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'AS INDIA GOES, SO GOES THE GREAT COMMISSION'
The three global "giants" standing between the body of Christ and the fulfillment of the Great Commission in our day are China, Islam and India -- each with a population of more than 1 billion.
Two of these three meet in South Asia: India -- and the nearly 400 million Muslims living primarily in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
"As India goes, so goes the Great Commission," contends the Christian strategist. "And how is India doing? Not that well, quite frankly. Not because it's inaccessible -- because it's neglected. If this is truly the last of the giants, God is giving it to us on a silver platter. It is a friendly place, an inviting place.
"There is no excuse for not getting the Gospel out here. I'm overwhelmed at the openness."
That assessment seemingly contradicts frequent reports of persecution of Christians in India, resistance to evangelization and the resurgence of Hindu extremism. True, violent opposition is very real in certain areas, but it's often a reaction to the Gospel's spread -- which persecution can't stop.
India's (and majority Hinduism's) renowned spiritual tolerance also lives up to its reputation in many ways, both as bridge and a barrier for the Gospel.
"India skipped modern," observes a Christian worker. "It has always been postmodern."
How so? The philosophical idea that many paths lead to God or truth probably originated in India -- and now strongly influences the West. It challenges the exclusive claim of Jesus Christ to lordship, but opens many doors in India to talking about Him.
In the cities, at least, Christ’s followers can readily gain a hearing in the noisy Indian marketplace of ideas. In the more traditional and resistant villages, growing numbers of believers are boldly proclaiming the Good News.
"We've seen so many people come to Christ, so many churches started -- hundreds, maybe thousands of new churches," says the strategist.
"This is an incredibly responsive place. We just need more people implementing church-planting movement strategies. That means moving from planting an individual church and bringing a few people to Christ to saying, 'What's it going to take to see a movement that sweeps through a people?'
"In God's economy we have a vital role to play: a role of encouraging, training and multiplying ourselves through hundreds and thousands of national partners."
It's already happening in some places, like the huge north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, where more than 5,000 house churches have sprung up in less than two years.
It will happen in many more places, because wherever the light of Christ is lifted up, He draws people unto Himself.
"Our job," says a believer, "is to turn on the light, turn on the light, turn on the light!"
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Erich Bridges is a senior writer with the Southern Baptist International Mission Board.
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