Evangelical Christians in Sweden could aptly be described as ‘God’s elect, exiles scattered’ (1 Peter 1:1). Sweden is a vast country. From the ‘Three Country Cairn’ in the north to Smygehuk’s lighthouse in the south, it’s over 2,000 km, with the relatively small population of 10.4 million scattered in between. 100 years ago, evangelical Christians made up almost 30% of Sweden’s population, but today that has shrunk to 2-3%. So, yes, because of God’s great mercy in Jesus, they’re God’s elect; but yes, they’re also very scattered!
Over the past eight years, as Crosslinks mission partners in Sweden, God has burdened us to ‘gather’ those who are ‘scattered’. Our Equipped Bible conference in Gothenburg is somewhere that scattered church leaders can gather to be equipped to faithfully proclaim God’s word. The Rooted summer camp in Småland is somewhere that scattered believers of all ages can gather for Bible teaching and fellowship. And throughout the year, individuals and families can gather around God’s word, using Bible-centred resources that we’re partnering with others to translate and publish in Swedish. XTB and Table-Talk for children and families, Explore 365 for adults and One-to One resources for Bible reading partnerships are some of the ways we’re seeking to encourage this vital ‘gathering’.
Our current Burning Questions book series has provided a recent and very exciting opportunity for the ‘scattered’ to ‘gather’ right across the centre of Sweden, in Stockholm, Jönköping and Gothenburg. Last Spring, we sent out free copies of our newly published translation of Sam Allberry’s Is God anti-gay? to over 1,200 church leaders, ‘scattered’ all over Sweden. Included was an invitation to ‘gather’ with us at a church leaders’ Q&A in each of the three venues, to engage with Sam Allberry, in person, as he visited Sweden last September. At those evenings, there was then an opportunity to invite more widely to ‘gather’ and listen to Sam’s Story of a same-sex attracted man who is very joyfully following Jesus in every area of his life. Praise God for many who did gather, with some travelling up to seven hours to be there!
During the week of Sam’s visit, we launched our second book in the Burning Questions series, Barry Cooper’s, Can I really trust the Bible?. With this, came our central ‘gathering’ challenge: ‘As you ‘scatter’ back across Sweden, will you ‘gather’ with us, on the powerful, life-transforming foundation of God’s ‘living and enduring word’, no matter what it costs?’
The tragedy in Sweden, over the past 100 years, is that so many have deserted this ‘solid ground’, losing their confidence in the authority and sufficiency of God’s word, and with this, so many have abandoned the life-changing gospel of Jesus. But as the ‘scattered’ begin to, and continue to ‘gather’, we pray for and actively seek, a great return – for the salvation of ordinary Swedes and ultimately for the glory of God.