Why are there fewer Christians in this generation, than when Jesus was still alive?
There aren’t! God’s people, the church, is larger today than it’s ever been. Even though it might seem to us that there are less Christians.
Nothing can hinder it
Jesus says in Matthew 16:18: “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” In other words, Jesus will build His church (His people) and nothing can possibly prevent or hinder it.
Paul says in Colossians 1:6: “All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth.” When Paul wrote the letter to the Colossian Christians (probably around A.D. 60), he could say (even then!) that the gospel was bearing fruit across the world!
Jesus church is growing
And this is the important point to consider when we think that there are less and less Christians. We need to look beyond where we live, even beyond our own country to the whole world. Over the last 50 or so years the church has grown very rapidly in Asia, Latin America and in Africa. Just consider the church in China. In 1800 there were no known Protestant Christians, however, by 1949 they were an estimated 500,000 Christians (out of a population of 450 million, 0.1%). And today there are probably around 40 million Christians (~3% Christian). So Jesus’ church is indeed growing, we just might need a global perspective to see it.