Church Experience - Term Paper Example

Church Experience This may seem like an exaggeration but in entering a church, it was like experiencing all these values at the same time. It is always said that church welcomes all and I was surprised to see that it was true. The church was like a sanctuary where anybody regardless of gender, age and most importantly religion was welcomed. The place was extremely peaceful and serene. The undertone decorations and lighting just made it even more welcoming. I happen to study church practice at two times, one when the church was full of people and one when it was almost empty. At both times, the only difference was the number of people. Other than that, it was the same peaceful and quiet place which welcomed a stranger like me and did not look at me with questioning eyes but more in a ‘you are welcome’. This was really an eye opener for these people could easily judge from my demeanor that I wasn’t one of them but they still treated me like I was. I conducted short interviews with twenty Christians in which I studies about Christianity from the people and asked them if they really practice these values in their daily lives. The response I received was tremendous. The people told me that how they practice these values in their daily lives and also that there is no place in Christianity for those who do not practice these values in their daily lives. They told me as how these values help them to lead a successful life. The examples given by them were eye opening. I will share one of the examples I received from a Christian in an interview. Once that Christian man went to his work just like he used to go daily. He saw people making conspiracies against him. He did nothing against them, rather kept doing his work honestly. His boss called him in the office and asked him about the conspiracies and rumors against him. The man said that it is all lies and there was no truth to them. The people making conspiracies against him liked his act so much that they started respecting him and protected and helped him at his problems. This was just a small example which really motivated me to study more about Christianity. Churches are considered to be an important factor in the practice of Christianity. According to my interviewed audience, church is not just a place where all the Christians gather and practice their religion. It is also a place where people meet, socialize and discuss all their problems with the people around. They try to help each other and find a solution for the problem people are facing. There are societies made inside the church to help people. For example the education society helps the students in their education field, the health society helps them in maintaining a healthy life, and the music society helps the people to make music their career and so on. People liked to change their religion and convert to Christianity because they felt the religion Christianity is a complete religion and there are no flaws in it. The religion is not just about religious practices but also about keeping all the Christians together, united. It is a complete guideline to a successful life. The best part about having to choose a church was that it was so welcoming that it was not particularly hard to gain access to people and their views. Just to be sure that there would be no problem; I did talk to the priest to make sure I was allowed to be there. His response was only welcoming and he didn’t even question my reasons for being there. His response was a mere that he was glad to have me there and that I was totally welcome to be part of the service. Whilst questioning people, I did introduce myself and briefed them about my project so that they knew what are conversation was about and were not at all misguided. The knowledge I gained was more ethic in nature because the behavior I observed in the church was not specific to any location. Upon questioning and interviewing people, I got the impression loud and clear that all church gatherings almost anywhere in the world could be generalized on the lines of what I observed in this church. Whilst researching, I learned that Christianity though is extremely welcoming; they have a rigid code of belief. They attribute a lot of what is happening in this world to the Supremacy of their single God and Jesus. The commitment of priest and sisters to the religion is mind boggling and one has to stop and wonder how people in this age where science and technology has developed and evolved so much, can pin their hopes on a seemingly non-existent and definitely non-visible source. If I were to carry on research on the same culture, I would like to learn what is it that keeps the people believing. How is their faith in supremacy of God so strong despite the, million things going wrong in this world, surely if someone had the power to make things right and actually loved mankind, the world should have been a better place. The commitment of people to religion and its belief is a topic that I would like to research further on. Analysis Christianity is the most well-renowned religion in the world and has well over 2 billion followers. Christians are of the belief that Jesus Christ is the Messiah that was pledged to the people in the Old Testament. The basis of this religion is in the idea that Jesus is the Son of God and that God has sent his son on earth to help and save the humanity from a life of sin and the multiple horrid consequences of a sinned life. One of the most crucial beliefs in Christianity is regarding the Crucifixion of Jesus and that Jesus gave his life on the Cross. Followers of Christianity solemnly believe that Jesus Christ will come back from the dead on the Day of