Nominal Christianity in a None Culture

In 1st Corinthians 2, the apostle Paul contrasts the person who lives according to the natural with the
one who lives in the supernatural, the spiritual. We read:
12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
13 These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

We live in a world of carnality, and we have to be careful that the values of this world do not adversely influence the practice of our faith.  The Bible enables us to think spiritually about the matters we face and gives us wisdom for the decisions we must make.  Living according to the principles of Scriptures makes us distinct in this world, and it is important that we reflect a real, radiant, and relevant Christianity.

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The apostle Paul was seemingly a bit frustrated that the Christians at Corinth were not displaying spiritual growth.  He called the people outside of a carnal lifestyle into the true Christian life.  In 1st
Corinthians 3, he wrote:
1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ.
2 I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able;
3 for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?
4 For when one says, "I am of Paul," and another, "I am of Apollos," are you not carnal?

Carnality threatens to diminish the effect of the Christian faith in our world.  We have to seek to turn away from "nominal" Christianity in this "none" culture.

The study is called, The "no religion" population of Britain.  It was conducted by the Benedict XVI Centre for Religion and Society at St. Mary's University Twickenham London, and measured the religious identification and practices of U.K. residents.

ChristianHeadlines.com ran a story about the survey and the article included material from The Christian Post.  It stated that, "for every one person who converts to Christianity in the UK, 26 believers abandon their faith and becomes an atheist or agnostic."

Stephen Bullivant, professor of Theology and the Sociology of Religion and director of the Benedict XVI Centre for Religion and Society at St. Mary's University, said, "It is no secret that a large proportion of the British population consider themselves to have no religion," adding, "This has been a consistent finding of polls, social surveys, and censuses over the past several decades. In fact, the rise of the nonreligious is arguably the story of British religious history over the past half-century."

The story states that back in 1983, self-identified Christians comprised 67% of the population. That dropped to 43% in 2015.  

Also, the article referred to a story by the Gatestone Institute, which "found that Islam is growing in the UK." The report said, "British multiculturalists are feeding Islamic fundamentalism." It reports London has 423 new mosques, and that the city is "is built on the sad ruins of English Christianity."

The St. Mary's study summary, in its Ten key findings section, reports that: 

Those who identify as ‘No religion’ (i.e., Nones, the nonreligious) are 48.6% of the British adult population. This is roughly 24.3 million people. 

43% of these "Nones" described themselves as being "Not at all religious." 75% never attend religious services and 76% never pray.   And, of course, this large group tends to skew younger.

For the purpose of the survey, Anglicans, Catholics, and other Christians are all considered to be under the "Christian" banner.  17.1% of the population is Anglican, 8.7% is Catholic, and 17.2% is "other Christian."  8.4% of the population is considered to follow a "Non-Christian religion."  That would include Islam.

You might say, "tell me something I don't know."  We are seeing this rise of religious "nones" grow in America, as well.  The Christian Headlines story pointed out that the UK decline is in contrast with the rise of Christianity in nations like China, where Christians "face intense persecution."  Just a note: in those countries, their practice of Christianity, I believe, is highly meaningful - to love Jesus comes at a cost; it results in dramatic adjustment of life and lifestyle.  A faith tested in the fire of persecution ideally becomes a stronger faith.

It does seem that the religious lines are being drawn.  The practice of Christianity is waning, and you could likely point to a number of reasons for that.  We just have to look at ourselves and make sure that our faith is real and radiant. In strict marketing terms, do people want to buy what we are selling?  If a relationship with Jesus is the answer for us, can we confidently offer it to others?

Christianity is more than a religious practice - it is definitely not just one item on a spiritual smorgasbord, but I fear it is perceived as such.  And, people in the UK, as well as in America, have decided to sample other choices.  That is where we have to break loose from nominal "Christianity," which may not be considered real Christianity at all, and display the vibrancy that Jesus gives through His Spirit living in us.