There's an interesting article out of the Vatican blasted as a headline across Drudge today: "Muslims more numerous than Catholics." The Reuters article quotes the Vatican's official findings that for the first time in history the number of Muslims in the world is larger than the number of Catholics. Is Catholicism losing to Islam? More importantly, is Christianity losing to Islam?
Not quite.
While the article is fresh news in that it reports an official finding by the Vatican, the reality is that this is old news. The hint comes from the text of the article itself. "While the number of Catholics as a proportion of the world's population was fairly stable, the percentage of Muslims was growing because of higher birth rates."
This makes for interesting political news (especially in the era of 9/11 and Islamic terrorism). But as religious news its not more than a footnote since "birth" doesn't make one "religious."
Just like my host country of Mongolia, there are some who have recently promoted the idea of making Mongolia an officially "Buddhist only" nation. Doing so would classify Mongols as "Buddhist," at birth. Personal profession of the heart would not figure into the equation. That's always how its been anytime a religion has become an official religion of a state. Those interested in the political influence or power of that religion receive great benefit—but those actually sworn to the core ideals of a particular faith don't really increase in number. Islam is a great example of this. Though almost every Middle Eastern country is officially declared "Islamic," more than 5 million Muslims in the Middle East abandon Islam every year to embrace Jesus Christ. In fact, as history will attest, there are only two ways, politically, that a religion grows in terms of increasing numbers of adherents who commit themselves to that religion from the heart—either through persecution or true religious freedom.
In China there is still a great deal of persecution of Christians, but Christian growth in the last 15 years has exploded so that Christians now outnumber communist party members by 10-to-1. Hurrah. In Korea (also a supposedly Buddhist nation), Christians make up as much as 40% of the population (somewhat disputed), and in the U.S. where there is still great religious freedom, Christianity is still seeing tremendous growth.
It's all about attitude.
I recently taught a Bible lesson on the difference between kingship and lordship. The kingship of Jesus is his authority to rule creation, politics, earthly institutions etc. Men hold the authority of kingship in the political realm and this type of earthly authority is a reflection or shadow of the kingship of Jesus. Lordship is different.
Lordship is Jesus' kingship applied to the heart of man. Only Jesus Christ has the authority and the power to command obedience in heart issues. This is why the scripture commands, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and strength." God can command a heart of love because he has the power to enable a heart of love within us. Mohammad, Buddha, and Karl Marx can't compete. Interestingly, love is not the primary tenet of those faiths.
Islam may have outpaced Catholicism "politically," but religiously it's just a footnote. It doesn't matter if a person is a Muslim, or a Buddhist, or an Animist, or an Atheist, or a Hindu, or anything else. Without Christ all are part of what the Bible calls, "the domain of darkness." So as a footnote, if a person is considered Muslim or a Buddhist because of a political classification by birth, or if he gives himself from the heart to the teachings of the Quran or Buddha, there is no spiritual difference. There may be a political or social difference, but the political kingdoms and authorities of our present age will, as the prophet Daniel describes, one day be shattered. The kingship of men will pass and only the Lordship of Christ will prevail. In that day men will look to the past and wonder what earthly good Islam, Buddhism, Atheism, and all the others "isms" ever did for them.
ThomasTerry.com
http://thomasterry.com/blog/article.php/20080331005642212