Churches have no importance in my society

[LayHong_Loves_Christ]

In the place I live, Churches have no importance at all, no influence to the society, they are like dead societies, have no connection with the people in the society.

 

[Ezana]

Pretty much the same way here in Canada.

 

[Rescued One]

But God will defeat the wickedness and apathy in the end.

 

[dlamberth]

In the place I live, Churches have no importance at all, no influence to the society, they are like dead societies, have no connection with the people in the society.

What would a church that had influence on society look like, in your opinion.

 

[Zoness]

Churches have tremendous influence here, but its kind of waning very very slowly.

 

[Xarto]

That's interesting, I know that Malaysia is a majority Muslim country and I thought faith would be stronger among a small community.

Here in Ireland we have been destroyed by abuse scandals etc and the church is very quiet and I think still in shock. Some parishes are very active but mine is half dead.

 

[Larniavc]

In the place I live, Churches have no importance at all, no influence to the society, they are like dead societies, have no connection with the people in the society.

That was the case where I used to live (South West UK). People who talked about religion were given a very wide berth.

Then I moved to Liverpool (North West of UK) and people are far more religious.

 

[LayHong_Loves_Christ]

Churches are for old folks, who fear death, young people do not feel the need to go to church.

 

[LayHong_Loves_Christ]

And most protestant churches do not serve the community any good, no people going around to spread the Gospels. Basically churches are dead.

 

[LayHong_Loves_Christ]

Something weird is most protestant churches did not contact other protestant churches,
near to my house, got 2 Methodist churches , they never contact each other, like strangers.
Actually protestant churches are mostly behaving like cult now, no definite stream of theology,
not sure what they teach?
I really don't know what these churches doing, other than collecting money?

one more thing, churches seldom help the poor, even their own members,
they teach that doing charity is not the role of church.
but, they don't even to go house by house to spread Gospels, I am not sure what is the purpose
for the existence of this type of churches?

 

[Larniavc]

Something weird is most protestant churches did not contact other protestant churches,

It’s not that weird. Why support the competition?

 

[awitch]

It’s not that weird. Why support the competition?

What are they competing for:
The number of souls saved, or the number of dollar bills in the collection plate?

 

[revybub]

In the place I live, Churches have no importance at all, no influence to the society, they are like dead societies, have no connection with the people in the society.

The church is pretty large in the area I am. That said. It's voice isn't as impactful as it use to be. Though if it makes a mistake. That certainly gets known quick. Or well what is though of as a mistake anyway.

 

[Larniavc]

What are they competing for:
The number of souls saved, or the number of dollar bills in the collection plate?

My guess would be the collection but the job of the verger and the vicar (and his house) would hang off it as well.

 

[LayHong_Loves_Christ]

If a church competes against other church, this just show that Christianity's God is fake,
because the bible says all believers are given the same Spirit of God.

 

[ViaCrucis]

In the place I live, Churches have no importance at all, no influence to the society, they are like dead societies, have no connection with the people in the society.

What sort of importance or influence do you think churches should have socially? Do you mean that no churches provide charity work, or work with the hungry or poor? If that's the case, that's certainly not good.

Or do you mean some kind of political influence? Because I'd argue that as Christians we shouldn't want our churches to be in that kind of position. Historically the mingling of political power and the Christian Church has generally been a bad thing; the powers that be exploiting the faith and the Faithful in the use of violence, something the Church should have absolutely no role in. The Inquisition, the Crusades, Pogroms, all very bad things that have happened through the exploitation of religion for power and profit.

The Church has a purpose in this world, and it's not to rule it, but to serve it through acts of service and proclamation of the Holy Gospel, living out its mission peaceably, lovingly, respectfully, and graciously.

Now, can individual Christians act as good stewards of their neighbors? I think so, but it must be done vocationally. For example, in my vocation as citizen I participate in the democratic process of my country, and that affords me to give my voice in regard to social systems that exist, and can therefore offer my voice in affecting change in the direction of civil justice in regard to the poor, the hungry, maligned and disenfranchised minority groups, and the least of these. That is part of living out my vocation as a citizen. That is how I live as a Christian, in the world, in relation to my neighbors.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[ViaCrucis]

It’s not that weird. Why support the competition?

I can't speak for how things are everywhere, but in many communities churches of different traditions and denominations cooperating is pretty common. In my hometown the pastors and priests of the different churches would often meet together at least every couple months to talk about the various needs of the community and how to meet those needs. There were churches that actively opposed and refused to engage in any kind of cooperation, but those tended to be the sorts of churches I would tell people to not approach with a ten mile pole anyway.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[ViaCrucis]

What are they competing for:
The number of souls saved, or the number of dollar bills in the collection plate?

In my above post I mention there were some churches that refused to cooperate with other churches in my home town, I know specifically one of those churches--it's the church I grew up in and which my family was kicked out of. At our new church, I remember speaking with the youth pastor and he made the comment that it's one of the few churches that refused to engage in any kind of parachurch work. And my suspicion as to why has probably everything to do with the smug superiority complex of the ones pulling the strings in that church. It was the largest church in the area, with a lot of wealthy people, and a lot of prominent people as sitting church elders who held all the cards--and my gut instinct is that they probably just saw cooperating with other churches as beneath them.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[Albion]

In the place I live, Churches have no importance at all, no influence to the society, they are like dead societies, have no connection with the people in the society.

So no administering of the sacraments to the believers, huh?