John Hawley, Archdeacon of Blackburn - calls for moral and spiritual renewal for the UK.

At 11.06pm on Tuesday night the world population stood at 6,600,329,497 people.

That's a whole lot of individuals with needs, hopes and fears.

At the same time there were 2,189,358,659 people who are part of the 21st century Christian family - a third of the world's population.

There are more people who are focussing their lives on following Jesus now than at any other time in human history.

The teaching of Jesus with his emphasis on sacrificial love, and his passion for justice and truth are what our country has been founded upon.

The developments of the Welfare State, our Education system, our freedoms and our democracy come from these roots, and the teaching of Jesus.

So many people from all backgrounds, cultures and races in the world take his teaching seriously, so seriously that some are willing to be martyred because they follow Jesus.

Yet in the UK today the Christian church struggles to get the teaching of Jesus on any agenda.

Why is this? Is it because the institution of the church has been so ineffective over recent times?

Or is it because the UK population is content with its lot of leisure and materialism ?

Or is it because the 'hidden persuaders' - those in the secularist liberal establishment and the media - are winning the propaganda war by their arguments and by sidelining Christian leaders?

If so much good has come in this country from the teaching of Jesus then isn't it time we looked at his teaching again in a positive way?

We hear so much about youth violence, drug wars, criminal gangs and murders.

We are appalled at the way in which some elderly people are abused.

The growth in child abuse, as well as the increase in mental illness and depression describe a nation that needs to rediscover direction and build on stronger foundations.

Perhaps we have forgotten the foundation we had.

Politicians and media pundits never seem to get to the bottom of our national malaise - they seem to need a quick fix - either for the their popularity or for a good story.

Government advisers are often 'bright young things' from Oxbridge who have little experience of life, but are good at giving the PM a soundbite.

In Lent we look more at the challenging teaching of Jesus. The way he taught us to - 'Love our neighbour as we love ourselves'.

He even taught us to 'Love our enemies' - to learn forgiveness and service - to put others before yourself - and to work for the highest good of other people.

Surely, if we adopted his teaching again - when we vote in a democratic system we would vote for the good of the country as a whole and not simply for ourselves.

We would recapture that sense of respect for each individual person no matter what their age or status.

We would learn to trust and love our young people, and they would respond with respect.

We would see the development of sacrificial service, and a desire for excellence.

If this is to ever happen in our country then the Christian Church needs to wake up - and give priority to the teaching of Jesus - and to do it effectively with clarity, enthusiasm, courage and example.

Surely our nation needs renewal in moral and spiritual values - a third of the world's population have their focus on Jesus - so why don't we?