Dr. Jeremiah Johnston talks with an everyday follower of the Christian faith who decided he wanted to do more to reach his community. Grand Rapids, Michigan-based businessman, Bob Sprotte, is furthering the Gospel in his area in a creative way through the Great Lakes Symposium on Christian Worldview, to be held on Thursday, August 1, 2019, in Bay Harbor, Michigan.
In our Christian walk, as in business, Sprotte has learned that faithfulness is essential. “All the little things we do matter,” he says.
Johnston shares insights from his speech during Wilberforce Weekend in Washington, DC. “It’s an exciting time to be a Christian,” he says.
While the majority of growth in the faith is not currently coming from the Western world, it means that Christians based in the West have an untapped mission field all around them.
Johnston cites a Pew Research study in which most atheists and agnostics believe the Church contributes little or nothing to the world. Johnston refutes this notion in his book, “Unimaginable: What our World Would be Like Without Christianity.”
“Christianity has been a force for good in our world,” Johnston says. “The evidence is simply overwhelming.”
Paul’s words in Galations 3:28 were revolutionary in the culture in which he lived: “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
Christianity, wherever it takes root, influences culture. It heals racism, promotes charity and justice, supports gender equality, and embraces the value of life. The opposite is also true. Where Christianity has been unwelcome, people are dehumanized, society becomes nihilistic, and there is no clear purpose for life.
“Every time history repeats itself, we pay a higher price,” Johnston says. “Yet, we are living in the golden age of Christianity. There is more evidence for our faith than at any other time. My challenge and my prayer for all of us is that we will apply John 1:5: ‘The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.’”
