|
by
Doug Ward |
On March 21, 2010, historian Mark A. Noll was a guest
speaker at Oxford Bible Fellowship in Oxford, Ohio. Noll, who at that time was
the Francis A. McAnaney Professor of History at the
University of Notre Dame, has written extensively on various aspects of
Christian history, and his deep insight into that history was reflected in his
sermon.
Dr.
Noll reminded his audience at the beginning of his message that the Bible
speaks often about how all nations will come to know God. "Because of your
temple at Jerusalem, kings shall bear gifts to you," Psalm 68:29 reports.
"Nobles shall come from Egypt; Cush shall hasten to stretch out her hands
to God," verse 31 adds. God says in Isaiah 66:18 that "the time is
coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and shall see my
glory." Rev 21:24 predicts that "the kings of the earth will bring
their glory" to the New Jerusalem. And Hab 2:14
declares, "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of
the Lord as the waters cover the sea," a prophecy echoed in Isa 11:9.
Christians
play an important role in making all of this happen. Indeed, after his
resurrection Jesus directed his followers, "Go therefore and make
disciples of all nations" (Matt 28:19). For nearly two thousand years,
Christians have been carrying out this directive, taking the Gospel to
"the end of the earth" (Acts 1:8),
|
A
Century of Growth |
Noll observed that today, the "knowledge of the glory of the
Lord" has been spreading as never before. The recently completed twentieth
century was the century of most rapid Christian growth in history, especially
in Africa, Asia, and and Latin America. For example,
in 1890 there were few Korean Christians. Today, in contrast, there is a church
in Seoul numbering 250,000 people.
In
the face of this kind of explosive growth, Christianity's center of gravity has
shifted to the Global South. Noll mentioned several additional examples:
· Today weekly church
attendance in China is greater than in all of "Christian Europe."
· In each of Kenya, South
Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda, attendance at Anglican services is greater than
the combined attendance for Anglicans in England and Episcopalians in the
United States and Canada. The same thing is true for Nigeria many times over.
· There are more Presbyterians
in Ghana than in Scotland, and more in South Africa than in the United States.
· The Brazilian membership of
the Assemblies of God is greater than the combined membership of the Assemblies
of God and the Church of God in Christ in the United States.
· The largest national chapter
of the Jesuits is in India.
· The churches with largest
attendance in England, France, and the Ukraine are largely black.
· Korea, Brazil, and perhaps
Nigeria each have as many missionaries as there were in the world in 1900.
|
Contrasts
in Habakkuk and in Christian Mission |
This rapid spread of Christianity gives us reason to reflect on Hab
2:14. Noll noted that Hab 2:14 parallels Isa 11:9, but these parallel promises
appear in two very different contexts. The verse in Isaiah is part of a picture
of millennial peace, while the one in Habakkuk comes in the midst of turmoil.
The
book of Habakkuk is set shortly before 600 BC, in the final years of the
kingdom of Judah. Within a few years the Babylonian Empire would act as an
agent of divine justice and conquer Judah (Hab 1:5-11).
The book of Habakkuk tells of coming judgment and then offers hope beyond
judgment. God later would punish the haughty Babylonians, and knowledge of
God's glory would fill the earth (2:6-14).
Noll
observed that as the prophecy of Hab 2:14 was given,
more false worship than true worship was taking place. The two are contrasted
in Hab 2:19-20. Something analogous is true in
Christian history. When Christianity spreads rapidly, time is often required
before people fully submit to God. When the Gospel first came to Europe,
centuries were required to conquer paganism completely. Today in many places in
the world, Noll said, Christian worship is "raucous, thinly biblical,
crassly materialistic, and not particularly theocentric." It may take some
time for today's world Christianity to become aligned with God and the Bible.
There
is another stark contrast in Hab 2:4. While the way
of righteousness is through faithful trust in God, Habakkuk saw more pride than
faith when he looked around him. Noll said that both faith and pride are
evident in Christian missionary efforts, illustrating with the story of the
Nigerian Anglican leader Samuel Adjai Crowther (c.
