Why The Majority World Church Needs The Western Church

Part 1 of a 2 Part Series

As someone who identifies as a Global Evangelical, I’m often asked about why the Western Church needs the Majority World Church.

I’ve spent 19 years of my life in the Majority World Church (specifically the South Asian Church) and 11 years of my life in the US & Canadian Church (across white, black and diaspora evangelical spaces). So I definitely have thoughts.

But since I frequently tweet and write about why the Western Church needs the Majority World Church, I thought I’d tackle the opposite question first: Why does the Majority World Church need the Western Church? Because this is also true.

Now, I know that this might be difficult for many of us to come to terms with. After all, isn’t the Western Church culpable for much of the toxic theology and harsh living conditions facing the Majority World Church today? Didn’t Western Church denominations like the Catholic Church, the Anglican Church, the Dutch Reformed Church and the Southern Baptist Convention directly participate in colonialism and / or the transatlantic slave trade?

Yes, but this is precisely why I would argue for the Majority World Church’s need for the Western Church.

As someone who has led teams of staff and volunteers mobilizing the US & Canadian Church to partner in justice work in the majority world over the past 6 years, here’s a question I often hear from western church leaders:

“Why should we invest heavily in justice work overseas when there’s so much need here locally too?”

My answer, as a brown, South Asian man who is a product of the Majority World Church is probably not something they expect:

Reparations. Specifically - reparations for the sins of the past generations of the Western Church - from whom much of today’s Western Church inherits its material and theological wealth from.

So many of today’s injustices in the majority world (such as gender based violence, sex trafficking, forced labour slavery, communal violence, economic inequality, etc.) exist because of broken justice systems - justice systems set up by colonial powers to protect colonial wealth and interests. Justice systems that were never set up to protect poor, marginalized communities - especially women and children.

And guess who was complicit in enabling this colonialism? The Western Church.

One example of this: The 21st century Church of England recently discovered that the 18th century Church of England had invested in and profited off of a shipping company that transported thousands of people in slavery.¹

They even ignored the cries of people in slavery who wrote to them. But the cries of people in slavery & oppression always reach God. And every injustice eventually comes to light.

So how did the Church of England respond? They announced a £100m Fund to “address past wrongs”² - a commitment that has received significant pushback from some Anglican leaders who don’t seem to fully understand how biblical justice works.

Even though the Church of England is steering clear of “reparations” language, as it will be prioritizing community projects addressing the aftermath of slavery over individual reparations, this is still an effective form of what reparations could look like.

It’s only fair to expect today’s Western Church to step up and partner with the Majority World Church in alleviating the aftereffects of colonialism. Especially because of the Majority World Church’s limited ability to address these needs given the economic inequalities between the West and the Global South (another aftereffect of western colonialism & imperialism).

And to be clear, I’m not talking about sending western missionaries who focus solely on spiritual salvation. I’m talking about western churches & denominations partnering (sharing resources) with expert organizations (Christian and non-Christian) in effectively addressing the unjust aftereffects of colonialism.

But here’s another area in which the Majority World Church needs the Western Church: compassion for LGBTQ+ people.

Case in point: The (Anglican) Church of Uganda recently announced its gratitude for a new Ugandan law that allows for the execution of LGBTQ+ people. Furthermore, the Ugandan Archbishop’s statement reeks of homophobia and ignorant, hateful comments towards LGBTQ+ people.³

Regardless of our theological stances on LGBTQ+ inclusion, every Jesus follower should be able to agree that the Jesus who refused to stone and execute a woman caught in adultery would also not stand for the execution of an LGBTQ+ person. In fact, I would go a step further in arguing that the Jesus who was innocently sentenced to death and executed by the Roman Empire would also not stand for the state-sponsored execution of any person but I’ll leave my thoughts on the death penalty for another day.

Back to the new Ugandan law - even Conservative American theologians like Dr. Russell Moore and politicians like Senator Ted Cruz have condemned this unjust law.

Many Majority World Christians reading this will not appreciate me saying this but we have much to learn from our western brothers & sisters on how to love, care for and include LGBTQ+ people in the Church - yes, especially from the White Progressive Church. Majority World Christians can also learn from the White Progressive Church on including and empowering women in the Church given the strong anti-women and anti-LGBTQ+ attitudes in Global South cultures that can often creep into the Global South / Majority World Church - just as this often happens in the Western Church with things like white supremacy, Christian Nationalism and patriarchy.

We need each other because we have much to learn from each other. We cannot allow our deeply rooted cultural values to dictate inclusion in the radically inclusive Kingdom of God.

Thanks for leaning in as always! I know that these are challenging things to grapple with but here’s my encouragement to you: I don’t want you to think like me about justice Jesus’ way. I just want us to think. And then act justly.

I look forward to sharing Part 2 of this Series with you: Why the Western Church needs the Majority World Church.

PS: As always, the views expressed here are personal and not reflective of my employer / anyone else I affiliate with.

1. https://apnews.com/article/anglicanism-religion-dd656463d44d6348750d57cc6c91c0c7#

2. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-64228673

3. https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2023/2-june/news/world/church-of-uganda-grateful-as-harsh-new-anti-homosexuality-law-is-approved