The Incredible Shrinking Superpower? Us? The US?
This is a hard idea to get used to isn’t it? Most people who are alive today think of the US as one of, if not the foremost nation state in the world. While the US is still clearly an influential nation and will be for the foreseeable future, we keep hearing and seeing hints that times are changing.
China is on the rise. India too. We see more and more stories indicating that the US is stretched thing in terms of military, political influence, economics, etc. And this is disconcerting for us. It seems to be especially disconcerting to many Christians. Why do you think that is?
Don’t get me wrong. I’m as patriotic as the next guy. I think a strong US is key to promoting justice around the world in the way God would desire.
At the same time, we need to carefully think about how much we want our faith to be wrapped up with a country and it’s power. If the US was to lose its influence over the next years, how will that affect Christianity? What do you think the emerging trends will be? (You may be interested in the book, Next Christendom that explores a Christianity focused in the Global South).
God has allowed power to shift many times in the history of this world- Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, Spain, England, the US, . . .China? If it is China, what does that mean for us as Christians? Note that not all of those Superpowers were Christian in population. God doesn’t always work in the world the way we expect him to, but he does always preserve the faith, and even under hostile regimes, it often flourishes. These are some interesting things to ponder as we live in the midst of changing times.
Tags: global christendom, media, News, superpower, US