Displaying items by tag: nominal Christians

A third of the world call themselves ‘Christians’, but many are missing from our churches; others are present, but don’t have the joy of knowing and following Christ. Something has to change! Mission to nominal Christians is missing from the global church agenda. We need to confess and pray: ‘Father, we confess that we have overlooked nominal Christians in society and in our churches. We confess faltering witness, defective discipleship, and lack of concern for those who bear the name of Christ but through ignorance, sin, or rejection are far from the way of Christ and his church. We are quick to judge and slow to listen - especially when they come from a different church tradition. We ask you, Father, to touch the lives of nominal Christians with your powerful Holy Spirit so that they will come to a saving faith in Christ.’

How do you persuade someone who already thinks they’re a Christian to become one? The largest mission field in Western Europe is not self-identifying atheists or Muslim immigrants; it is people who call themselves Christians but exhibit few, if any, signs of faith. A Pew Research Centre report stated that people who identify with Christianity, but rarely or never attend church services, make up the biggest segment of the region’s population. 46% of Western Europeans are non-practising Christians, 18% are regular church attendees, 24% are religiously unaffiliated, and 5% follow other faiths.