You hear a lot of talk about the decline of Christianity in the West. More and more, Christians are finding themselves on the sidelines instead of being the cultural norm.
Faith in Ireland
For Protestants in Ireland, this is not a new phenomenon. For the past hundred years, Protestant faith has been considerably in the minority, and evangelical/non-denominational churches even more so. (For Catholics, this is a new phenomenon, and you can generally observe a clear difference across generations regarding their faith.) It's a little difficult to quantify, as everyone uses different labels, but the latest census (2016) sets out the following as percentages of the total Irish population:
- Church of Ireland (Anglican): 2.65%
- Christian: 0.79%
- Presbyterian: 0.51%
- Apostolic & Pentecostal: 0.28%
- Evangelical: 0.2%
- Methodists: 0.14%
- Protestant: 0.11%
- Lutherans: 0.11%
- Baptists: 0.08%
Discouragement
It is easy to become discouraged by low numbers, dwindling church attendance and shifting societal values. I think of Elijah, in 1 Kings 19, when he despairs to God, feeling like he is all alone. My study Bible has a fairly harsh note on this, pointing out that Elijah has seemingly forgotten what miraculous works of God he has already witnessed.
But it can so often feel this way, and Elijah’s not the only one to have felt alone in his faith.
In 1 Timothy, Paul writes to Timothy and tells him to remain in Ephesus. The rest of the letter leaves us under no illusion that Ephesus is an easy place to be a Christian, let alone trying to plant a church.
It’s not sinful to feel discouraged. We lament the lack of Christians in our society. We pray for fruitful evangelism in a barren field.
I can't help but wonder if something good might come from this. It's no longer easy or normal to be a Christian, and that turns the pressure up for Christians to own their faith. It's becoming much harder to coast your faith. After all, it's now easier not to be a Christian, so why would you pretend? There's of course exception and nuance to this, but I think it's worth acknowledging that we are in a unique time where personal conviction and ownership of faith has become extremely important.
Josiah’s revival in 2 Kings
This is nothing new to God. Perhaps one of the best-known stories of revival in the Bible is that of King Josiah (2 Kings 22-23 and 2 Chronicles 34-35). Josiah became king of Judah (the southern kingdom) when he was only eight years old. His father, Amon, ‘did what was evil in the sight of the Lord,’ worshipped idols, and ‘did not walk in the way of the Lord.’ His servants killed him, and his subjects made Josiah king instead (2 Kings 21:19-26). By this time, the northern kingdom of Israel had been conquered by the Assyrians, and several prophets had revealed that Judah was facing a similar future.
Josiah put his faith in God at sixteen, and at twenty he started a policy of reform to tear down the symbols of idol worship in the country.
He commissioned Hilkiah (the high priest) and Shaphan (the secretary), to repair the temple. In these works, they uncovered a copy of the Book of the Law (from Moses). When they read it to Josiah, he tore his clothes because he realised how far his people had strayed from God’s will. He instructed Hilkiah and Shaphan to “inquire of the Lord for [him], and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found,” (2 Kings 22:13). They went to Huldah, a prophetess, who told them of the coming judgement for Judah, and that the Lord would spare Josiah from experiencing it. Instead of despairing, Josiah was spurred to action. He personally read the Book of the Law to all the people of Jerusalem, made a covenant to God to walk in His way and keep His commandments, and led the people to do the same. He reinstituted the Passover, tore down the high places and idol worship poles and totems, put away mediums and necromancers and household gods, and generally reformed the country in their worship. In fact, the extent of Josiah’s reforms shows us the extent and deep-rootedness of idolatry in Judah at the time.
I find this story (or at least this part of it) very encouraging. The people of Judah had clearly forgotten God. They didn’t even know where the book of the Law was! I don’t think it’s a stretch to find parallels in today’s society. Many people today don’t actually know what the Bible says. Instead they base their understanding of it on how it is presented by peers or in the media. And while the Bible is incredibly accessible today, its authority has been lost. Many regard it as an outdated rule manual which doesn’t really apply to people living in the twenty-first century.
The church’s responsibility
In his book Live No Lies, John Mark Comer describes how the church should strive to be a creative minority, which lives in a way different to normal society, but which influences it for good. We are to be holy, set apart for God and living in a way which is pleasing to Him. But we are not to bubble away from the world. We should still be a part of the community we've been placed in, forging friendships with those around us and showing God's love and Good News to all.
How great is our God!
God can do all things. It's not foolish to pray for revival. Cynicism is unbiblical and does not help to further God's kingdom. We serve an all-powerful God! The future is not set according to our predictions! It is not foolish to pray for revival.
I mentioned earlier the minority status of Protestants in Ireland. There's a very exciting phenomenon happening with Christians moving to Ireland from different countries. Ireland was not a major country to emigrate to prior to the 1990's. My family came here in 2001, and we were the only non-Irish pupils in our (admittedly small) school for a long time. But emigration rates have soared since then, and many churches are being filled with Christians from all around the world. I find this so exciting: God is working! Yes, the culture is shifting but look what He's doing! He's bringing brothers and sisters from around the world and they become His witness in Ireland. The Evangelical proportion of the population has increased by over 10% between 1991-2016. Even when we despair, the Lord is at work.
