CHALLENGES OF CHRISTIAN LIFE
CHALLENGES OF CHRISTIAN LIFE
INTRODUCTION
Stumbling into the details and nuances of Christian life and its challenges
without first explicating the term Christian may elude us necessary panoramic
knowledge of Christianity. Christianity is a way of life modeled in the life
and instructions of Christ. Defining Christianity, the Chambers Dictionary 10th
Edition posits it “as the religion based on the teachings of Christ”.
Christianity is based on consistent practice of virtues and principles set by
Christ as magna charter for all who long for the beatific vision. The apostles
were the first to be called Christians in Antioch (Acts. 11:26). This was as a
result of the type of life they exhibited which consists in communal sharing of
the word of God and material goods, breaking the bread and prayer .This pattern
of life of the apostles hinged on love. With this it is succinct to say that
Christian life is couched in love expressed to God and to neighbor as Christ
thought in the mandatum novum: “This
is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you”(Jn.15:12).
MUST
ONE LIVE A CHRISTIAN LIFE: It is said that the sweetness of booty is in the
eating. The question “Must one live a Christian life?” gains more appealing
answer from the auspices of the founder and master of Christianity in his
response to the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well, “whoever drinks of the water
that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will
become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:13-14).
Having seen the immensity of life in Christ, the woman exclaimed, “Sir, give me
this water that I may not thirst nor come here to draw.” Life in Christ is the
perfect satisfaction of the yearning of the human soul to be with the creator.
Since He who was at our creation came to redeem us, we have no doubt than to
incline to him and mold our lives to his, who is the Way, the Truth and the Life
(John14:6). Life in Christ is the surest and sweetest since in him we lack
nothing. Thus he promised us, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.
He who believes in me, as the scriptures have said, out of his heart shall flow
rivers of living water” (John 7:37-38). In addendum, he assures us life eternal
if we believe in him: “He who believes in me, even if he dies, he shall be
raised on the last day” (John 11:25-26). It was the plenitude of benefits in
this life in Christ that the audience of Peter heard and asked “Brethren, what
shall we do?”(Acts. 2:37). Whoever wants to live must participate in the life
of Christ by being a Christian.
CHALLENGES OF
CHRISTIAN LIFE: Christianity fosters the nucleus of Christ’s gospel which is love
of God, self and neighbor. By this tripartite task of love it poses a lot of challenges
to human person. However, amidst myriad of tribulations Christians face we
shall dwell on the contemporary and perennial challenges such as: secularism, Pentecostalism,
inter and intra-religious crisis, paganism, syncretism, economic, political,
individualism, science and technology. This work shall go further to elucidate
the veracity at which the above factors are considered as challenge to the
practicability of Christianlife. PENTECOSTALISM: This is not to negate or
abrogate the positive impact of Pentecostalism in Christianity but to bridle
the excessive emphasis on one person of the Trinity than others. According to
Hillary C. Achunike:“The term Pentecostalism
refers to certain elements of Christian life associated with the experience
of the power of the holy spirit which
manifested strongly at the feast of Pentecost in the Bible and consequent gift
of Spirit by Christ”(Catholic Charismatic Movement in Igboland 2009:35).
Pentecostalism is seemingly seen as a very waving pragmatic trend of
Christianity. Buttressing this Edward O’Connor spotted that “Pentecostalism is
a very pragmatic Christianity”. The web of Pentecostalism anchors with it the
promise of cross less Christianity.
SECULARISM:
the term secularism has not gained a unanimous definition among scholars. In a
sense it is see it asserts the right to be free from religious rule and teachings, that political issues should be free from
religious bias or input. With this mentality one plunges in for relativism,
individualism and indifferentism to morals and religious matters. Amidst this
challenge within the last two millennia Christianity and the gospel appear to
be losing ground to secularism mainly I the developed ad wealthy countries. On
September 12, 2008, in France Pope Benedict XVI spoke out against the increasing
trend of secularism, he urged an increasingly irreligious Europe to look back
to its intellectual roots in Christian monastic culture, reminding them that
‘what gave Europe’s culture its foundation is Christianity. If secularism
should promise man earthly freedom, prosperity and peace what then are the
fulcrum and benefits of Christianity if not to give “freedom to the captive,
restore sight to the blind” (Lk.4:18). Nevertheless the peace and life Christianity
propagates is that which Christ gives, “I have come that you may have life,
life in abundance”(Jn.10:10). In the light of secularism we can trace the
vestiges of science and technology, politics and economics as part of the
challenges of Christian life.
INTERNAL
AND EXTERNAL RELIGIOUS CRISIS: The hostility between Christians and other religions
has been ancient one. One the arch rivals of Christianity is the Islamic
religion. Following the fundamentalists in these two religions it seems like
their ideologies are incompatible. Each claims superiority though both believe
in on God but with different identity, modes of worship and experience. Islam
knows Allah as one who is jealous and will not compromise the unbelievers.
