For years now, people have visited the church to worship, spend time, and confess to Jesus. Many of you may have also witnessed marriages and baptisms. So people visit churches for many reasons. However, you may not be aware that the church plays different roles in their respective societies, encouraging good citizenship.
While a church represents God’s kingdom on earth, it stands by the vulnerable, marginalized, and vulnerable in society. It symbolizes the body of Jesus, and it plays an important role in building communities based on love and mutual acceptance.
So the role of the church extends beyond the walls of its buildings. Let’s try to understand a church’s role more in the details below!
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Table of Contents
Biblical Explanations on the Importance of Church Community
Below are the two important ideas that underline the significance of building a church community:
- Don’t Abandon the idea of meeting together
The Hebrew writers believe that Christians should always strive to meet with fellow Christians. You will find the word “neglect” in some translations, used when a believer fails to meet with another believer.
Just like today’s local church services, early Christians used to visit the homes of other Christians to worship and influence each other. It is believed that when meeting with other Christians, you get to encounter divine examples of beliefs and behaviors that can encourage your spiritual growth.
Many people around you can positively encourage you and stay beside you in your joys and trials. On the other hand, the church community plays an active role in influencing people outside the church.
- Glorify God through actions
You portray Jesus’ church together, no matter if you are outside or inside the church walls. It is said that you can revere God through your behaviors or actions, like worship, when meeting another person. However, a church will be a divine place even when one doesn’t meet inside the church or communicate with fellow Christians. In every way, the churches can help make a marked impact on modern society, by building community.
How does the Church help in Building Community?
Church visitors help build a community within the church buildings, glorifying Christ. It’s said that the church is a body that has many members. Fascinatingly, all those members represent one body, considered as one, just like Christ. Each of these members is a part of Christ’s body, and each one is a gift. You, as a church member, can be deficient in certain things, but together, as the body of the church, you are stronger.
With this belief, everyone encourages and participates in activities that support community building within the church. From ardent believers to new ones, each person can contribute something or other to building this community. The church community gets augmented with diversity and unity within those four walls. Eventually, you can glorify Jesus and help spread divine love to the world.
God has gifted you with some power and ability that can be utilized to serve Jesus and others at any time. You can make it a routine to attend church regularly, pray and read scripture, and get involved in the church’s ministry. You can even take up the role of church leadership to have a direct impact on the church and its community.
What Role Does the Church Play in Modern Society?
Christians believe that by helping or serving others, they spread God’s love and blessing. A church plays a significant role in aiding poor, helpless people and uniting the local community. They help by offering:
- Food banks are places where poor people can visit and collect food parcels.
- Homes for the homeless.
The church buildings also provide a place for non-religious functions that support community building, like charity events, youth groups, adult education classes, concerts, birthday parties, and more.
While we live in a multireligious and multicultural society, it’s important to have community cohesion, and the church plays an essential role in it. The church is considered to act as a good stabilizing force in an increasingly unreligious world, by helping people regardless of their background. Moreover, they are often willing to integrate with other religious groups, maintaining harmony and peace in the community.
The Church can Promote cohesion.
The churches endeavor to do different things to cultivate unity within a multicultural society. For example, they can –
- Enlighten others about the significance of caring for, accepting, and serving people from all cultures, religions, and backgrounds.
- Hold homework or after-school classes for children from varied backgrounds, allowing them to mesh and spend time together.
- Commemorate other religious traditions.
- Hold youth clubs to let young people from different backgrounds hang around at weekends or so.
Challenges that The Church Has to Face Today
Earlier, the church buildings served as a centre of community life. It was open for all people to visit, worship, and turn to for help. There were numerous members of a church who actively participated in various community activities, helping and supporting one another.
Priests were considered to have the divine power of influencing and spreading God’s love throughout their community. People treated them with utter respect.
However, the scenario has changed a lot in recent years. Half of the population has no faith in God, and it has become harder for priests to encourage positive aspects in people’s lives as the power of the Church has decreased.
Conclusion
Having said so, the Churches can help in building community, despite the challenges in modern society. They can work in the provision of care for people by forming charitable organizations that work for people in poverty, in famines, in economic recessions, or so on. They can help the community by offering practical assistance and support to those in need.
