I was watching a program the other night that had some celebrities visit Uganda to see what there idea of beauty was compared to what Western society believes. It had nothing to do with religion really but a very interesting thought occurred to me after the show finished. It would take too long to give a step by step journey of my thought process but the conclusion was that it is very easy to criticize the American church or Western Christianity in contrasts to other nations. Maybe it's because America is such a wealthy nation its more obvious, I dunno. I myself am an American and have been grieved (frustrated, angered, etc.) over the state of "church". But we seem to think that because foreign countries are poor (or not infected by western culture, whatever) that they must be more spiritual and holier than us because "they have nothing but Christ", and there way of church is devoid of any fluff. But having nothing doesn't mean that Christ is everything (not necessarily, anyway). The problems you see in America may just be the particular principalities that rule this land. I've been told more than once that the prosperity gospel is a HUGE stronghold in African countries (as I'm sure it is in others). You can't blame that on American influence creeping abroad. The quest for riches and glory is not an American phenomenon born a few decades ago, it is a stronghold as old as time itself and it has plagued every nation, rich or poor. The letter the apostles wrote to the Gentile church instructed them to more or less avoid idolatry and fornication. You'll find those same issues anywhere, be it in a church buried in the jungles of the Philippines, a village in South Africa, or a megachurch in LA, it just may take a slighlty different form. I'm writing this because there is a tendency in people longing for revival and longing to be prophetic voices to decry the American church, and to preach her failings. But America isn't the problem, and she isn't the solution. Sin is the problem, and Christ is the solution. Every nation, church and saint has the responsibility and need to fall on the mercy of the Savior and fix their gaze on Him. That is a message that will thunder in any congregation on any corner of the globe.
