Gospel opportunity in a changing age.

We often hear dire predictions about the future of Christianity in Britain due to the advanced age of many church congregations. The average age of those attending many British churches today is over 60 and the fear is that as this generation of senior citizens leave this world, more churches will be become redundant.

But a survey published last month paints a different picture and is very revealing about what is going on in the lives of young people.

The survey is in a new book called Faitheism by Dr Krish Kandiah.¹ His survey of young people up to the age of 25 found that 75% say they have no religion. Thus, we have a whole generation of young people who are totally unevangelised – who have no faith at all. But he found that more than half (51%) of this age group reported that they have had a positive experience of the Church and Christianity.

The Church’s Changing Position

This is a significant finding for a number of reasons, not least because it indicates a new openness to Christianity among young people under 25. The reason, according to Dr Kandiah, is that previous generations growing in the 1960s and 70s, at the time of maximum social change in Britain, were involved in the battles to liberalise the nation. At that time, Christianity was seen as being opposed to all the libertarian things that young people wanted. The Church was seen as an oppressor, on the side of the establishment and the ruling elite of the nation, and so naturally to be opposed by ordinary people.

The popular view of the Church of England was that it was the Tory Party at prayer. It was essentially conservative, standing against all forms of social change. This negative view of the Church as the embodiment of opposition to anything that would make life easier and more enjoyable for ordinary people was a great hindrance to the message of the Gospel getting through, especially to young people.

During the 1960s and 70s, the popular view of the Church of England was that it was the Tory Party at prayer. Today, things are different.

Today, things are different. The Church is no longer seen as powerful, as part of the establishment ruling the nation. Christians are no longer seen as posing a threat to the ambitions of the young. There are many stories in the press of Christians losing their jobs for standing by their faith or being prosecuted because of their beliefs.

Incidents like the bakers who refused to bake a cake with a message promoting homosexual marriage have had very positive publicity and young people see these Christians standing up for their beliefs against the oppression of the state. This is a total reversal of the experience of their parents 30 or 40 years ago.

These and many other similar incidents of the hardships experienced by Christians get circulated through social media and the press, causing young people not only to be more open towards Christianity but to be positively interested in finding out more about Jesus. He is seen as an anti-establishment hero who was hated by the authorities even though he only did good.

The Search for Meaning

There are two really interesting sociological facts here. The first is that Britain has only been a multi-faith nation for a single generation. Until the 1960s there were virtually no people of any religion other than Christianity in the UK. Despite the fact that millions of immigrants have come to Britain bringing their religions – Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, and Islam – there has been no measurable conversion of native British people to these religions. Probably the strongly negative publicity Islam has gained through many acts of terrorism has been influential in this.

Britain has only been a multi-faith nation for a single generation. In that time, young Brits have rejected the faith of their forebears – and they haven’t embraced the other religions now present in the country.

Instead of young people embracing other religions we have three quarters of those under 25 saying that they have no religion at all. The rejection of the religion of their parents has not caused them to seek other religions but simply to reject, or neglect, the faith of their forebears.

The second interesting fact is that the weakening power of the Church has had a positive effect upon more than half of the younger generation, at a time when there is great confusion in the nation. While our politicians are struggling to define what they call ‘British values’, the rest of the populace is experiencing a loss of firm, dependable sources of identity. Secularism is not providing them with the meaning and stability they seek. This is creating a new openness to religious beliefs and values among young people.

This openness, of course, could be dangerous. Jesus told a little parable about a demon being cast out of someone and seven more even more deadly coming in to occupy the vacancy. Openness is great, as long as it is met with truth – otherwise it could lead to even greater delusion.

Now is the Time

This is the challenge to Christians in Britain today: there is an incredible window of opportunity for evangelism, particularly during this time of political and social upheaval due to the Brexit negotiations. Many young people are trying to understand what’s going on in the nation: this is our opportunity to talk about social values, ethical principles and religious beliefs.

Now is the time to talk about the future of Britain outside the European Union. It is the time to talk about the history of Europe, the secularisation of the EU, and the whole subject of values and beliefs. It is the time to talk about the ultimate truths presented in the Bible and the basis of our Christian faith which transforms lives.

There is a new openness to religious belief amongst young people: this is an opportunity Christians must take.

Today there is enormous opportunity for older Christians to communicate their faith to young people. Grandparents are of particular value today in an age of family breakdown. In many families, grandparents are the one stable influence in the lives of children. These grandparents may not have done a very good job in passing on their faith to their children, but they have a second chance now to reach their grandchildren.

If all Bible-believing grandparents were to seize the opportunity of teaching the faith to their grandchildren, the whole social, moral and spiritual situation in Britain could be transformed in a single generation. 

References

1 Faitheism: Why Christianity and Atheism have more in common than you think. Hodder, 2018.