Beyond Profession and Into Practice

In John 14, Jesus talks about faith and the practice of it. If we profess faith in Jesus, then we can be challenged to practice that faith. Here are His words:
12 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.
13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.
15 "If you love Me, keep My commandments.

Profession - and practice.  Those are critical elements in our life in Christ.  If we have called out to Him and accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, then we have the certainty that we have been born again.  We have the assurance from Scripture that we have the Holy Spirit within us, empowering us to keep His Word and bring glory to His name.  We can also know that He has made it possible to communicate with Him and to present our requests to Him according to His will.  Christianity is more than a series of religious exercises or rituals - it is a vibrant relationship with the living God.

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We are called to practice our faith in a manner that brings honor to God, and the Bible is our instruction manual, teaching us what pleases Him. James chapter 1 offers some insight into the importance of visibly practicing the faith we profess:
25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
26 If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless.
27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

A new study released around Easter this year shows that over 60 percent of those surveyed in the world claimed to be religious.  There is an analysis on the British website The Independent that includes 7 charts about religiosity worldwide.

The piece quotes the WIN-Gallup International poll of more than 63,000 people in 65 countries. It says that in the country-by-country data there are two glaring omissions: Africa and The Middle East. The author surmises that it's safe to assume that, were they polled, the vast majority of those peoples would consider themselves religious — you'd expect something in excess of 90%.  I think that's a fair assumption.

Here are the 7 things that author Zachary Davies Boren points out:

1 - There are twice as many religious people as non-believers.  Based on those Gallup findings, those who are non-religious, including atheists, comprise 33 percent of the world - just over half of their religious equivalents.  And, as the author reminds us, bearing in mind which parts of the world were omitted, this is a very conservative comparison.

2 - China is by far the most atheist country.  Among countries in the survey, the most religious country is Thailand, where 94 per cent belong to a faith and just 1 per cent are atheists.

3 - Religion is dominant on every continent.  Western Europe and Oceania are considerably less religious than the other continents, but in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East, religion is well more than double the size of any of the alternatives.

4 - Older people are, surprisingly, less religious.  That's right, and according to the study, people in the 44-54 age bracket are the least likely to be religious, the most likely to be atheist.  And, people in their twenties are most likely to identify with a religion, and so are a high proportion of those under 25.

5 - Housewives are the most often religious, the full-time employed the least.  Housewives (at 76%) are followed by retirees and then students.

6 - Wealthier people are less religious.  The survey shows, according the Independent article, there is a marked drop-off in religiosity between middle income individuals and upper-middle individuals.
In the middle-income bracket, only 8 percent identify as atheist, compared to 25 percent in the 'medium high' range.

7 - And so are people with more education.  Four out of five people without an education identify as religious, and that falls to 3 in 5 of those who attended university.  Also, as with age and income, the last bracket (post graduates) is slightly more religious and less atheistic than the second-to-last.

According to the summary of that survey from the WIN/Gallup International organization, as far as the most religious countries, Thailand is followed by Armenia, Bangladesh, Georgia, Morocco, Fiji, and South Africa - all with over 90% claiming to be religious.  Just 30% of the citizens of the UK however consider themselves as religious and 70% of Russians and 56% of Americans describe themselves in the same way.

In, China 61% of people claim to be convinced atheists, approximately twice as many as any other country and 29% say that they are not religious compared to just 7% who are religious. The number of people claiming to be atheists was next highest in Hong Kong and Japan. The Swedish prove to be the least religious in the Western World with 78% saying they are either not religious or convinced atheists.

In Israel, 65% of those asked said that they are either not religious or convinced atheists compared to just 30% who say that they are religious. Meanwhile in the Palestinian Territories (West Bank and Gaza) the population is considerably more religious with 75% saying that they are religious compared to 18% who say that they are not religious.

There are some considerations we can have as we think about this data:

Of course, we know that many claim to be religious, but the important thing is not the faith we say we practice, but how we practice our faith.  We may identify ourselves as Christians, but we have to make sure that we are passionately following Christ and desiring to bear fruit for His glory.

We identify with the Christian religion, but the true test of that faith is the inward desire to be in relationship with Christ and the outward expression of His presence through our lives.

This survey can also provide some encouragement that there are many around the world who profess to be part of a religion.  And, while this survey doesn't break down which religion is being adhered to, we can be reminded that we have brothers and sisters in the Lord who are following Him. 

In countries where there is plenty of religion, but not religious freedom, we know that Christians are being persecuted because of their adherence to the name of Jesus.  We recognize that we are part of a worldwide body of Christ, sent into the world to testify to His glory and to spread His love and truth.  We are on mission, commissioned by the Lord Most High.