Authenticating this, Stammer P.J recalls “thus right from its beginning Islam
presented itself as the religion of success, of victory by force of arms. This
label has stuck to it through centuries”(Islam in Sub-Saharan Africa Edictorial
verbo Divino Estella[Navarra]1996:9). Furthermore, the hostility existing among
Christians took prominence than that which exists between Christians and other
religions. The divisions between churches in East and West are even deeper and
that weakens the practice of authentic Christianity.
SYNCRETISM:
Syncretism is a phenomenon that is highly influenced by space and time. It is
the combination of different beliefs with blending practice of various schools
of thought and worldviews. Etymologically the word syncretism is a derivative
of the modern Latin Syncretismus and Greek σύγκρητισμός which means “Cretan
Federation”. The tradition behind the first use of this word in early 17th
century holds that it was used to portray the allied made by the ancient people
of Island Cretes to fight their enemies though amidst their internal fight.
Following the fore-expressed tradition, syncretism in relation to Christianity
is seen as the combination of Christian belief with other beliefs or ideology
to combat the vicissitudes of life. This unfavorable combination distorts and
compromises the integrity of the Christian faith. We must be able to recognize
these as inimical to the cherished faith of the universal church. Syncretism is
the institutionalization, and deliberate going of already existing belief and
its modes of worship and ritual mythology with that of Christian belief. Biblical
faith is gladly combined with traditional beliefs of animism and paganism. Syncretism
is deadly because it searches for mid way to God, prosperity and eternal life,
thus the person picks and choose suitable elements of the faith that serves his
immediate needs and purpose and compliment it with the elements of the
conjoining faith. When this takes place in Christianity the core of Christian
teaching which the total Love of God is negated. This absolute Love of God is
seen in the first commandment in the Decalogue: “you shall have no other gods
before me” (Ex. 20:3).
CULTURE
AND TRADITION: The Christian faith has suffered a lot on different cultures and
tradition of the world. Christians are in constant dilemma on which to follow
the culture and tradition or the Christian faith. This is because each people
tried to fix in her culture in the Christian faith and by that mandate
Christians to dutifully observe al their culture or risk their membership to
the society. Nevertheless the church has tried to incorporate the valuable
cultures in different places mainly Africa to find meaning Christian worship but
this should be clear ad distinct to avoid syncretism. On this Emmanuel C Anagwo
warns: “But we must avoid syncretism in the practice of the Christian faith in
the continent”(Journal of Inculturation Theology, Vol.13. No.2 2014:199)
Emphasing on this Bronislaw Malinowski pointed out that “Granted that scholars
agree that religion are normally influenced by the culture in which they find
themselves, but essentially Christian faith cannot be identified exclusively
with any historical culture. Such identification could be dangerous and inimical
to the faith”(The Dynamics of Culture Change,1976:69).
WAY FORWARD/CONCLUSION
Seeing the existing
challenges and those yet to come Pope Francis exhorted Christians thus “I wish
to encourage the Christian faithful to embark upon a new chapter of
evangelization marked by this joy, while pointing out new paths for the
church’s journey in years to come” (Evangelii Gaudium No.1)this work adhering to
the Papal summon takes the task of not oly elucidating but proferrig pragmatic
solution to the above deliberated challenges. As a remedy to the challenge of syncretism
catechesis should serve as a veritable tool to establish a clear distinction
between Christianity and other religion. Supporting this view, G. Aabaa Op and
J. Nkongolo Cmf. stipulate that “As such proper catechesis in the faith is what
is required to mitigate, to a larger extent if not stop complete, the
corruptive effects of syncretism in the church”(Nacaths Journal of African Theology,
the Church Today Some Issues at Stake 2017:118). Syncretism makes one a partial
member in both beliefs upheld. This is made clear in the statement of Ogolla
Maurice that “there is not even a single person who is a 100% Christian or 100%
African in Kenya” (The Challenges facing Religion in the Contemporary World
“the Kenya situation” 2014:326). As a guideline while appreciating the cultures of people, priests
should be able to demarcate between, with unequivocal clarity, those elements
of local cultures which are compatible with the faith and those that are inimical
to the same quotation. Should a Christian know the worth of Christianity, it
will be futile to long for the frivolities and to listen to the jingles of prosperity
as trumpeted by secularism. More importantly Christians should have a positive
knowledge of Christianity bearing in mind that is a religion of suffering and
glory. Some Christian as more seen in Pentecostalism chose the glorious part of
Christianity forgetting that the founder built it on the cross and not on
roses. It is as a result of this that such challenges like paganism,
secularism, syncretism and Pentecostalism will be appealing to such a person as
a solution to his or her problem. A lot of writers have sought to find a
glimpse of nexus between Christianity and Islam on their notion of love.
Ambrose E. Ukaonu proposed an Islamo-Christian theology of love as an effective
tool for inter-religious dialogue. For him, “An Islamo-Christian theology of
love is a combination of the Christian teaching in Mtt 25:31-46 and the Islamic
teaching in Sura 76:8-9 and hadith cited by al-Hilli”(Journal of Inculturation
Theology 2012, Vol.13 No.2 p.161)Charles Ebere S.
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