UK Census Reflections

I was praying for the UK today on our run (1/12/2022) - the latest census shows a drop in people identifying as Christian. It is now a minority religion. This may seem odd, but I actually feel excitement over this. There’s two reasons:

1. Could this mark an ending of cultural Christianity? Many people would have previously ticked the Christian box because they were baptized as a baby or because they like to go to a carol service at Christmas or because their Nan went to church etc. My hope is that the shift to choosing the ‘non-religious’ box shows a shift in understanding the Christianity isn’t something you inherent or absorb from culture but a decision you make about how you want to live your life. Jesus defines Christianity as discipleship. He tells us that if anyone wants to be his disciple they must deny themselves, take up their cross and follow him. The possibility that THAT is what people really mean when they call themselves Christian is exciting to me. Could the majority of the UK church moving from a place of comfy tradition into an active family of laid down lovers of Jesus?

2. In church history, and in the modern day (I’m thinking of China here), we see renewal and revival when Christians are in minority. I’ll point you to Mark Sayers’ book ‘Reappearing Church’ for an amazing study into this phenomenon. In a nutshell, when Christianity isn’t the accepted norm, our lives of holiness shine brighter and our commitment is clearer. God seems to love to work powerfully through faithful remnants.

This is a time for us to be praying for a strengthening of the UK church, a deepening of faith and an ability to witness to what following Jesus is really all about.