Not From the West to the Rest!
The Church emerged in the context of the Roman Empire. It’s gone, but the Church remains. Stalin once dismissed the Church by asking “how many (military) divisions does the Pope have?”. Stalin and the Soviet Union are gone, but the Church remains. Empires have come and gone, and we have not seen the end of it, but the Church will remain. But it is not static.
The gravity of the Church has shifted over the centuries. The shift, simply speaking, has been from Middle East and North Africa, over to Europe and North America, and then back to the Global South.
Earlier this year I wrote an article[i] dealing with the importance on the Council of Nicaea 325 AD. It settled, among other things, the issue related to the sacred – secular divide, and thus we can with joy and full confidence do business and invest as part of a godly mission and calling.
It is interesting to note the demographics of this Council. The vast majority were bishops from Asia and Africa, and 67% of all Christians lived in these regions.[ii]
Today, 1700 years later, the demographic center of Christianity is back in the Global South, after 1000 years of domination from Europe / USA. Unfortunately, today many see Christianity as a Western religion. We who are Westerners need to dig deeper into our roots, and also better appreciate the global nature of the Church.
What can we learn from this, also as business people and investors?
We are part of a global movement. It is poly directional: from everywhere to everywhere. Doing business and investing as a mission is not a Western idea, nor is it mainly involving Americans. No, like the church, the gravity of this movement is to a large extent in the Global South.
So, we can rejoice and celebrate: we are a part of a global move by God!
We need to humble ourselves, and be willing to listen and learn from other Christians who have different backgrounds, and who see God driven entrepreneurship through other cultural lenses.
Be intentional about connecting with others in the growing global ecosystem. As the African saying goes: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go with others.” One way of ‘going far’, is by using the interactive Business as Mission ecosystem map at https://businessasmission.com/the-business-as-mission-ecosystem-map-a-new-interactive-tool/.
Essential theology, church growth, mission work and holistic impact through business is not “from the West to the rest”. It has never been. Thus, we must understand our history, as well as connect with the global church.
[i] Celebrating 1700 Years of Investing as Mission: https://www.thestewardinvestor.com/articles/celebrating-1700-years-of-investing-as-mission
[ii] Graphic: Center for the Study of Global Christianity. Data: Gina A. Zurlo, ed. World Christian Database (Brill, accessed April 2025)