1807-1891). As a boy Samuel was captured by slave traders and put on a
Portuguese ship bound for Brazil or Cuba. However, the ship was intercepted by
the British Navy, and he and other passengers were taken to Sierra Leone, where
he became a Christian.
Crowther
grew up to be a skilled linguist, translating the Bible into African languages.
He was also an effective evangelist to the Muslim community, exposing people to
Scripture in a low key way. After training in England, he was ordained to
Anglican ministry by the Bishop of London in 1843. Later, in 1864, he became
the first African Anglican bishop.
Crowther
was an ardent and effective bishop, but sadly, when he was in his seventies, a
group of proud young missionaries from England maneuvered him out of the
control of his diocese. Crowther was marginalized, and church growth stagnated
in Nigeria for a time.
A
third contrast is evident in Hab 2:12-14, where it is
observed that although nations weary themselves with strife and bloodshed, the
knowledge of God's glory continues to fill the world. Noll illustrated this
contrast with the story of Ugandan archbishop Janani Luwum
(1922-1977).1 Luwum had a powerful conversion experience during revival
meetings in 1948 and dedicated his life to Christian service, becoming an
Anglican priest in 1956. After Uganda gained independence in 1962, he worked
toward the goal of developing local leadership for local churches in the new
nation. He also promoted charity toward the needy, working cooperatively with
Roman Catholic leaders.
One
of the greatest obstacles to progress in Uganda was intertribal strife, as
exemplified by Idi Amin's military coup in 1971. Luwum
worked tirelessly to protest and curb the abuses of Amin's regime. He became
archbishop of Uganda and surrounding countries in 1974. In August 1976, he
chaired a meeting of religious leaders who condemned the killings being carried
out by Amin's security forces. From that time on he knew his days were
numbered.
On
February 16, 1977, Amin had him killed. Today he is memorialized as a martyr by
a statue at Westminster Abbey. Although dictators like Amin have "wearied
themselves" in persecuting Christians like Luwum,
the faith continues to spread as promised in Hab
2:14.
|
Hope
Despite Hardship |
The prophecy of Habakkuk ends with a final contrast. Habakkuk will
rejoice even when there is famine. Desperate poverty is contrasted with
spiritual wealth in the Lord in Hab 3:17-19.
This
contrast is one experienced by the vast majority of Christians in the world, Noll
observed. It has been that way for two thousand years. Jesus became human and
inaugurated the Kingdom of God in a world filled with problems. The kingdom
began and spread not as heaven on earth, but as God-centered life in the midst
of extreme difficulty.
In
recent history Christianity has spread as world crises have spread. The
twentieth century saw both the most rapid expansion of Christianity in history
and the largest number of fatalities in warfare. Christianity has spread
alongside the growing threat of self-destruction. As in Habakkuk's day, hope
stays alive in a chaotic world.
Noll
concluded his sermon with one final example from Christian history. On
Pentecost in 1862, he said, five thousand South Sea Islanders from Tonga, Fiji,
and Samoa gathered to celebrate the adoption of a new constitution, an explicity Christian one. They embraced Christendom at a
time when the concept was going out of style in the West.
Western
missionaries had brought Christianity to the South Seas, and there were aspects
of imperialism in the Western approach to the Pacific Islands. The spread of
the Gospel to the South Pacific was an example of Hab
2:14, Noll said, rather than Isa 11:9. Even so, the islanders chose to set up a
Christian kingdom. At the ceremony, they marked the occasion by singing a hymn
by Isaac Watts based on Psalm 72, a hymn that had been the missionary beacon of
the evangelical movement. The initial stanza of this hymn expresses the vision
of Hab 2:14:
"Jesus shall reign where'er
the sun
does its successive journey run.
his kindgom
stretch from shore to shore,
till moons shall wax and wane no
more."
God
is faithful, and the fulfillment of Habakkuk 2:14 continues today.
1Luwum's
life is summarized by Noll and Carolyn Nystrom in Clouds of Witnesses: Christian
Voices from Africa and Asia, InterVarsity Press,
2011, pp. 111-123.
File
translated from TEX by TTH,
version 3.66.
On 27 Jan 2019, 13:39.
