I'm glad that you addressed this issue Paul, cause it is something we all need to be more aware of! and thanks for that quote from Ganhdi, it is profound... I recently learned that at about 1900 Christianity represented 1/3 of the worlds religions, and today that percentage is still the same! This is sad for many reasons, one being that other religions such as Islam are growing faster then Christianity is now. There are so many people who have no clue about the beauty of Gods' grace. We can not become stagnant!
Caitlin, I noticed that you mentioned Islam. And since you brought it up, I can't help but add my two cents, small as they are.
It is interesting to note that when Christianity and Islam were "growing up" side by side, they were alike in many and numerous ways. They both experienced many of the same circumstances in their first toddler steps, and even up to their teenage steps. (That is not to be taken in literal toddler and teenage years) But it was their reaction to these events that began to separate them, much like twins who grow up together but simply make different choices and end up in two different places in life. (Note: this analogy is not my own. See "A Case for Islamo-Christian Civilization" by Richard W. Bulliet) Christianity began to put more emphasis on hierarchal structure and became extremely centralized while Islam focused on extreme purity and were spread out all over the Arabian peninsula and other conquered lands. Soon, the Christian church split, dividing into Protestants and Catholics. Muslims experienced similar internal issues but instead of splitting, they bent with the change and became even more unified. (Don't worry, I'm about to make my point. You just needed a little history to understand it.) As these two religions moved into more modern times, we can see a definite split in their priorities. Christianity had previously been mainly about converting the masses, but as the period of enlightenment came about, they became focused on increasing their knowledge. This is when many people believe that Christianity shot far ahead of their sister religion, while Muslims trailed behind because they weren't able to keep up in the more technological and intellectual world that was developing. However, in actuality, Islam was not left far behind but was actually far ahead of Christianity in regards to the number of conversions. Christians got so excited about increasing their brain power that they forgot about what it really means to be a Christian. (I am not insinuating that all Christians of this time period were of this nature. We have many examples of those who weren't, such as the Waldenses, etc. However, they were the exception, not the rule) The point of this mini-essay on the growth of Islam and Christianity is that many times we make the same mistakes that the early Christian church did. We get so caught up in technology and modern-improvement that we forget that the point of our faith is to share the love of Christ to others. That is why Islam is growing much faster than Christianity. Sure, they have their extremists, but then so does Christianity. My prayer for us as SDA youth is that we will keep our eyes fixed firmly upon the reason that we are followers of Christ and not loose sight of our Heavenly goal.
P.S. If you're wondering why I randomly expounded on the Islamo-Christian heritage, it's because I'm taking a Middle Eastern Politics and History class this semester and it's causing me to really rethink some things that I have always just assumed.