Judgment. Although Christianity claims that there is just one God, the assign three different elements to this singular God. These elements include God himself as the Father, Jesus Christ as the Son and the third element is that of the Holy Spirit. Churches are where Christians gather to worship and the spiritual leaders of Christianity are either called priests or ministers. Their holy book of guidance is the Bible which consists of both the Old as well as the New Testament. Celebrated holidays in Christianity include Christmas and Easter which mark important milestones in the Western secular calendar. These facts are perhaps well known to anyone who has ever heard the Christianity. The reason for choosing them as a community to base anthropological research had nothing to do with those facts but more with the Christianity’s extremely interesting and rich historical past as well as some of their values. Christian socialism is a religious socialism that is based on the teachings and wisdom of Jesus Christ. Several Christian socialists believe that capitalism is idolatrous and has roots in greed. Greed is considers as a mortal sin in Christianity (Hastings, Mason and Pyper). Christianity teaches its followers some core values which, if followed, can lead the followers living a happy and prosperous life. Their first believe is having faith in one God. All Christians worship one God and consider it to be the most important thing in life. Second, which Christianity tells its followers is to respect other people. It is their core concept to give respect to other people irrespective of their age or gender. As it is written in the Bible, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” There is no commandment greater than these." (NIV, Mark 12:31). The word “love” carries respect for others in itself. The third one is to be humble at all times and attribute success to the greater power of God and not be proud and vain because of one’s achievements. Christianity teaches its followers to be humble to everyone and not only to the people have they known. It is similar to giving respect but being humble is a vast term carrying a lot of meaning. It is more like being nice to everyone and not being an arrogant person. This is something that is easier said than done because the problem with arrogance is that at most times, we don’t even know when we are being vain. In Bible, it is stated “modesty or being humble is a quality of showing respect to people. Being humble does not take away the self respect of anyone. Rather, it increases the worth of that person in the eyes of the people. Humility is exactly what is needed to live in peace and harmony with all persons. It dissipates anger and heals old wounds. It allows us to see the dignity and worth of all God's people. Humility distinguishes the wise leader from the arrogant power-seeker” (Proverbs 17:7, Matthew 20:20-28). The next one is to be honest. Honesty has been given a high regard and in Christianity and is said to be a core value in the religion. The first thing is to be honest with yourself and then towards others. When you are honest to yourself, you will be honest with everybody in this world. As it is said in Bible “Deception may be by false statements, half-truths, innuendo, or failing to tell the whole truth”. It is strongly recommended to stay away from cheating, theft and deceiving others. Living a moral life is another concept which is been given by the Christianity to its followers. It is stated in Bible “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body”. (NIV, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20). This world is temporary and no one can live in this world forever. The real world is after death and that is for the reason Christianity teaches its followers to make rational decisions and do things for hereafter rather than to improve life in this temporary world. , The next concept is of being generous with time and money. Do not waste or misuse them, help those in need and share your time and money with those who really deserve them. Give charity, donations, do volunteer work and make other people lives better in some way or the other. That is what Christianity teaches. One of the most important values of all is to practice what you preach rather being a hypocrite. Practice your religion for the sake of religious activity rather than just to show people. That is thought in Christianity. Bible teaches to not to be greedy and have a clean heart. As it is written in Bible, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside is full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.” (NIV, Matthew 23:27-28). To be more specific Bible says “It is not the things we say that really matter; it is the things that we do (Matthew 7:15-20)”. The next is to have no grudges and forgive others. This is one thing which is being taught by Bible to all of its followers. It is just like having a clean heart and not hurting anyone. If someone is doing badly to you, you make him realize that rather doing bad with him again. We can find this in Bible as it is stated “And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well”. (NIV, Matthew 5:38-40). At another place it is stated “You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. (NIV, Matthew 5:43-45)” Jesus has strictly said that there is no place in Christianity for those who do not practice what is being taught to them. In bible we can also find verses which support this as it says “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins”. (NLT, Matthew 6:14-15) Bibliography Hastings, Adrian, Alistair Mason and Hugh S. Pyper. The Oxford Companion to Christian Thought. England: Oxford University Press, 2000. Read More