As in the USA, Christians in India often think that the bigger a church is the better it is. Pastors try to impress me with the size of their ministry. That is true of secular society in India as well – and in the rest of the world as well. It’s natural to think that a country as populous as India would have many records for being the largest in the world and that is certainly the case.
India has the world’s largest movie industry, based in the city of Mumbai (known as the “City of Dreams”). The B in “Bollywood” comes from Bombay, the former name for Mumbai. Almost all Bollywood movies are musicals. The term “Bollywod” refers to just a part of the larger Indian film industry, which includes other film companies operating in other languages.
India is the world’s largest tea producer, and tea (chai) is its most popular beverage. It is also the world’s largest producer of milk. It recently overtook the European Union with production reaching over 132.4m tons in 2014. India is the world’s largest producer of dried beans, such as kidney beans and chickpeas. It also leads the world in banana exports; Brazil is second.
The Kumbh Mela (or Grand Pitcher Festival) is a huge Hindu religious festival that takes place in India every 12 years. Almost 100 million people attended, breaking the record for the world’s biggest gathering. The gathering was so large it could be seen from space.
Today, India has the world’s largest school in terms of students, the City Montessori School in Lucknow. It has more than 45 thousand students!
Indian Railways employs more than 1.3 million people. That’s more than the population of many nations. It is the world’s largest civilian employer. Its railroad is the second largest in the world and transports more than 23 million people each day. And the world’s largest road network is also in India—over 1.9 million miles of roads cover the country.
India is second only to the USA when it comes to speaking English with around 125 million people speaking the language, which is only 10% of its population.
India leads the world with the most murders (32,719) per year, with Russia taking second at 28,904 murders per year.
India has the largest population of Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Parsees. Because of religious reasons or personal choices or both, around 20-40% of Indians are vegetarians, making it the largest vegetarian-friendly country in the world.
With 150,000 post offices, India has the largest postal network in the world. However, it is not unusual for a letter to take two weeks to travel just 30 miles.
We are all impressed by what is the largest and greatest. However when it comes to true greatness, nothing surpasses Jesus. If only India would lead the world in worship of Jesus! He is the greatest, and true greatness only belongs to Him.
Luke 1:32 “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David;
John 1:15 John testified about Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.'”
Jeremiah 10:6 There is none like You, O LORD; You are great, and great is Your name in might.
1 Chronicles 16:25 For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; He also is to be feared above all gods.
Think of some ways that Jesus’ greatness impacts your life.
Does your life show His greatness to others around you? How can you show His greatness to someone today?