OAC Publications
Borderlines
November 1993

EUROPE: A CHRISTIAN CONTINENT?

by Mark Howe

Missionaries? In Europe? Most Christians readily accept that missionaries are needed in developing countries. They are used to the idea of sending workers to Africa, China or South America, even if often they have little understanding of the work of a modern missionary. Even many non-Christians recognise the value of missionary schools and hospitals in such places.

But Europe? Many of us have trouble imagining what missionaries in Europe would look like, let alone what they would actually do. Dimly remembered Sunday School stories of nineteenth-century pioneers probably contribute to the confusion, but I suspect that the main problem is the way in which we are used to thinking about Europe itself.

We tend to think of our European neighbours as business partners, or perhaps as historical enemies, and consider their countries to be potential holiday destinations, but we seem to have the utmost difficulty in viewing Europe as a mission field.

Paul, Barnabas and the other first-century missionaries would probably not have understood our hesitation. They took the Gospel from Palestine, a predominantly rural district of the Empire, to Athens and Greece, the administrative and intellectual centres of the Ancient world, as well as to many other towns and villages. They preached the same Gospel everywhere, regardless of the level of "civilisation" or income of their hearers. And of course they did most of their preaching in Europe.

Such preaching is badly needed today. For all our continent's sophistication, the spiritual situation in Europe is as bleak as in any other mission field.

Many Europeans describe themselves as Christians, but in reality Europe is becoming increasingly pagan. It seems that young Europeans have been immunised against biblical Christianity by their occasional contact with the Church. The Bible is freely available, but prejudice, ignorance and sheer apathy keep many from reading it as surely as open persecution would.

Europe has been described as a post-Christian continent. Christian values helped to shape our laws, structures and ethical codes, but these standards are being rapidly eroded. Biblical concepts such as absolute morality and the uniqueness of Christ are now barely tolerated by societies which believe that everything is relative and that religion is a personal and subjective matter. Those turning away from Christianity are often attracted to one of the Eastern religions or to an individually blended cocktail of New Age beliefs.

In the last decade we have seen many political barriers to the evangelism of Europe removed. Europe Now is committed to making the most of the freedom that currently exists to spread the Gospel throughout our continent.