Living in a Post Christendom World

Christendom and post-Christendom. Times are changing, for the good, I believe. You may not have heard of these terms, however, they play an important role in the way Christians view the church and the state. I bring this up in light of some events within our nation recently. Let me first explain Christendom.

According to Stuart Murray in his book The Naked Anabaptist, he stated that Christendom was…

·        A geographical region in which almost everyone was at least nominally Christian.

·        Historical era of time in the 4^th century of Constantine and lasting into the late 20^th.

·        It was a civilization shaped by the Christian story.

·        A political arrangement in which the church and state supported each other.

·        It was an ideology or a mindset.

We could think of Christendom as a merging of the state and church (i.e. if you lived in this nation you were Christian…by name only). The nation was Christian. However, within the 20^th-21th century this idea of Christendom began to decline into post-Christendom (i.e. after the merging of state and church). You do not have to be a historian or cultural exegete to see the change take place. I’m 24 years old and many things have changed within my life time regarding this idea of Christendom. Basically post-Christendom is a culture that has moved away from its “Christian ideology” into a new way of life. Murray provided 7 transitional markers:

From the center to the margins: No longer is the Christian story at the center. It has been moved aside to the margins of society. It is more of an after-thought. 
From majority to minority: In Christendom, the majority of people named themselves to be Christians. But within the post-Christendom era Christians have now become a minority.
From settlers to sojourners: Christendom provided a home and safety for Christians. Now after the decline Christians begin to see their role as exiles in a world that is not their home.
From privilege to plurality: Christendom provided many privileges for Christians. Yet there are fewer privileges because they are shared among others. Christians are not the only kids of the block anymore.
From control to witness: Within Christendom the Christians had control through their leaders. Now, Christians have lost control and settle for influence through witnessing to the story of Christ.
From maintenance to mission: The Christians role within Christendom was maintenance for the society. After the decline the role has moved to mission to the society.
From institution to movement: In Christendom the “church, temple, chapel, cathedral” was the institutional mode. However in post-Christendom, Christians are not defined by their “church building” but by the movement…much like the book of Acts.

Does any of this sound familiar? It appears that Christendom had its time but now within our society we are seeing a transition to a more post-Christendom culture. Christians aren’t allowed in the public sphere. Christians have become a minority within America. Christians have little say within the culture. My question is…

Does this surprise you?
Does it scare you?
How are you going to respond?

Living in a Post-Christendom World

Think of Jesus real quick. He lived in a world that was extremely religious but not “Christian” in the way we think. His world was very pluralistic. As he met with the sinners he was pushed to the margins of society. He was an exile. The Messiah Himself had no place to lay His head. He and His followers became the minority. It is important to see that Jesus was the center…not the state. We as followers of Jesus are living in a world that is moving farther and farther away from Christianity. And to be honest…that is probably a good thing.

Let me give you an example. I had a friend who served in the middle east as a Christian missionary. He stated that he had the hardest time trying to evangelize in that context. He said the main reason was because middle eastern equated Christian and Western society. Namely, they are one in the same. Middle Easterns did not want to become Westerns. You see, there is a danger to equate the church and state…Christianity with Western society. Honestly this was the main issue with the modern missionary movement and is one of the many issues we are facing today among missions.

However, we have an opportunity. We as the church can speak prophetically, calling for repentance. We have to maintain our witness. Let us not lose our focus. Remember you are an exile. A resident alien. A stranger in a strange land. I want to encourage you to live as an exile in a Post-Christendom world.