Archive for the ‘Spirituality’ Category

The past few days have seen all kinds of speculation about the future of Christianity in Britain.  One recent poll claimed that the number of people self describing themselves as Christians has fallen to around 50% from 66% a half century ago.  Another television piece claimed that there are now around 100,000 worshipping pagans in Britain and went on to make the claim that there are groups of pagans in every town in Britain and that therefore paganism represents a future challenge to Christianity.

So what do we make of all such speculation?  As always, the reality is complex.  First, the number of people who self identify as Christians varies from 72% to 52% depending on what precise question is asked.  For example if people are asked what religion they are and are offered the choices of Islam, Hinduism, etc. then they tend to choose Christian as a self descriptor in much higher numbers. If people are asked a very open question about religious practise which implies more active involvement then of course the percentages fall.

For me the surprise is that the percentages are as high as they are given that there is little social advantage in being Christian and clearly fewer people automatically think of themselves as C of E (Church of England) even if they never attend or believe.  These high figures indicate potential not despair.

Second, the number of pagans cited is also a surprise.  Interestingly the figures that used to be given in the 1980’s were around 400,000 so on that basis pagans have declined by 75% in the last 20 years.  Strange that the headline was based on the idea of growth when the reality probably indicates decline.

As for paganism rivalling Christianity – I just think of the 5,000 people who gathered in my local community to sing carols in the open air for 45 minutes this Christmas Eve.  One twentieth of the numbers of pagans from the whole of Britain worshipped the Christ child within a one mile walking distance of my home.  Let’s get real, pagans probably have some way to go before they rival Christianity.

All this needs to be set against the growing number of commentators who are detecting a growth of interest in Christianity.  How about this quote from George Pitcher writing in The Times, 17 December 2009:

“All in all, Britain is going through one of those periods of religious refreshment that crop up every few decades.  Whenever this happens – as in 18^th century Europe – there are plenty of people who say that it’s all over, that the Christian story will soon be finished and a brave new secular age has dawned.  Don’t bet your house on it.”

On Saturday I was reminded how multi-cultural the church of Jesus Christ really is.  Hope for the Nations in Leeds had organised a street festival in the downtown shopping area of Leeds.  There were stalls that represented a variety of ethnic churches but more importantly a stage area with a whole series of music, dancing and drumming from the rich variety that is the Christian church in Leeds. 

Amongst the stalls, Israel was next to Iran – hardly possible in the secular world, but in the Christian world, very possible!  As I was watching the reaction of the crowds to all this activity I was struck by the very obvious difference in the response of ethnic groups as compared with white indigenous people.  Anyone from an ethnic group, whatever their religion, clearly grasped the nature of the event and seemed to respond warmly to it.  The indigenous population seemed to me to be largely bemused by it all. 

While this was all going on, a women brought a young Ethiopian man to the Ethiopian pastor, whose guest I was.  “Pastor, can you pray with this man – he wants to accept Jesus into his life.”  This young man, whom the pastor had never met before, had been witnessed to by friends and now was led in a prayer of commitment on the streets of Leeds.  The contrast between the spiritual fervour of the ethnic population and the indifference and bemusement of the white English folk was both fascinating and disturbing.  I was left asking myself, “how can we harness the evident energy of the ethnic church to make a difference amongst the white indigenous population?”

Many of you will have heard of the revival meetings that have broken out in Lakeland, Florida in recent months. These meetings bear some of the marks of the earlier Toronto and Pensacola meetings of some years ago. For those in the UK there is particular interest in the fact that something of the same phenomenon is breaking out in some remarkable meetings in Dudley in the West Midlands.

How might we assess what is taking place? As always, observers are inclined to adopt extreme positions, either to dismiss this all as religious tourism or hysteria, whipped up by cynical “healers” all too eager to manipulate those who are easily influenced or conversely to suggest that at last the hoped for revival has come that is going to sweep across America and Europe bringing millions back to Christ and restore our societies to a kind of new pietistic Christendom.

Assuming that we can see through both these extremes it is nevertheless difficult to assess the significance of what is going on. Religious phenomenon that are hard to understand are much more common that our secular world is willing to acknowledge. Sometimes such events are very local and deeply personal and news of them never spreads but they make a long lasting difference to numbers of individuals whose lives appear to be changed for the better. Occasionally these events have wider significance and news of them spreads very widely, drawing in tens of thousands of visitors.

It’s easy to be cynical about this kind of religious tourism but remember that pilgrimage has been around for a long time and has taken many forms. It’s also easy for those who have been long time participants in the charismatic renewal to remember the disappointments and to be weary of yet more spiritual gymnastics. But even so, lives are changed and weary hearts encouraged for the long term in many these events. The “enthusiasts” as the early Methodists were called were derided in their day for their spiritual oddities but did go on to make a lasting difference to the emerging industrial society in Britain and elsewhere.

So what makes the difference between genuine movements of the Spirit that have the potential to change lives, reshape cultural horizons, challenge systems of injustice and bring harmony and hope to the world as compared with flights of fancy that promise much but deliver little beyond private experiences? That is a hard one to answer but perhaps we can begin by suggesting that the questions we bring to these encounters are important. For example there is a big difference between asking, “what blessings does God have for me at this event?” and asking “how can this event reshape me so that I might serve God more effectively in his world?” Healings, miracles of various kinds, dramatic manifestations and inspiring worship are all good in and of themselves but life comprises more than this and we need to be able to point to sustainable forms of spirituality that will resource us for the long haul.

Undoubtedly there are times in human history when remarkable spiritual events do make a decisive difference in the tide of human lives. Individuals who are transformed through God encounters can collectively make a difference to wider movements of social justice and renewal. Indeed one could claim that there have hardly been any movements that have not had deeply committed individuals at their centre. Does this current outpouring contain the potential to produce a wider societal and so missional impact – a move from revival to a broader awakening? Its far too early make such judgements but one can certainly pray that it may be so.