Hi my name is Emily and I'm in Mr Mansfield's English class. I wrote an essay at home, when I was supposed to wait until the next day to write it in class... This is my punishment...
Is living as a Christian in the 21st century easier or harder than ever?
Christianity has been quite a popular and world-renown religion. History suggests that it has been around for centuries and practiced in many countries. Many aspects of life were based upon Christianity and the faith then was strong. However, in the twenty-first century, the religion has been slowly disintegrating in the public aspect of life and isn’t celebrated as much as it was. The media, for example, is full of non-Christian views and activities such as drunkenness and non-marital sex. Christians become peer-pressured into thinking that perhaps their non-Christian friends are making the right decisions or saying ‘normal’ things such as swearing. As a result of this, people have been influenced by these ways and religion has become a not-as-important aspect of life.
The media has become almost the center of households across many countries. However programs such as ‘Two and a Half Men’ and ‘How I Met Your Mother’ do not support or even mention Christianity. The show promotes non-Christian behavior and sadly, is shown everyday on different channels and is available for people of any age to view. Teenagers see this and non-intentionally start practicing this behavior in later life. Having these shows makes it difficult for young Christians who are still developing their faith to reject the ideas promoted in the shows such as being drunk and having sex out of marriage.
Peer-pressure is a very large factor in a teenager’s life. As they grow up, their non-Christian friends may want to experiment with drugs, alcohol and all-round partying. If a Christian is amongst these types of people and they, for example, are out at a party, they may feel pressured into drinking or taking drugs. A one-time thing can turn into a habit. The Christian may like the sensation of the drugs and may want them again and again until they are addicted. The drugs would make them do things that they wouldn’t normally do and if repeated, become a ‘normal’ part of life, the guilt would dissapear. Peer-pressure is a main aspect of why being a Christian is harder in the twenty-first century, the temptation and the urge to be like others.
As a result of this influence among the media and by non-Christian peers, teenagers become careless when it comes to their own faith. Doing non-Christian actions become so fixed in their minds that they do not think whether actions they may be taking are right or wrong in a Christian perspective. Their parents aren’t there to put them on the right track because they themselves may be displaying the wrong behavior. Children who are growing up in the twenty-first century have less faith than those in previous years because of this all-round bad influence and misguiding help, thus, making it more difficult for someone to be a Christian in this twenty-first century.
Living as a Christian in the twenty-first century is much harder than those in previous years. Not having religious relatives, friends, practices and the media is the reason for this difficulty. Young Christians are brought up in a world full of sinful acts and wrong-doings and they are sadly influenced to do the same, therefore making it far more of a struggle than ever before.
13 years ago
