The Challenges of Being a Follower of Christ Today - Essay Example

?The Challenges of Being a Follower of Christ Today Introduction In the writings by Barron, he d that the Catholic Church’s social teaching are mainly presented in seven key themes that include sanctity of human life and dignity of the person, call to family, community, and participation and the pursuit of the common good, and rights and responsibilities of a person in the social justice context. Other, themes of social teaching are preferential option for the poor and vulnerable, dignity of work, solidarity and the universal destiny if the goods of the earth, and the care for God’s creation1. These themes/ principles presented under the Catholic’s Church social teaching are expected to be applied as guides on how a Christian should lead his or her life. However, considering that, the themes were developed during the Biblical ages they do not take into consideration the current social life in the world and hence it becomes challenging when seeking to apply these social teachings in the current social life context. In light of the Catholic Church’s social teaching, this essay will discuss the challenges of being a true follower of Christ in today’s world. Follower of Christ It is important to establish first the meaning of a Christ follower and in the studies conducted by Barron; he defined a Christ follower as a person who follows the teaching that were issued by Jesus Christ the Son of God2. Challenges of being a follower of Christ today From the definition given above on who is a Christ follower, it can be stated that the first challenge that presents itself stems from the fact that the definition of a follower of Christ was devised during the biblical ages. This presents itself as a challenge since it might not reflect the perception or common knowledge that people presently have on who is a true follower of Christ, more so because of the emergence of numerous types of Churches that subscribe to different beliefs. For example, in the present context it is largely assumed that a true follower of Christ is a person who has given his/ her entire life to Christ i.e. a person who has become saved and actively involved in the discipleship of the Lord. Kreeft faulted assumption since in the Catholic faith they do not offer salvation to their followers but rather, Catholics simply dedicate their life in serving the Lord and this presents a challenge as to who is truly a follower of Christ3. Barron on his part added that in today’s World, Christians have developed different interpretations on Biblical teachings, which were spelt out in the years before Christ and even years after Christ4. These different interpretations present themselves as challenges since it is hard to tell who is a true follower of Christ. For example, one of the teaching/ themes, or principle of the Catholic Church is that the family, which is built on the marriage between a man and a woman, is the first and fundamental unity of any just society and it is a sanctuary for the creation and nurturing of Children. This Catholic’s church teaching has numerous loopholes that have enabled emergence of different interpretation. This is because, presently marriage between same sexes is permissible in certain Christian Churches, and even the Bishop of New Hamphirse, in the United States was elected to the position despite full knowledge of his sexual orientation of which is being gay. The emergence of different interpretations of Christian teachings in order to suit personal or circumstantial desires has brought about a challenge as to what exactly is the right path that a follower of Christ should follow. Subsequently, they provide an opportunity to Christians to pursue unique paths or even actions and then justify it with their own interpretation on what is the right path to follow. The other challenge for being a follower of Christ today is the strong influence by the secular doctrine, trend, or lifestyle, which is not bound by religious teachings. The wide adoption of the secular lifestyle especially amongst Christians has brought about an immense pressure on the life of Christians since failure to abide by the secular doctrines infers that a person is “un-cool” or out of trend. Therefore, the social pressure attributed to secular trends presents a major challenge of being a follower of Christ today since the doctrines of secular world contravene most of the Catholic Church’s social teaching5. Consequently, West lamented that the social pressure stemming from social trends has greatly influenced the church to an extent that churches are forced to adopt some of these trends or loosen some of their rules in order to ensure that they attract the young and trendy Christians. The adoption of some of these secular trends is exhibited in some gospel music, the form of entertainment enjoyed by the purported followers of Christ, and even the dressing styles of Christians while even going to Church6. In the writings by West, he stated that extent of freedom mostly in the Western countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and France, have also brought about a challenge of being a follower of Christ7. This is because subscribing to strict Catholic Church’s social teachings is perceived as a limitation to full rights of freedoms that have been guranteed in the constitution. For example, the right to protect oneself against harm allows the killing of a person who presents a danger to the other person’s life and this contravenes to the Catholic Church’s social teaching that condones the killing of a person on whatever circumstance. Conclusion Being a follower of Christ refers to fully abiding by the Catholic Church’s teachings and in many occasions, this has resulted in the devotions of a person’s entire life to serving the Lord. However, in today’s World it is challenging in being a follower of Christ because of varying and contravening interpretations on what it actual means in being a follower of Christ. Secondly, it is challenging because of the immense social pressure from the widely popular secular doctrines, and thirdly, the extended rights of freedoms pose as a challenge in being a follower of Christ in today’s World. \ Bibliography Barron, Robert. Catholicism-A journey to the heart of the faith. Berkeley, California: Image Publications. 2011 Kreeft, Peter. Catholic Christianity, A Complete Catechism of Catholic Church Beliefs Based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church. San Franciso, California: Ignatius Press. 2001 West, Christopher. The Good News About Sex and Marriage, Answers to Your Honest Questions About Catholic Teaching. Cincinnati, OH: Charis Servant Books. 2004 Print Read More