Is Europe Post-Christian?

I understand the use of the word “post-Christian.” It is a term that is used to refer to cultures which, although were once Christian, no longer bare the fruit that comes with a belief in the gospel. It is generally agreed upon that this term can be used to describe Europe and most (if not all) of America.

Although I understand its use, and would even admit that it is sometimes helpful, I do not like the word. It is useful insofar as we use it to describe cultural movements, such as the values presented in the arts and media or the way Christianity generally affects the presuppositions of a society. Despite my dislike of the term, I will use it in this way.

The problem with the word arises when we use it missionally to refer to the spiritual nature of people. I have never met a “post-Christian” person. All people, if divided into categories of how they relate to the gospel, are either Christians, if they have believed the gospel, or they are not Christians, if they have not believed it. A post-Christian person would be someone who has lost his salvation, or one who God let slip from his hand. This cannot happen. Amongst people who are not Christians, we may also put them into two categories: those who have heard the gospel and rejected it and those who have not heard the gospel and have never had the chance to make a decision. In the case of Europe, it is my experience (from three years living in Paris) that the vast majority of people have never heard the gospel and, consequently, never had the chance to respond to it. These are the same people we are unjustly describing as “post-Christian.”

I’ll share an example with you. One day a couple of years ago I was distributing Bibles outside of a prominent French university in Paris. A French girl approached our table and asked us what we were doing. I answered that we were giving away free Bibles and that she was welcome to have one if she wanted. Her response was eye-opening to me. She said, “La Bible de quoi?” (The Bible of what?)

Often, when a book is an authority on a subject, we will say that the volume is “the Bible of” that particular field. While the French girl was familiar with that expression, she had no idea what the actual Bible was. I responded to her question by saying “la Bible de Dieu.” (the Bible of God) She smiled and said, “Ah, Ça m’interesse.” (That interests me) She took the Bible and walked off.

While I am not trying to insinuate that most Europeans have never heard of the Bible, I am making the point that most here, despite the fact that their ancestors wrestled much with the gospel, have never had the chance to wrestle with it themselves. While there are gospel-centered churches here, they are a marginal percentage of the population and filled largely with non-indigenous immigrant populations. While it might be fair to call the culture in Europe “post-Christian,” the majority of the people of Europe are “pre-Christian.” They have never heard that Jesus died on the cross for their sins in order to make them right with God, and that this is accepted by faith. Consequently, they have no mental category for salvation from sin or even the idea that they need one. Without someone who is sent, they have no more access to the gospel than anyone from a people group we label as “unreached.” They have only what the scripture affirms they have, namely, a God-shaped hole that needs to be filled and a guilt that comes from their sin.

For this reason I get frustrated when mission agencies talk of “unreached” people groups. Normally Europe is neatly placed into the “reached” category and labeled as “Post-Christian.” It is in this context that I despise this term. It is both inaccurate in its description of the spiritual condition of Europe and theologically wrong in its implications concerning conversion. It also assumes pessimism about the potential for the gospel to again take root. After all, why can’t Europe be thought of as pre-Christian? Why can we not expect revival in France? Why can we expect God to do great things all over the world and yet not expect Him to move in Germany? If God birthed the modern mission movement in England, do we expect him to now to be done with her and move on?

I want to propose a different way to think about this problem. In Tim Keller’s book, Center Church, he proposes thinking of the church’s relationship to a culture in terms of four seasons. Winter is described as the situation where the church is in a hostile relationship to a pre-Christian culture. Spring is a season that sees church growth, perhaps in spite of difficulties and persecutions placed by the pre-Christian culture. Summer sees culture greatly impacted by the church, in what Richard Niebuhr described as an “allied church.” Christians feel at home in the culture during this season. Finally, in autumn, the church becomes “increasingly marginalized” in a culture that has moved past Christian values. (Keller, Tim. Center Church, 237-238)

Keller’s established these categories to help us think about the Church’s relationship to culture. He suggests that, when approaching the way we believe a church ought to relate to the culture, one ought to consider the season that their culture finds itself in. I agree, and this has helped me think about how to relate to what is going around me in the autumn of Europe. I would like, however, to use this way of dividing cultures to think missionally.

If we look at the history of the church, we see that the West has already seen the church progress through decline and corruption, only to see it later reawaken with revival. While it is true that the current situation, with the growing smallness of the world and easy access to information, presents new challenges that have not been faced before, we nevertheless have reason to anticipate revival. People still have a desire for God, and this hope still lingers underneath the pride in our technology and the arrogance in our “tolerance.” The church should present the gospel in a relevant way, paying attention to the season, without descending into the despair that seems to be prevalent in the minds of the way many think about missions in Europe.

What season, then, is Europe in? Keller identifies the churches in the West as being generally in the autumn phase, “becoming increasingly marginalized in a post-Christian culture and looking for new ways to both strengthen our distinctiveness and reach out winsomely” (Keller, 238). Though I think some consideration should be given to an argument that could be made for Europe passing into the hostile winter season, I agree with him culturally speaking. Wisdom dictates that missionaries lead their thoughts in this direction when it comes to the way they engage culture.

The problem arises, however, when mission organizations begin their approach to Europe and their ideas of “unreached” people groups thinking in this manner. If the culture is “post-Christian,” the culture has had their chance. It was once summer there, and they willingly let it pass into the cold. The leaves are falling from the tree, and it is their own fault. This culture rejected the gospel, so let us go somewhere that has not heard it.

Thus many think. Yet, as in the case with the young French girl who had never heard of the Bible, can we really conclude that she had rejected the gospel because, years before she was born, her culture started gradually making decisions to move away from Christ? This girl was just as lost and clueless about eternal life as the remote tribes who have yet to have a witness. Her culture is passing from autumn into winter, and has, therefore, not seen substantial witness of Christ in a long time. While the culture is post-Christian, it has been post-Christian for so long that the people cling to pre-Christian ideas. The Christian ideals that are still held in the society exist subconsciously; that is, they are ideas that have grown out of a Christian worldview but are not recognized as such. They do not understand the influence of the gospel, because they have never really heard the gospel message. They do not know what kind of influence the gospel can have.

Thus, my proposal is that we limit the term “post-Christian” to our thoughts concerning how we relate to culture. If we use this term missionally, we will paint an inaccurate picture of the people living in “post-Christian cultures” and assume a pessimism concerning what we expect God to do in these places. Similarly, I do not find the terms “reached” and “unreached” very helpful. Only God knows when a group has been fully “reached.” This is not for us to judge.

Do we expect great things from God? Can God work amongst people who are products of a post-Christian culture? Absolutely. The gospel is the power of God for salvation for all who believe, and it has the same power in all cultures. Let us be a people who believe God can bring cultures from the dead of winter to a new harvest of spring.