Around Easter last year, I shared an article by Christian podcaster and author Justin Brierley that was published in The Spectator and offered some of my own reflections on it (read here). Recently, a follow-up piece, The Surprising Truth About the West’s Christian Revival, has appeared on my Facebook feed — originally published in The Spectator over Christmas. In it, Brierley highlights new signs of Christian renewal in the West.

He points to several intriguing developments:

• A interesting bounce-back in Church of England attendance last year after decades of decline.
• A significant rise in newly baptised converts into the Catholic Church in France, particularly among young people—remarkable in what has long been a bastion of European secularism.
• An even greater increase in baptisms into the Eastern Orthodox Church in the US, again among young people, particularly young men.
• A notable surge in Bible sales, suggesting a growing interest in Scripture.

Of course, only time will tell whether these shifts signal a lasting trend, let alone the beginnings of a true revival. The impact of YouTube influencers on this renewed interest in Christianity is also uncertain. But Brierley is surely right in identifying a deeper cultural longing—especially among younger people. Many are searching for meaning, a bigger Story to be part of, something beyond their identities, desires and ambitions. There is growing disillusionment with materialism, and an increasing openness—particularly among young men—to faith, and to Christianity particularly.

Brierley acknowledges that part of this resurgence may be fueled by what has been called ‘cultural Christianity’, and a reaction against ‘woke’ identity politics. I shared my own concerns about this in my reflections on the first article — the risk of Christian faith being co-opted by conservative influencers and thinkers. I was therefore glad to see Brierley write that “churches who wish to receive a new wave of meaning-seekers will need to find a way of transcending the usual political fault lines and offering something more substantive than a cultural Christianity co-opted for a conservative revival.” Absolutely right! The way of God’s kingdom is not a neat fit with conservative absolutism any more than it is with liberal relativism.

And yet, I do agree with Brierley—something is happening. Having lived as a Christian and led a church in the UK through the first two decades of the 21st century, I can sense a real shift in the cultural atmosphere. The openness to faith and spirituality that seemed nearly absent in the culture of previous decades is becoming gradually more tangible.

Whatever is driving this renewed interest in Christianity, one thing is clear: we are going to have increasing opportunities to talk about the gospel. Let’s make sure we point people to Jesus—not to a reactionary movement, but to the dynamic, life-changing, love-infusing way of his different kingdom.