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How do we react to such a picture of global evangelicalism? We are believers in the sovereignty of God, and the fact that his people have burst their historic barriers and spread out into the world does not strain his capacity to remain the author and finisher of our faith. Jesus told his disciples, "Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom." I dare to say that our Father will be pleased to give us the kingdom, even though the little flock has grown to become a global flock.

Standing, literally, before the world, evangelicals now experience both danger and opportunity on a scale we have never experienced before. The danger is that we will not pull together enough to grasp the opportunities we face. The opportunities arise because evangelicalism has internal limits in a world that is falling apart. While the rest of the world throws out its big stories, its "metanarratives" in a fit of postmodernity, evangelicalism is constrained by the biblical self-revelation of God in Christ and his command to "go into all the world." As the world contracts, evangelicals must learn to be one people through the love of Christ. By this, as the story goes, shall all people know that we are his disciples.

Mark Hutchinson, 40, lives in Sydney, Australia, where he serves as director of the Centre for the Study of Australian Christianity at Robert Menzies College at Macqarie University and as chair of the church history department at Southern Cross College. His latest book is A Global Faith: Essays on Evangelicalism and Globalization, written with Ogbu Kalu. He is also working with historians John Wolffe, Mark Noll, David Bebbington, and director Brian Stanley on the "World Christianity Project," which aims to rewrite church history from a global perspective. E-mail: 100026.3265@compuserve.com

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November 16 1998, Vol. 42, No. 13