I have been really struck and challenged since the New Year by these verses from James:

 ²⁵But whoever catches a glimpse of the revealed counsel of God—the free life!—even out of the corner of his eye, and sticks with it, is no distracted scatterbrain but a man or woman of action. That person will find delight and affirmation in the action.

 ^26-27Anyone who sets himself up as “religious” by talking a good game is self-deceived. This kind of religion is hot air and only hot air. Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world.

James 1 (The Message)

The other day I was in a school and I was really taken aback by a response to something I had suggested, that this resource was ‘really religious’. At first I tried to defend my suggestion but I quickly sensed retreat was the best option! It got me thinking though: people out there don’t want religion. And yet at the same time so many are searching for some form, any form it seems, of spirituality.

A friend sent me something truly amazing recently! It was a photocopy from the newsletter of the Eastbourne Prayer Centre and it was reporting on a survey that has recently been carried out on young people worldwide:

The majority of teenagers and young adults in most parts of the world are religious, according to a massive 21-country study conducted by the German think-tank Bertelsmann Stiftung (BS). More than four out of five young adults (85 percent) are religious, and almost half (44 percent) are deeply religious. Only 13 percent say they are not interested in God or faith in general. “The perception that young people are less religious than their parents and grandparents is typically Western European and does not correspond to the reality worldwide,” organizers of the study commented. Dr. Martin Rieger, project leader of BS’s Religion Monitor concluded: “The assumption that religious belief is dwindling continuously from generation to generation is clearly refuted by our worldwide surveys – even in many industrialized nations.”

Isn’t it amazing, less than 10% of young people in our nation still go to church but so many still demonstrate an inbuilt awareness of God and a desire to pray!! It may not be as high as 85% but certainly our experience has always been that there is a hunger amongst many, many young people. Given the opportunity and encouragement to explore spirituality, we would say that more than half would respond positively and often it’s the neediest who are quickest to respond.

And isn’t it also interesting that as our society moves away from God, and consequently, tragically from blessing towards cursing our youth, many still desire to know more about God.  But is it surprising? I would say no. As even young children are deprived of love, affection and security, they instinctively reach out further to find those necessities. It’s the way they’ve been created; it’s the way we’re all ‘wired’.

Praise God that He is always there, making Himself available and providing what we need the most. May we all ‘pass muster’ before God, as we ‘reach out to the homeless and the loveless in their plight’. And may we be very clear about what we have to offer. Not what many would assume – dusty old religion, a set of impossible to keep rules and regulations and boredom! – but what Jesus actually came to give us: a brand new life, life in all its fullness and all the fulfillment that anyone could handle!