(Opinion) – One afternoon during my recent visit to India, I was walking the streets in a rustic east Indian town when I came across this old gate with a cross on it. Given that Christians comprise a small minority of the Indian population (estimated only 2%-3%)—and the fact that persecution is on the rise in many parts of the country—I was intrigued.

My first thought was, “It’s sad that this gate looks so rusty and beat up, I should find out who it belongs to and contribute funds to replace the gate with something nicer.”

But as I stood there and reflected, I was struck by the idea that this old, rusty gate probably more closely resembles the old, rugged cross we sing about—and the bruised and beat up Savior whose death we ponder on Good Friday—than the ornate gold crosses and stained-glass art in the world’s biggest cathedrals and fanciest church buildings. 

(I later found out that gate led to the building of a Christian ministry center that offers vocational training for vulnerable women, as well as other resources for the community.)

This Holy Week I’ve been thinking a lot about that old gate, and praying for the churches I’ve visited in small towns and rural villages across India and other parts of the developing world. Those pastors and leaders—men and women, young and old, who are often tentmakers and volunteers—do so much with so little.

Time and again, it’s remarkable to observe how believers are reaching a cross-section of society with the hope of the Gospel and providing vital humanitarian care to the least of these without massive programming budgets or elaborate productions or celebrity platforms. As someone accustomed to Bible-Belt, megachurch, made-for-TV environments, I’ve found their simplicity and sacrifice to be inspiring and convicting. 

In a recent panel discussion on evangelicalism, I was asked to “name emerging pastors and Christian voices who you think will be the most influential and admired church leaders in the future?”

I answered that I think the individuals who will most shape the future of the global church are not public figures with growing platforms whose names we know. Instead, it will be the faithful believers—men and women from all walks of life—who are quietly, humbly, and uncompromisingly serving in Jesus’ Name as God builds His church through them.

It will be the pastor of a village church in rural India, whose building was burned down but who now meets in a tent, despite continued threats and persecution.

It will be the host of a house church in the Middle East, who is risking everything to convene a gathering of believers and take communion together.

It will be the church-planter in one of Europe’s most affluent yet atheistic cities, who left Wall Street to raise his own support and shepherd a small group of people searching for meaning and hope.

It will be the volunteer at an American inner city apartment complex who consistently takes the church (along with bags of groceries) to children and their parents every weekend.

It will be all whose names will never make headlines—positive or negative—but whom Jesus Christ is using to build His Church and exalt the only Name worth lifting high.

They are the ones who demonstrate what it looks like to take up our cross and follow the One who paid it all. May we—and all who love the church—learn from their faithful examples as we seek to walk in a manner worthy of our calling. 

“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.” Ephesians 4:1 (NIV)

Ruth Malhotra is passionate about helping Christians communicate truth with clarity and grace. She managed public relations at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries from 2013–2021 but became a whistleblower about Zacharias’ sexual abuse. She currently serves on the board of The Roys Report.