role of church in society essay

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What Is The Role Of The Church In Society?

I will begin by answering this question in the simplest form. The charge given to us by Jesus in Matthew 28:19-20 is clear: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you..” Mark 16:15 expands on this command: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Luke 24:46-47 summarizes it: “Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”

Now, the command is clear as to the mission of the Church. However, are we, as individual members of the Church, carrying out this command in the society in which we live? Are we representing as the Body of Christ (the Church), the example of what it means to be part of this Body? Finally, how is the influence of the Church affecting the society in which we live?

We may differ in the answers to the above questions based upon our own individual experiences. However, it is more than clear that we are living in a time of great peril with a demoralizing affect and the progressive destruction of our communities. This greatly in part caused by the breaking down of family values. You see, everyone is called to be an evangelist to their own families first. As the Church, we are attempting to reach the world, while we loose our own families in the process. Thus we are expecting others to be the message carriers for our own, while we launch out and do the same for others in the Church. Our greatest harvest is to be found within our own families. It is our greatest challenge because our families know us. It is much easier to impact the life of a stranger who can only see what we portray to them in the exterior. However, our families are aware of the intimate details of our lives. They know the failures and struggles that we have, or are experiencing. However, this also creates the greatest opportunity to impact the life of a loved one. If we live a truly born again life, dedicated to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the change would be evident and real. This change can be the appealing factor in drawing our family members to a place of hope, and fulfilling the command of preaching repentance and remission of sins.

So, what is the role of the church in society? For each member of the church to live a life worthy of the call in order to reach their own first, and in turn impact the world around them. Only then can our families be saved, our communities put back together, our nations healed, and our world impacted by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Society begins in the homes of each individual member of the Church. It is interesting that Luke’s summary of the great commission call to preach the gospel to all nations, however, it also commands to begin in Jerusalem first. In other words, the commission begins at home.

Keep in mind that society is a reflection of the homes they proceeded from. Society today has suffered the affects caused by the destruction of family values and moral teachings. It has spread like a disease throughout our communities, influencing and determining the world viewpoints of many, including the future leaders and legislators of our society, the children.

So, let us not just open the doors of our church buildings every Sunday morning, but let us daily open the doors of our hearts to those around us so that they may see the change in us brought about by the love of Jesus Christ being abundant in our lives. This is the role of Church in our society.

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Published by Dr Sam Galloza

Founder of NTSLibrary.com, a world leading online Christian theological library. President and Senior Advisor at Northwestern Seminary. View all posts by Dr Sam Galloza

11 thoughts on “ What Is The Role Of The Church In Society? ”

Dr. Galloza. I am in total agreement that we must start in Jerusalem and no other place. Our families look at our life styles, what we say, what we eat, what we allow our eyes to see, and where we go. Interesting, that family member knows the word and has had past experience with Christ — something in the family pulled them away. And I do believe that many want desperately to repent and turn back to intimacy with Christ. And then they they look at us! Lord, fix me that I am worthy to be called your servant to expand your kingdom.

I was enrolled in your program but I didn’t have the impetus to move forward.

I sincerely appriciate the great work that you are doing to educate millions of christians around the world about the truth of the word of God online. Thank you very much and stay blessed!!!

So wonderful to see you here and that you take the time to share with others. Keep up the good work! 🙂

Actually its good for such an action of evangelizing the word world wide,,thank you so much and may the Lord adds you much knowledge to proceed with such spirit!

I do appreciate the good work that you people are do to educate many people in the world,you know through this millions of people get saved may God be with you all give you strength & good health that you continue spreadng the gospel.

It is so inspiring to witness God’s people preaching and sharing truth unapologetically – without any fear or compromise. Remain blessed all.

may the Almighty God do you good breathrens for making many people to understand the good news of salvation,,

Thank you for this information ….I appreciate this sooo muchhh!!

So the church’s role in society is to convert more people and help fight the norms in society to better match your ancient set of beliefs? Nothing mentioned about helping the poor or the sick or the homeless.

