The church has, over the years, been a vital part and parcel of the society. Composed of members of the society, the existence of the church has been regarded as a symbol of unification. In addition to offering spiritual nourishment and guidance upon members of the church, it has an unwritten role of bringing positive change within the society. Here are some of the ways in which the modern-day church can and should live up to the expectation of societal transformation.
Standing Up to Social Needs
Besides catering for the spiritual needs of persons with the community, the church is also mandated with the responsibility of catering for society’s social, economic, and material needs. This duty is well integrated within the bible as the early apostles’ church is committed to giving for courses related to philanthropy. Acts of charity go a long way towards meeting certain unmet needs of the poor persons in the society, thereby transforming their social-economic lifestyle.
Role Modeling the Society
As far as the transformation of the society is concerned, nothing beats the concept of acting as a role model. The church, to bring positive change, is called to conduct itself as a role model to the rest of the society and the nation at large. Such transformation is highly essential, especially for areas of societal importance that desperately need guidance. Areas such as the need for persons in the society to love each other and live up to a moral standard are best exemplified within the church. A church whose membership embraces the concept of morals would most likely have the society transformed similarly.
An Agent of Social Cohesion
The church should also stand up to the challenge of socially integrating the society while eliminating any persisting differences. Achieving social integration is a religious function that can be well realized by the use of modern social integration tools such as church community builder which mends relationships while connecting persons within the community as well as those outside it. In fulfilling this mandate, the church would also be building rapport for evangelism while also mending cracks that otherwise spell division in the society.
Instilling and Standing Up to Values
The church can also act as a means of transformation of the society by teaching values of essence in the world today such as social tolerance, justice, and standing up for the truth. In a world where these elements are rare to find, it is the responsibility of the church to instill them back into the society by calling upon all leaders and citizens to live up to them. Making such a transformation can be hard to achieve in the modern-day society, but the church is called to make the first bold step towards such change by preaching, teaching, and standing up to those values.
Being the Face of Service
The last means that the church can use in fulfilling it societal-changing mandate involves undertaking functions that show service to the rest of the community. Service, in this regard, comes in many forms including the commitment to social work such as cleaning up of the environment.