Ticking boxes

by the Revd Hannah Cartwright

For the first time, the number of people describing themselves on the census as Christian has dropped to less than 50% in England; sparking much concern among those who consider religion to be dying, and much rejoicing among those who feel it lends weight to the argument that Christianity should not have an honoured place in institutional or political life in the UK. 

But what does this mean for our mission to share the love of God with others and should we be worried?

This data simply tells us who self-identifies as Christian. It does not tell us who has been baptised, it does not tell us who is seeking God, or who is on the fringe of a church wondering if they can find hope there. It does not tell us why someone might have chosen not to label themselves at this particular time and it cannot give us any qualitative insight into the life of a person who finds themselves choosing to follow the teachings of Jesus but can’t reconcile the harm which institutional religion has done.

What it does most-likely suggest, however, is that Christianity is no longer simply the default position. That to call oneself a Christian, to identify as a follower of Christ, is to make a conscious choice to be so. It is no longer as simple as claiming a cultural inheritance or family tradition, it requires some level of decision to engage personally and intentionally with faith in a God who is not only distant but who chose to come close to us and our experience in this world.

Being a Christian challenges us to see the invisible God made visible in a human person, with vulnerability, limitedness and all the daily mess of human lives and relationships we all have to navigate. To bear witness to the ultimate act of humility and to believe that even in the apparent darkness of this age, that there is still light to be found. Being Christian is to choose to follow a way of being human that embraces those we would otherwise push away, that loves those who this world hates, that sees good, and God, where others would not bother to seek him, and to dare to live differently because we believe that new life can even come out of death.

This way of life is not an accident of our upbringing. It is not an unthinking ‘default’.

By the time we are old-enough to tick the box on a census form, we are wise-enough to make a decision about whether we are up for the challenge of living as people of hope; who believe in the promise that we really can have fullness of life through faith in God who loves this world so much, that he gave up the glory and grandeur of heaven to come and live among us in the dust and daily-grind of earth.

Maybe it is time for the Church to give up its grandeur and its previously assumed importance in the life of this nation and to follow the example of Jesus in choosing to show it instead. Maybe we can take encouragement that it is ‘in dying we are born to eternal life’ and in giving up our status, we find our true worth. I am not worried by the census results, if anything I am encouraged - because it means our mission to share the love of God in this world is a more intentional one; more aware of the challenge of living as people who have glimpsed a greater reality and who try to live their lives according to God’s law of love. 

Maybe the health of our soul could never be determined by a tick-box; maybe it is more nuanced than that. And maybe we can afford to worry less about those who didn’t register themselves as Christian and worry more about how we are each living out the love we have experienced, in ways that might enable the true transformation of our neighbourhoods and our nation.