The modern world is currently gripped by a powerful trend that actively discourages marriage and the bearing of children, a cultural movement that increasingly shapes human thinking into a pattern that leads toward death. Having recently returned from separate missions to Spain and China—representing the first and thirty-third trips respectively—the shared reality of these distinct regions highlights a global rejection of the biblical model for family life,. At the heart of this issue is a fundamental challenge presented in Romans chapter 12, where the Apostle Paul appeals to believers to be aware of the trends of the world and to refuse conformity to them. Instead, we are called to be transformed by the renewal of our minds so that we may discern the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God. In our current age, following the biblical directive to be fruitful and multiply has moved from being a common societal norm to an increasingly radical, extreme, and contrarian act,.
The Spiritual Climate of Modern Spain
Spain serves as a poignant example of a country that has shifted radically away from a biblical worldview. While the nation is beautiful, warm, and welcoming, it presents a spiritual climate that can be described as “digging in concrete,” marking it as one of the most difficult environments for the Gospel among the forty-plus countries PassionLife has served. In major metropolitan areas like Madrid and Zaragoza, the absence of the next generation is visible even to a casual observer; one rarely sees parents pushing baby strollers or carrying children in backpacks as was common in previous generations,. This cultural coldness toward spiritual things often manifests as an inward assurance that there is no God and that the only purpose of life is to live for today and for personal pleasure.
Despite this post-Christian atmosphere, there are significant pockets of a faithful remnant. In Zaragoza, the fourth largest city in Spain, we encountered a vibrant Assemblies of God church with twelve campuses and a mother church of six00 members, which is unusual for the typically smaller European congregations,,. The hunger for the Word of God among these mature believers is encouraging, and the engagement of senior leadership in bioethics training suggests a burgeoning movement that seeks to lead the culture back toward a worldview of human flourishing,,. However, a significant gap remains, as many of these active Christians are unaware of existing pregnancy help outreaches in their own cities, highlighting the need for churches to bridge the gap between their theology and practical, local rescue efforts,.
Understanding the Global TFR Crisis
The crisis of declining birth rates is moving from a moral concern to a severe economic catastrophe that threatens the survival of nations,. To understand this shift, one must understand the “Total Fertility Rate” (TFR), a term that will likely become as common as “FBI” or “CIA” in the coming years,. TFR refers to the average number of children born per woman; a rate of 2.1 is the “replacement rate” necessary just to maintain a stable population without growth or shrinkage,,. Across Europe and much of Asia, birth rates have fallen far below this line, meaning populations are dying off faster than they are being born,.
While the “population bomb” theories of the 1960s influenced an entire generation to fear overcrowding, the current reality—the “TFR crisis”—reveals that the actual threat is a shrinking population that cannot sustain an economy. Except for parts of Africa where children are still cherished as the foundation of wealth and prosperity, most of the world has conformed to a pattern of life that rejects the biblical mandate to fill the earth,. We are discovering that when we put off the commands of God, we do so to our own peril.
China: A Case Study in Demographic Collapse
China represents the most extreme example of this demographic decline. For the last several decades, the rejection of life in China has been a moral crisis characterized by a staggering number of abortions. In 2025, while approximately 8 million babies were born in China, the number of abortions was estimated to be between 8 and 15 million. Consequently, China’s TFR has dropped to approximately 1.02, or perhaps even lower, which is less than half of what is required to maintain the population.
The United Nations predicts that China’s population of 1.4 billion people will drop by 50%—down to roughly 767 million—within the next 75 years. Because China does not allow the type of immigration that currently buffers the birth rate decline in the United States, they will feel the full, unmitigated impact of having fewer workers to support an aging population. This imminent collapse has forced a secular, communist government to inadvertently adopt biblical reasoning,. The China Family Planning Association recently stated that marriage and childbirth are not merely personal matters but are “major events for the survival and development of the country”. While these governments are not motivated by moral beauty, they are being driven toward God’s designed order by the sheer economic disaster of ignoring His plans.
The Radical Call to Marriage and Children
In this global context, the call to get married and have babies has become a form of radical discipleship. To the modern world, a family with five or six children is often viewed with suspicion or even looked down upon as “irresponsible”. Yet, these families are simply following the foundational biblical directive from the very first page of Scripture,. As Christians, we must grow up and become “contrarians” who refuse to be squeezed into the mold of a culture that views children as a burden rather than a blessing,.
Choosing to live a normal, biblical life of marriage and family is increasingly the most radical thing a person can do in our times. This is not merely about following a set of rules, but about being transformed by the Holy Spirit to find what is “perfect” and “good”. By embracing children and the sanctity of life, the church can directly impact and challenge a culture that is otherwise sliding toward death.
The United States accounts for only 3% of global abortions, leaving 97% of this crisis as a primary world missions challenge. Whether in the “concrete” culture of Spain or the shrinking population of China, our mission is to rescue the most vulnerable where abortion is most concentrated. We must be ready to speak up and show the world the humanity of the pre-born, using tools like the tiny baby model—a representation of a human at nine weeks of age—to remind people of the life God has created. By refusing to be conformed to this world, we offer a vision of life that leads to ultimate human flourishing and honors the God who designed us to be fruitful and multiply,,.
This article is adapted from the episode transcript.