"Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won't be tossed and blown away by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth." Ephesians 4:4 (NLT) In some ways, we should not be surprised by the behavior and lack of manners shown by some Christians in the church today. Today, we find in church liars, backbiters, gossips, and other detestable behaviors that wouldn't make God happy. Too many of us forget that the church isn't the building, but the people who worship in there are. We often think that the building is what God cherishes the most, and miss the point of what it is for. Many self-proclaimed followers of Christ do not fully understand what they're to be doing as Christians, and so they get tangled up focusing on everything but God. They become distracted and diverted away from what they've been called to do. The devil is a cunning and crafty being that shouldn't be joked with. When it comes to his attack against believers, the devil doesn't need any over-the-top sin to impede our walk with God. All he needs is to distract us in the form of gossiping, keeping malice, or any other little sin. …show more content…
Take that away, and you probably won't be able to differentiate a worldly Christian from an unbeliever. As a result of the attitude of some of these set of Christians, the church is being ridiculed. When outsiders come into our churches and find some of these attributes, how are we to convert them when all they see in the church are behaviors and attitudes not attributed to God? When we have believers that are "tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching", how are we supposed to defend our faith? I'm certain that this is not what God wants for His
...agreed with, some that frustrated, and some that embarrassed me when my personal preferences defied logic or biblical mandate. I would recommend this reading to any who impact church worship (employee or volunteer). Not as a firm guide, but as thought-provoking advice on how corporate worship can impact an ever-changing culture. I think any worship leader would be impacted by Dawn’s questions:
Imagine that you are of Arab decent you being screened more thoroughly than others at the airport. The only way the airport staff can identify that you are of Arab decent is based on your family name, Najjar. The airport staff constantly takes extra measures to confirm that you are not a terrorist. Stereotypes have existed in American culture for centuries. Early in American history stereotypes of Negroes and Mexicans predominately associate them with lower-class attributes (Campbell, 1967).
This stereotypical point of view from nonbelievers actually has driven many away froth church and the Christian faith. A recent survey from “Relevant Magazine,” asked a group of people who identified as atheists and agnostics who all previously attended some form of a modern day christian church, why they left the church. Over 85 percent of the people surveyed blamed harsh and judgmental Christians as the primary reason they walked away from the Christian faith. The evangelism method employed by the modern church is one that can easily be misconstrued as a person judging them for who they are. Church leaders should take the prospective of the outsider into consideration for their perspective and response is the only measurement of the effectiveness of their body of Christ’s effectiveness in their
I’ve met many people who say they’re Christians but don’t really exhibit the Christian attitude. They don’t try to have a loving or patient attitude or try to spread God’s word to others. There are some who also don’t go to church. Personally, I think some of these trends have reasons. Some of the “non-dedicated” Christians may still be learning how to properly communicate God’s word. Also, attending church is not required. Faith in God is what truly makes one a Christian. There may be some people who don’t have true faith in God, but, as I said before, we should force feed God onto them. If they truly desire God, then God will go to them.
Different texts written by the Puritans show a complicated view. Such as, the Alphabet Poem that showed a more stereotyped side of the Puritans because most people outside of their religion thought of them to be overly harsh and singleminded. Especially with lines like, “The idle Fool, is whipped at school…Job feels the rod, yet blesses God” (Puritans). That was used to teach children about letters and their values. Plus, There were really only three types of writing that were allowed to have. The first being the Bible because it was their supreme authority on Earth, some light poetry and teachings for children, and serious documents like court cases. For instance, the different cases of the Salem Witch Trials, like the Examination of Sarah
Stereotyping is a natural human response, as a way of categorizing the unknown. The Oxford Dictionary defines stereotyping as “A widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing. (Stereotype, n.d.)” By definition of the word, stereotyping is an over simplification of a group of people and it can be an uphill battle to convince people to change their views. Essentially birthed of ignorance, stereotyping can be a way of coping with the unknown or in this case, people whose customs may seem strange or different at first glance.
Christians are stereotyped as outspoken and annoying in a sense that most of their actions are concerned with trying to convert people to their religion. Christians are also known for ruining social events by telling everyone they are going to hell. As much as I’d like to oppose these people and their ideas, these type of people exist and it’s a stereotype that really pushes my buttons, because not all Christian’s are like that.
The Reluctant Fundamentalist is a film that redefines views on stereotypes and is regarded as a controversial film. It begins with the protagonist named Changez, who is constantly regarded as a terrorist following the 9/11 attacks. The movie shows this incident from Changez’s point of view, who is revealed to have some controversial opinions throughout. The movie does warn of stereotypes, but from another perspective, and this can completely blow apart beliefs and redefine the west’s view on the Muslim religion, and at the same time subtly exploring western culture through the characters, settings and more.
In the modern era, stereotypes seem to be the ways people justify and simplify the society. Actually, “[s]tereotypes are one way in which we ‘define’ the world in order to see it” (Heilbroner 373). People often prejudge people or objects with grouping them into the categories or styles they know, and then treat the types with their experiences or just follow what other people usually do, without truly understand what and why. Thus, all that caused miscommunication, argument or losing opportunities to broaden the life experience. Stereotypes are usually formed based on an individual’s appearance, race, and gender that would put labels on people.
One of the many benefits of going to church and becoming a christian is understanding your purpose of being on earth and understanding how to live your life with utmost fulfillment and achieving joy while preserving your morals. While all humans are innately built with a need to achieve pleasure the main difference between those of the world and those in the church are the means and ways of accomplishing this goal. The deviation stems from the difference in the types of pleasure each set out to attain. Many of the world's pleasures conflict with our conscience and morals, and the teachings of the church. It's these conflicting actions which lead to many non-christians being dissatisfied and being unhappy. “Many who don’t belong to a church try desperately to convince themselves that they are happy. They fool everyone but themselves. Or they know they are not happy and try to drown their sorrow in drinking, drugs, sports, work or something else to keep their minds off their unhappiness”(Gritters). This dissatisfied feeling leads to thousands and thousands to suffer from d...