World War I and II were greatly disruptive to missionary work worldwide but they were also a blessing in disguise to the missionary cause. For years, Western missionaries had claimed that the superiority of Western civilization was due to Christianity. They thought this was a great apologetic for why non-Christian people in other parts of the world should believe in Christianity.
See what fruit Christianity has borne in Christian nations?
You too can have that if you believe in Christ!
Well, the rest of the world certainly did see as the countries of Europe, the supposed pinnacle of human civilization, tore each other apart. So that apologetic was not very useful anymore if it ever was.
When the rug was pulled out from under the feet of this missionary apologetic, missionaries were humbled and forced to ask themselves “What IS the fruit of the gospel?” and “What ARE the real benefits of believing in Christ that we can tell non-Christian people?” The two world wars forced missionaries to draw a sharper dividing line between Christian faith and Western civilization; And that was a helpful thing because missionaries should be preaching the glories of Christ and not the glories of their home countries as supposed proof of the glories of Christ.
After a thousand cars with wings, I suggested a completely different kind of Lego creation to our youngest son. He went for it. We built a hearse, but then we needed a coffin, and then we needed someplace to park it. A church seemed appropriate. It was nice to help him build something completely different for a change. He shares the results in the video linked below.
If you cannot see the video above, click here to watch it on YouTube.