Like all social entities, Christianity is faced with different issues that relate to the changing world. Churches have grown over the years with some maintaining their orthodox practices while some embracing charismatic practices. Presently, all churches grapple with different contemporary issues in the society, with many taking positions on issues while many, and possibly the church as a whole trying to find its role in certain matters affecting the society. Notable, the church grapples with its role in issues like its involvement/ position in war and conflict, morality and sexuality, and its contribution to the education system.
According to the Wesleyan University Christian studies article, historically, many schools were under churches before they were reverted to control by the state, following development in governance (Wesleyan, 2016). For this reason, the church grapples with its role in education on whether religious teaching still has a place in the education system; especially in those schools that are still under the control/sponsorship of the church. According to Christian Ministry, the youth is an appropriate age group to influence (Christian Ministry, 2014) hence the need to engage in Christian education in schools.
Another contemporary issue is on the influence in the morality of the society especially in the matter of sexuality. Morality is often treated as a question of principle and one’s judgment. However, Christianity has a definition of morality based on biblical principles. These principles have created conflict on issues like gay rights, abortion, fornication, and adultery among other morality issues (Geisler, 2010). Christianity is faced with the debate on whether some lawful practices are moral and how they should engage or influence people to adopt their moral standards without interfering or questioning their constitutional rights.
The present conflicts world over have also affected Christians in different ways. Many of those wars are propagated against Christians. Historically, some wars were considered just by Christians (Weslayan.edu, 2016). However, Christians are faced with how to defend themselves against extremists and what role to play in the conflicts.
References
Christian Ministry (2014). Christian Issues. CARM - The Christian Apologetics & Research Ministry. Retrieved 11 March 2016, from https://carm.org/christian-issues
Geisler, N. L. (2010). Christian Ethics: Contemporary issues and options. Baker Academic.
Weslayan.edu (2016). Christianity and Contemporary Social Debates, Christianity Studies
Wesleyan University.Wesleyan.edu. Retrieved 11 March 2016, from http://www.wesleyan.edu/christianitystudies/pathways/debates.html
