FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Reverse Mission | Roney George, Scotland
During the 19th century, hundreds of missionaries carried the gospel from England to nearly every corner of the globe as a great religious awakening began to expand. Today, however, the nation that once stood as a lighthouse of truth is drowning in spiritual darkness.
10 years back, close to 60% of the population were Christians, which is declining at a rapid pace now. Currently, 35% of the United Kingdom’s population of 64 million identify as non-religious, and in the young adult population, that number is as high as 70% per a British Social Attitudes 2018 survey. According to Operation World, England is experiencing the 9th slowest rate of church growth of any country in the world. Many churches are in a state of decline and are considering closing their doors as secularism, postmodernism.
It is heart-breaking to see that over the last few years a lot of churches in England got closed and all those are now being sold or leased by the prominent churches as they feel it won’t need to be reopened. Covid has nothing to do with this phenomenon, but that has just fast paced the slow decline to a rapid one.
This is the land that had given prominent missionaries to the world like:
▪ William Carey (17 August 1761 – 9 June 1834, known as “Father of Modern Missions”)
▪ David Livingstone (19 March 1813 – 1 May 1873, known as “Africa’s Greatest Missionary”)
▪ James Hudson Taylor (21 May 1832 – 3 June 1905)
▪ Eric Henry Liddell (16 January 1902 – 21 February 1945)
In the 17th, 18th , 19th and 20th centuries a variety of organisations were formed in England to support evangelism to the regions like India, sub-Saharan Africa, the West Indies, China. By the 21st century the increasingly secularised Scotland/England became the subject of several “Reverse Mission” from countries that Europeans and North Americans had originally evangelised.
As people from outside started realising England as a mission station, those who live in this country need to have a real burden for the people around us. I agree people in England or Scotland are doing good deeds every day, but that will not lead to eternity. It is only through accepting Jesus as the personal saviour in their life, they can be saved.
Instead of doing wait and watch or finding the reasons behind the problem, this is the time to reunite and pray for the current generation for their enlightenment from Christ. Let the revival happen in us, throw away the laziness and work for God.
Let us be prayer warriors and mission field workers to reach our surroundings!
Pray for England!
Roney George, Scotland
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