The role of the church in society is to help in every form all that are in need! However, helping or ‘mentioning how we help’, is never to be imposed as much as it must come out of of us individually in order for it to be genuine and not just a motion in the process of increasing our so called position, and better realizing who we are through grace and not by that which we could earn! It is better to seek meekness than seek credit! Help the poor and homeless as you see and feel the need to do so! But do so without seeking recognition! This is true Christianity as a whole!

Thank you so much for your perspective that is right on point. So often we are busy doing God’s work that we neglect our families, our first harvest. Our lives are a testimony of what God can do when we surrender totally to His word! We need to hear more of this preached from the pulpit!| May God continue to bless and inspire you with wisdom to share with the body of Christ. 2 Chronicle 7:14, “if my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from Heaven , and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

Be Blessed!

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Church as a Social Institution Essay

Introduction to church, positive impact of church, negative effect of church institution, use of symbols in the church.

The early Christian era was major characterized by various vessels of which every vessel constituted of wholly or incompletely churches which the face of many was characterized by various setbacks of the ecclesiastical plate to the mainland at the moment of social and religious woes (Old Church Plate, 1907). The Church as a social institution plays a major role in helping the members of the society to overcome several problems e.g. conflict resolution and bonding the family members together.

The social correlation that has greatly emerged among aged people in modern society has been greatly contributed by the church which has created a strong belief that the single believers who have developed the attitude of going to church have actually had a greater paradigm shift. Social groups such as the sick have recently had improvements to their health situation and therefore proved that the church has had greater concern towards change in their life. However, having a Minister based social relationship is of greater importance as compared to other social group associations (Krause N).

Church as an institution has hindered individual goals an individual abandons his goals and responsibility on behalf of the church. Above all, our children’s future has been greatly affected by the church in that they tend to forget the social norms and follow the church. Church has also stood as a prophetic critic with a lot of effects of guilty feelings which is stressing towards negative criticism. There are several schools of thought of which using critical Autobiography to explain sociology is based on institution. Sociology of education highlights school as a community that you grew up in and gained your experiences from. Thoughts can also indicate the detained knowledge which a person has especially after applying your sociological imagination. There are several conflict theory including class and social conflict which major involve substantive analysis.

The symbols which are used in the church serve the purpose of showing to men Gods’ presence and unite men with the divine nature of God. Some of the symbols which are used in the church are the cross, vestments used celebrations, there are different colors used in the church with various meanings, the use of candlelight which is for showings us the way to Christ, and also the use of natural light (Orthodox Church in America, 2008). There is also the use of incense, wine, bread, water, and oil to show God’s mercy and love.

The functionality of church

The latent functions of the church are to help people be friendlier towards one another. When people go to church, the summons has the effect of making them kinder to others. The manifest functions on the other hand are to help people read the bible and become more knowledgeable of God’s word, help people rejoice as they sing, help people be more helpful to the society as it mobilizes the flock to participate in community charitable activities. The dysfunctional functions of the church are that it has contributed to the major divisions between different church denominations and even religions as they tend to give a negative perspective of those denominations and religions.

The conflicts that exist in the church are due to the negativity that comes out when the priests are carrying out their duties. In as much as the church is supposed to be a place of solace for the flock, there are numerous instances when the congregations are exposed to spiritual abuses by the preachers. This tends to have a negative impact on them. The church is supposed to unify people, but most of the time it has been more divisive to many people.

Personally, the church has had a great positive influence on my life. This has been due to the early teachings since childhood. It has been a great character builder for me as through the teachings I have developed my life’s virtues which have been most supportive to me.

Biomedicine. (2008). Web.

J.M. Dawson Institute of Church State Studies.

Orthodox church in America. (2008) Christian Symbols.

Old church Plate. (2002). Web.

• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2023, November 2). Church as a Social Institution. https://ivypanda.com/essays/church-as-a-social-institution/

"Church as a Social Institution." IvyPanda , 2 Nov. 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/church-as-a-social-institution/.

IvyPanda . (2023) 'Church as a Social Institution'. 2 November.

IvyPanda . 2023. "Church as a Social Institution." November 2, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/church-as-a-social-institution/.

1. IvyPanda . "Church as a Social Institution." November 2, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/church-as-a-social-institution/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Church as a Social Institution." November 2, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/church-as-a-social-institution/.

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