Personal Assessment and Worldview Concerning Christianity - Essay Example

Personal Assessment and Worldview Introduction Indeed, the Christian experience acts as something that happens to one’s soul and character when one gets devoted to Jesus. I have a wide experience in Christianity since my childhood. Some years back, my parents used to insist on me and my siblings to attend Christian services in our local church. Without any doubts, a personal experience plays an important role in explaining and supporting the Christian faith since Jesus offered a life-transforming connection with God. Most people believe that Christianity acts as an experience that comes from the heart of human beings by God’s grace. Therefore, this paper seeks to discuss my personal assessment and worldview concerning Christianity: my experience with the Christian faith, life commitment, and service. Social and Political Action Surely, the leaders of the evangelical world have the Scriptural mandate to address issues that relate to social and political action. For decades, most Christian social workers have strived to enhance social prominence so as to gain substantial recognition and publicity. Isaiah and Jesus, as depicted in the Biblical Scriptures, advised their followers to worship God in conjunction with the provision of service to God’s creation. According to their message, worship involves some activities such as breaking bread with the hungry, treating employees fairly, inviting into our homes the helpless, and embracing a life of personal righteousness. Politically, Christians should not distinguish themselves from other people by country or customs. One of the Christian philosophies states that any individual involved in the material history represents another order or master other than God. Hence, Christians have to engage themselves in political issues so as to influence the world, with no intentions of making the world a paradise, but to minimize the opposition of the world against the Kingdom of God. Christians, when appropriately informed and inspired, can change the status of a given political debate. For instance, most Christians have condemned the legalization of abortion by national governments. Poor, Oppressed and At-Risk Populations Moreover, the Bible contains hundreds of Scriptures on social justice and God’s concern for the poor, oppressed, and at-risk individuals. Surprisingly, most American churches have departed from the Biblical teachings on such issues by creating a rationalization identified as prosperity theology. However, spiritual growth does not emanate from what goes down easily: it comes from different and difficult circumstances. As such, poverty and oppression exist in God’s mind. For example, God heard the cries of the Israelites who experienced hard labor and harsh treatment from the Egyptian rulers. In another scenario, a collection of the Biblical attributes state that the poor shall inherit the Kingdom of God, those who experience hunger shall attain satisfaction, and those who whip shall laugh. Christians need to emulate Jesus, who cared for the poor and the oppressed. Jesus taught his disciples the significance of listening to children and how to take care of the widows and orphans. Discrimination, Racism, Prejudice (Both Overt and Covert) According to the Christian faith, there exists one race- the human race. The Jews, Asians, Africans, Indians, Caucasians, and Arabs among other only represent the different ethnicities of the human race. As per the doctrine of creation, all human beings demonstrate similar physical characteristic with mere variations. In the book of Genesis, God created human beings equally and in His image. One of the gospel books outlines that God loved the human race to the extent of sending his only Son to lay down His life for humanity. Most considerably, Christians should not show any polarity or favoritism to other people either in public places or their private lives. In fact, the Bible defines those who discriminate as judges with malicious thoughts. In the Book of James, Jesus instructed his followers to love their neighbors more than they love themselves. In the Old Testament, God categorized the human race into two groups: Jews and Gentiles. God intended the Jews to preach God’s Kingdom to the Gentile nations. Unfortunately, the Jews filled themselves with pride and despised the Gentiles. Thus, through the death of Jesus on the cross, God put an end to the division. Cultural Competence and Diversity Training Amazingly, cultural competence and diversity training operate hand-in-hand to achieve a common objective. Diversity training aims at valuing and acknowledging differences among individuals. Conversely, cultural competence intends to expand the knowledge of different cultures that one serves. Christians need to acquire information about diverse cultures and skills to negotiate an appropriate service plan with an intention of producing the desired results. In the 1950s, several groups composed of African Americans, people with disabilities, and other minor communities formed a civil rights movement that pressurized their country to their unique identities and the historical oppression. Considering the Christian faith, professional service providers and the society at large have a responsibility to gain cultural competence and diversity training for the benefit of all. Social workers can add such measures to the already existing values hence becoming well-equipped to provide culturally competent care. Schools can incorporate diversity training in their curricula. Also, governments can form oversight organizations or institutions that develop standards and ethics needed by social workers to deliver culturally competent services to the increasingly diverse populations. Lifestyles and Values that Are Different from Oneself Honestly, one’s values and lifestyle influence one’s decisions related to faith, relationships, worldview, and career among others. Regardless of the importance of personal decisions, most people tend to adopt the lifestyle and values of their parent, guardians, colleagues, and friends. Most likely, the values that one internalizes as a child remain with the person throughout adulthood. Unfortunately, childhood values may mould a lifestyle that carries an individual down an unexpected direction. To fully comprehend what virtues one possesses and lives by, a person needs to deconstruct them until one clearly sees the meaning of such values. The initial step involves looking openly and honestly at one’s lifestyle and the kind of values acquired while growing up. With the help of psychologists or priests, Christians can identify their most crucial values such as time with family, career decisions, and money. Afterwards, they can rank-order the values according to their relevance and decide which ones to trade off if faced with challenges. Self-Envision after Graduation Honestly, self-envision comes from within and manifests itself in two major ways: a feeling and belief. My belief system focuses on the judgment of my overall worth and evaluation of my habits, abilities and character traits. Besides, I have to maintain a positive attitude so as to have good feelings whenever I exercise my mandate after graduating from the union. During my studies, I learnt that women with good self-envision rarely depend on other people to make them feel good about themselves. A healthy self-esteem will provide me with the confidence of my strengths to and willingness to share them with my colleagues in future. Also, having attained life skills and lessons from the union, I will positively influence the society. As a woman, I will encourage my family and friends to take the appropriate measures to end the physical, verbal, emotional or sexual abuse. The more women delay to take the necessary steps, the more they experience afflictions from abuse. Some women find it hard to repair their self-esteem while in abusive environments (Envision Counseling Centre, 2014). Hence, I will strive to educate women on the need to reports such incidents and the importance of building a healthy self-esteem. Conclusion In conclusion, Christians have a role to play in both social and political matters. Churches need to pay attention to the particular needs of the poor, oppressed and at-risk individuals in the society. Just like Jesus, Christians should emulate the Scriptures by showing no prejudice to any human being. Hence, people should consider themselves as one race: the human race. Besides, social workers need to attain cultural competence and diversity training so as to understand and fulfill the needs of diverse individuals. A person should always conduct personal evaluation so as to determine the best values and lifestyle for one. In my case, I will keep on doing what is good and become a person of benefit in the society. Reference Envision Counseling Centre. (2014). Self-Esteem and Well-Being for Women. Retrieved from http://www.envisioncounsellingcentre.com/resources/self_esteem/self-esteem.html Read More