Psalm 67
The essence of today’s Psalm is pretty clear – the nations of the world will come and praise God when they see His blessings poured out on Israel. This led me to wonder about Christianity in the United States and other highly developed countries in Europe. It wasn’t that long ago that belief in God and church attendance were standard in the USA and these European countries. I remember growing up that France, Spain, and Italy were Catholic nations, Germany was Lutheran, and England was Anglican. And God was certainly blessing these nations during our post-WWII years. But it doesn’t seem that the other nations of the world are embracing our faith. In fact, in all these developed nations, belief in God and church attendance are way down. As Carol and I have visited magnificent churches in Europe we are saddened that churches built for thousands to worship are now much less populated. I’m afraid that our Christian “model” has not played out well to the rest of the world.
Thank you, Fred. There is so much that could be said about the decline of the church in the West, analysis of reasons, etc. And yet, there’s the active, growing Global South — despite the harms of colonization. I would love to know God’s plan in this! As the psalm says, our role is to praise God … so that others may believe, give God the glory!