–– Paul Schlehlein

The audio version of this article is available here: YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.

Some worldwide statistics say two out of every three teens leave the church after high school. In countries where Christianity is growing, parents are tempted to dismiss these numbers as not applicable to them. For example, among the twenty countries where Christianity is growing the most, seven are in Africa: Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, Mozambique, and Tanzania. 

Christians usually enjoy immense freedom of religion in places where Christianity is growing. While this is a blessing, freedom of religion can also be a detriment. Hypocrisy among Christians is much less common in countries where believers will be persecuted for following Christ.

For example, how many fake Christians do you think live in the Muslim areas of Uganda, where a Christian couple was recently poisoned by a Muslim woman? Or how about Burkina Faso, where Christians face attacks by militant Islamists? Then there is the Congo DRC, where a batch of seventy and then another forty-seven Christians were just recently murdered by devout Muslims.