UK ‘one of the least religious countries’
21st May 2023
Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything;
what counts is the new creation.
Galatians 5:15 (NIV)
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
UK ‘one of the least religious countries’
There was another report on the radio this week of a survey showing that the UK is now one of the least religious countries in the world. I have not been able to track down the source of the report, but it is in line with the results of the 2021 census.
What are we to make of this, not least when just two weeks ago a Christian service to mark the coronation of King Charles III was broadcast around the world? How many other countries in the world would even have such a service?
We should not fool ourselves that this is evidence that the UK is still a Christian country. Although it is evidence that it once was in some sense a Christian country, and that a great deal of our present culture and laws has been shaped by the Christian faith.
It means that we Christians are likely to feel less and less at home in the culture as it moves further and further from its Christian past, and we will be less and less likely to find support and understanding for what we believe and practice, whatever vestiges of Christian faith may remain.
Nor should we kid ourselves that being religious is in itself a good thing. It all depends what the religion is. There were plenty of religions on offer in the first century, and yet Paul could tell the philosophers in Athens that being “very religious” (Acts 17:22) was not enough; they needed to know Christ.
And he could say of the Jewish people of his day that “they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge” (Romans 10:2) because they sought to establish their own righteousness rather than submitting to God’s righteousness in Christ. So, it is faith in Christ that counts, not simply being religious.
Interestingly, the survey also revealed that, while the number of people who say they believe in God is falling, belief in life after death remains relatively constant. So it seems we cannot totally erase God from our lives after all. And how could we? After all, it is the eternal God himself who has “set eternity in the human heart” (Ecclesiastes 3:11).
This may well give us a useful point of contact in speaking to those who do not yet believe (in Christ). Where does that sense of eternity come from? Surely it is irrational if there is no God? Would it not be more consistent and honest to give it up? And then we can speak to them of the living hope that we have been born into through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (see 1 Peter 1:3).
Lord, may I remember and may others see that being religious (or not) is not the point; what counts is the new creation we have in Christ. Amen.
Yours warmly, in Christ,
Chris Hobbs (Senior Minister)