immense political and military predominance, which could—if used judiciously—be used to defend Christian communities under assault, facing massacre or forced conversion.
Second, we should take account of the opportunities presented by globalization, and by global mass migration. A network of churches in the United States (say) might wish to make an impact in Central Africa or in South Asia. Rarely, though, do they begin by asking just what communities from those regions might be found on American soil, perhaps in the same cities in which the churches themselves operate. Any study of the historic spread of world religions suggests the importance of networks, of peer-to-peer evangelism within family or social groupings. Also critical are migrant groups, who often "catch" a religion on their travels, and then spread it back home: faith, like disease, can be studied through a kind of epidemiology. If one wishes to reach Guatemalans or Ghanaians, then approaching people of those origins within the United States is an excellent way to begin.
Nor, often, do "native" European or American religious groups have much awareness of the flourishing churches in their own cities that have roots in the global South. Africans pastor four of Britain's ten largest megachurches, and Nigerian-founded churches are springing up all over North America. A group such as the Redeemed Christian Church of God is rapidly becoming a truly global denomination. How many churches have taken advantage of the opportunities presented by such enthusiastic new neighbors, for instance by forming tactical alliances with immigrant congregations, and using such links to provide entrée to their home countries?
Third, if we are serious about "mission in six continents," we should look impartially at where we see the greatest need for a mission to introduce and reinforce the Christian faith. By any rational standard, is the need not greatest in Europe? The language of mission so often assumes the establishment of churches in new territories, in virgin soil. But perhaps the time has come to think rather of reconversion. Anyone familiar with Christian history has read accounts of the planting, growth and development of churches; but how many know accounts of the decline or extinction of Christian communities or institutions? Though the concept is unsettling, such events have certainly occurred, in North Africa in the early Middle Ages (in the first waves of Islamic conquest) and in much of the Near East in the first half of the 20th century. Most Muslims in modern North Africa and the Near East are the descendants of once-Christian families, and often of communities that retained their Christian loyalties for several centuries. Sometimes, the religious collapse is the direct result of persecution, but Christian churches also perish when societies change, and some new faith does a more effective job of identifying and serving the spiritual marketplace.
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