Faith and the Church, Essay Example

Faith and the Church’s response to social issues

Since time in memorial, churches have been known to behave differently towards different issues. One of these is social issues. A few churches have been seen to attend to the social needs of their congregants, while others have completely excluded their social mission because they are too preoccupied with their evangelistic operation while others have indulged into politics. This is so because churches have different ways of viewing God. Some see God as a being that saves those He chooses and the church ends up concentrating less in politics, while those that believe in thecovenant or God’s law emphasize on politics and culture. Faith, is therefore held as a determinant in an individual’s personal view of oneself and the church involved in social issues. The first two commandments of Jesus Christ are honoured because they talk about loving God with our all and loving our neighbours. The first is seen as a foundation of the second commandment because a person who has managed to love God with all they are cannot have problems with loving others. Most people are reported to prefer obeying the second commandment, rather than starting with the first and this is the answer given to why the church should be involved in social and political issues. People have for a long time worshipped idols without knowing. This happens when one adores something and spends so much time with it, that they forget God and that is why the church is advised to focus on social issues so that they can bring more people to God.

Eclipse of Love for God

The first commandment given by God is to love Him. Rarely do people use it with the magnitude it was intended because they focus so much on loving their neighbours, rather than loving God first. Others do things in the name of loving God. These things include helping the poor, obeying all the other commandments or even caring of their deepest selves. The other group believes that God does not want their love and therefore, focuses on obeying the second commandment which commands on loving others. The love of God is proved to be very critical because human beings have a natural desire for God and they need to keep growing in love with Him. Differences has been made between being in a personal relationship with God, and seeking the truth since some people believe God is truth and therefore seek truth in the name of seeking God. Those who seek God involve in activities that are meant to develop their relationship with God like praying, listening to God’s personal word, relying on Jesus Christ and participating in retreats. On the other hand, people who do not love God do not do these things. For people to love God, they are required to understand His love for us. Loving God makes people want to cooperate with Him and make them grow into higher levels of purity that make them righteous in their doings.

Market as God

The market has been worshipped by many since everyone is concerned about their finances, and give more time to looking for a living rather that spending time with God. Everything that was created by God has a price in today’s world; (including manmade and even natural features) getting them will definitely need one to part with some amount. People say that since everything is on sale under the rule of the market, nothing is sacred but is opposed because in principle, there is no reason why the national monument or the statue of liberty should not be listed. The market is said to be omniscience because it knows the deepest secrets and darkest desires of people’s hearts and by probing theirinnermost fears and desires and then dispensing across-the-board solutions, it can further extend its reach. It is omnipresent because it is not only around us but inside us and it informs people’s senses and their feelings. It haunts people wherever they go and, however much they try, the market is inevitable.

Church and politics

Today’s world is full of interactions, religion and politics. It could sometimes be politics or law affecting religion or vice versa. The cases involving religion and politics range from Christians and Muslims fighting for political power to abortion legalization. No religion worth its salt lacks a public dimension because great religions are described ascomprehensive visions of life. They develop themes that are relevant for all spheres of life. They believe in God’suniversal law punishes those who go against it. The church has succeeded in influencing the character of people through the preaching, praise, worship and the discipline. Politics should, therefore be connected to the church so that people’s conscience can build their ethics of character.

Foundations

It is clear that churches have a public life and Christians are compelled to respond to the concerns of this world. Here, the main topic is the main source of general wisdom that gives direction to Christians addressing these issues. Christians closely consider aspects like the scripture, reason, traditional and experience while making their decisions. The bible is written in an authoritative way is a central source or moral and theological insight for Christians. It gives both the measures that should be taken in dealing with a certain kind of moral issue and relates it to the authority ascribed to the testimony. The bible is, therefore not any other moral handbook written in order to provide answers for moral dilemmas but a life manual written by a different author who was inspired by God over hundreds of years in different moral and religious contexts. It can be interpreted differently by its readers because it is based on reasoning of the human guided by their conscience and the Holy Spirit.
Having looked at all these issues, it would not be wrong to conclude by stating that Christianity has lost its original mission. This is evident by the results got when a comparison is made between the life lived by the Christians in the Old Testament and the life people live today. Their practices are completely different because in the past, Christians were out to worship and praise God. Most of them sought God diligently giving Him all they had, but a few were not as sincere. Today, it is vice versa because we have very few people who truly give God their all. Many use the church as a platform for politics, earning a living and hypocrisy. It is therefore important that Christians go back to the bible andstraighten their ways according to how God intended.