Why Christians Should Stop Using "Post-Christian" of Today's World

I am intrigued by the number of articles, podcasts, videos, and other media using the phrase “post-Christian” in relation to the world or a given context. I will argue that such a descriptor is incorrect and should never be used by anyone who claims to be Christian.

In AD 27–30 or 30–33, Jesus Christ entered history. He was God incarnate. He lived an extraordinary life. Imbued with a ridiculous degree of power never before seen in a human, he healed multitudes, walked on water, calmed a storm, turned water to wine, raised the dead, and showed love to people society had utterly marginalized. He was arrested, illegally tried, condemned to death, and died by crucifixion. He never once used his phenomenal power for his own ends, only using it to help others in need. On the third day after his death, his tomb was found empty, and then he appeared around ten times to women, men, and groups.

Forty days later, 120 of his followers had an astonishing experience in which they were filled with the same power Jesus had displayed in his life (Pentecost). From that moment, with amazing commitment and courage, they went into the surrounding world to declare that God had entered history in Jesus and was establishing his reign throughout the world. They were persecuted, and many died sharing this message in word and deed.

Still, the faith spread. It reached Antioch in Syria, and the believers were then called Christians. Over a period of around 280 years, the people of the Roman Empire were converted to this faith until the Emperor, Constantine, shifted the central religious conviction of the Empire to Christianity.

Since then, this faith has spread throughout the world, and now, there are around 2.382 billion adherents to the Christian religion in the world, just under a third of the world’s population. While Christianity has declined in some nations (often European), it is still growing and expanding throughout the world.

So, clearly, we are not in a post-Christian world. It never will be!

In fact, we never will be because when Christ came, ministered, died, and rose, the world was forever changed. Jesus had come and died and risen and is forever the Savior of the World. He is the supreme Lord of the world for all eternity. He is the Christ, and so, Christ-ianity will never end now that he has come. 

Hence, there is no such thing as a post-Christ situation or a post-Christian world. Even where Christianity has declined, it is not post-Christian for there is no such thing as post-Christ or post-Christian. Christ has come and the world has changed!

Sure, a person can turn away from Christianity; a lot of people can abandon the faith (something that was happening even in the New Testament period, e.g., Hebrews, 1 John); but it is not post-Christian.

If we take this from the perspective of the church, Jesus declared that the gates of Hades will not prevail against his church. Indeed, if there is one Christian in a given geopolitical setting, it is not -post-Christian. From what I see in western countries, there remain many Christians in these nations and many churches.

So, Christian brothers and sisters, please stop naively using this ridiculous term. Post-Christian, rubbish! As Paul would say, mē genoito,” “may it never be!”

In truth, the term is being used mainly in the west by Eurocentric Christians trying to describe their experience of living in cultures which were formerly peopled by many people and in which Christian influence was strong, but in which, now, it has receded.

Well, find any way to describe it you like, but it is not post-Christian. Using this term is theological naïve, and some who are using it should know better. To use it is to demonstrate a low Christology whereby we do not acknowledge the Lordship of Christ over all situations. It is also a low ecclesiology, for nothing will destroy or stop God’s church (it may be driven underground but will reemerge as it has in communist nations). It shows a low pneumatology whereby it demonstrates no faith in the Holy Spirit and God’s gospel, which cannot be bound (as Paul says in 2 Tim 2:18). It is simply wrong, wrong, wrong.

It also assumes that these nations were once “Christian.” Well, they were not. There is no such thing as a Christian country; there is only God’s church and Christian people living among people of other faiths and no faith at all. There were always places with some Christians among non-Christians having varying degrees of influence in the given culture. However, they were not and are not “Christian.” Hence, they are not “post-Christian.”

It is also naïve to use it in that while the Christian faith may be receding where white people hang out, it is expanding at an astonishing rate outside of the western world and has been for a long time. Furthermore, in these so-called western post-Christian settings, through immigration, Christians are flooding into these places, and unbeknown to many, Christianity is again growing. We see this in Auckland, NZ, where there are multitudes of small ethnic churches scattered across the city. What were once white churches are being transformed by the influx of Christian immigrants. Others who have come into the west are becoming Christians. When we live in white ethnic enclaves, we do not notice this shift. But, mark my words; it is happening, and praise God! He is re-evangelizing the west.

So, please stop using “post-Christian. It is false. Find another way to describe the phenomenon of westerners rejecting Christianity. Please stop using this epithet.