Is it possible that Christians cannot envision the unreached because most Christians do not really remember their own conversion experience?
The reason is simple: most Christians were born into Christian families and came to a kind of household faith very early on. Each year, 45 million people are born into Christian households, 15 million convert for the first time, and 12 million defect. We don’t know from the math where the defectors largely come from, but I would wager they mostly come from Christian households–young people growing up who abandon their faith (at least for a time?).
People can name case studies that seem to disprove this–the stereotypical PK who rebelled and then returned to faith after a few years of drugs, drinking and fast living. But I suspect–and I would need to think further about this, and how to mathematically show it–that most believers or former believers are probably more familiar with their experience leaving the faith than joining it.
What are the implications of coming to faith young? I came to faith when I was about five years old. Our kids likewise came to faith very young. I barely remember the moment I asked Jesus into my heart. Some people can say this is a great testimony–and it is–but is it easier for me then to slip into an ‘us’ and ‘them’ mentality? Is it more difficult to understand the reasons someone would doubt? Or to understand why someone might be of another religion because their parents were?
We shake our heads over some statement like “to be Pashto is to be Muslim” but the reality is that this is hardly different from “to be American is to be Christian”–which is the view in many places around the world.
Do you think I am statistically right? What are other implications of this if I am?
