Religion is a very important part of our world. There are many religious beliefs and organized groups with billions of followers. These groups often have a strong influence on politics.

The numbers can be shocking. I am writing as a Christian, and did you know that there is a church congregation that is the largest in the world.

The Yoido Full Gospel Church in South Korea was founded in 1958 and has continued to grow since then. Apparently, the congregation now numbers 870,000.

That is a shocking number for a single congregation. It has more members than the population of many cities. If you want to know more, read: Yoido Full Gospel Church

That is the membership figure. Now, I am sure there are other issues. Some readers may be thinking, “Yes, but …” Critics may have negative things to say about the Yoido Full Gospel Church. Nevertheless, the numbers tell a story.

Yes, there is more to religion than numbers, and there is no shortage of critics of religious groups. Beliefs and practices, which are part of theology, are also important, but I am not writing an encyclopedia here.

The numbers also show us something else.

There are also some negative trends. Did you know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, based in Salt Lake City, Utah, is struggling with declining membership, at least in North America?

READ: The Mormon Church is in decline

In the history of the United States, there was a major religious revival known as the Second Great Awakening. The region where it began, in western upstate New York, became known as the Burned-over District after the revivals changed the culture of the people who lived there.

This religious movement had a powerful influence on the history of the United States and, by extension, on world history. Mormonism emerged in that region during the 1820s and 1830s, amid the Second Great Awakening. Many members later migrated to Utah in wagon trains.

A few decades later, near that district, another religious movement emerged in Pennsylvania. Beginning around 1880, the Jehovah’s Witnesses movement was founded and later came under the direction of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society. This movement grew in numbers and expanded to many parts of the world. Apparently, like the Latter-day Saints, the group is now experiencing a decline in membership.

Other traditional religious groups that identify as Christian may also be in decline, but their numbers are difficult to count. They do not all belong to the same organization or denomination.

You may be interested to know which is the fastest-growing religion in the world. According to some demographic studies, it is Islam. The Muslim population is now approximately two billion, or about 26 percent of the world’s population. Much of this growth is attributed to natural population increase. Some demographic studies count people as Muslim from birth, based on family or community identity.

If you are wondering, the number of people counted as Christian is about 2.4 billion, but there are complications with this estimate. For many people in traditional families, Christian identity may be based on family history rather than personal conviction. A similar issue applies to people who identify as traditional or cultural Muslims.

Another counting issue involves people who are identified as members of another religion, such as Islam or Hinduism, but who privately worship and follow Jesus. In many parts of the world, converting to Christianity or openly following Jesus can lead to persecution and, in some cases, death. Many people—possibly millions—may therefore keep their personal convictions private.

The world is probably more complicated than we imagine.

As a Christian, I cannot find any place in the Bible that focuses primarily on the number of believers. There are not many statistical counts in the Bible; instead, we are taught about our personal beliefs.

Whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith. (Matthew 21: 22)

To all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. (John 1: 12)

Note that these are personal instructions. We are each directed to believe, rather than simply belong to a large group. In the Bible, the central rule is love. God loves each one of us, and we are each told to follow his example by loving one another.

It is not a numbers game.

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 4: 7 to 10)

There is am important lesson for us in the numbers game.