In the just-released 2023 census results, two key figures stand out in relation to “religion”:
1. For the first time, slightly over half of New Zealanders (51.6%) now identify as having ‘”no religion”.
2. The percentage of New Zealand people who identify themselves in the 2023 census as Christian is 32.3%, down from 36.5% in 2018.

What are we to make of all this?

The reduction in Christian affiliation is consistent with the pattern over many decades, of roughly a 1% reduction every year, and a 5% drop every five years.

While one in every two New Zealanders now professes “no religion”, over one-third are still happy to identify as Christian (and some of those will be very committed Christians).

The ongoing growth in “no religion” reflects the pervasive effect on New Zealand society of the prevailing beliefs of Western culture: things like scepticism, postmodern relativism, and the priority of self, pleasure, and individual choice. The dominant narratives in Western society are no longer Christian. Being actively Christian is becoming more counter-cultural. Whereas Christianity was once the default setting for many people in New Zealand, and many families sent their children to Sunday Schools and church youth groups, that is no longer so, and secularised families raise secular descendants.

Arguably, secular Western cultural ideas have also significantly weakened the Church itself. Some Christians and churches have diminished confidence in the truth of Christian beliefs, in the Bible, and in the necessity of evangelism. The teaching and discipleship of churches has generally not been robust enough to counter secular pressures. Many children raised in Christian families lose their faith, and disengage from church. Also, not enough Christians and churches in New Zealand are active or effective in evangelism. As a result of all that, the Church in New Zealand has too many people drifting out, and not enough coming in. If the Church in New Zealand could be stronger in its confidence in the Gospel, in teaching and discipleship, and evangelism, it would be in considerably better shape.

Globally, Christianity is growing. But not currently in New Zealand. Even in New Zealand, though, God is still at work, and the Gospel remains the power of God for salvation. Many people are still open to God, and the Holy Spirit still delights to move in the hearts of unbelievers and bring them to faith and wholeness in Christ. And God can still breathe upon the Church, and powerfully renew it, and raise up new individuals and movements and generations of vibrant faith.

The early church did not worry about being a minority in a hostile society. They just got on with being authentically Christian: believing, praying, discipling, caring, and evangelising.

This is not a time for Christians in New Zealand to wring their hands in despair. This is a time for humble, honest reflection before God, and for serious prayer. Not prayer that God will make New Zealand thoroughly “Christian” (it never was, and never will be), or that God will improve the census figures, but prayer that we Christians will be more faithful, that God will refresh and revive the Church, and that many more people in New Zealand will find new life in Jesus.

Author: Dr Stuart Lange

Dr Stuart Lange is the National Director of the NZCN and is a Senior Research Fellow at Laidlaw College, where he was formerly Vice Principal. Stuart wrote and presented the historical DVD documentary Te Rongopai: 200 years of the Gospel in New Zealand, 1814-2014.