Thought of the Day 08.27.09

Critics sometimes say that the only reason Americans are Christians is because they grew up in a Christian culture. Had they grown up somewhere else, they would have believed something else.

Ignoring the irony of hearing this objection from someone who also grew up in America but rejected Christianity, let’s consider the real issue here. The underlying idea is that people tend to adopt a faith that matches their socio-cultural background. Thus Middle Easterners become Muslims, Indians become Hindus, and Americans become Christians.

However, although Christianity has long dominated Europe and North America, it is currently growing exponentially in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. In contrast, the local religions of those areas have never successfully penetrated other parts of the world.

Thus, even though those cultures strongly condition people to be something other than Christians, they still convert to Christianity by the millions. Viewed globally, then, the “religion is culturally conditioned” argument actually backfires into becoming one of the most powerful endorsements of the trans-cultural truth of Christianity. It also shows why the label “world religion” technically only applies to one faith group.