Christianity at the governmental level
Welcome back to my blog! We
are exploring together what the Bible says about personal wellbeing. In other
words, how can the Bible assist you in living a more contented, purposeful
life?
blog with the thought that personal service benefits not just the individual
serving, but the community as well; and this assistance promotes a courteous
culture which allows all to pursue their best!
society remains a controversial topic. I propose that Christianity profits
society on two broad levels; first, at the governmental level, and second, in
the local and national societal levels. This week we will examine the
influence of biblical Christianity at the governmental level.
‘biblical Christianity,’ as opposed to the organized hierarchical Church,
because the two have different goals and are based on a different set of
beliefs. The former establishes its basis for decision making in the
Bible and seeks to follow its precepts while the latter is grounded in certain
man made distortions of the Bible.
church seeks to follow humanistic principles. Certainly it has performed many
important functions historically, including especially in the Middle Ages such
as:
documents for future generations
and society in many localities
healthcare
for both men and women
church has departured from biblical Christianity from the late Middle Ages
onward. It promoted unhealthy societal trends such as war, oppression,
corruption and totalitarianism based in political opportunism, wealth and
power. Its forceful influence was from a top-down perspective.
based Christianity promotes an organized society, based in the individual,
where each person is encouraged to work and provide for their family (II
Thessalonians 3:10-12), and to obey the government and pays their taxes (Romans
13:1-7). Further, each one of us should desire to maintain a good
reputation in their work, be non-violent, raise responsible children (I Timothy
3:1-7), be honest (Ephesians 5:9) and do good to all men (Galatians 6:10). We
will discuss these characteristics next week but suffice it to say in this blog
these characteristics, on an individual level, should promote a societal
atmosphere which allows for good and honest government.
good academic, prospective, well-controlled study proves or disproves these
points, the best evidence of my thesis is an analysis of world history and
current society. It is those countries which historically have adhered most
closely to biblical Christianity (Northern Europe, the UK and the countries
derived from its original colonies) that generally are the most successful
economically, enjoy functional non-corrupt government, live in free, organized
and efficient societies, promote science and innovation, and fight for justice
for those who cannot defend themselves or who are impoverished both inside and
outside their own country.
benefits from a society based in biblical Christianity because it promotes
honest, hardworking individuals who minimize the need for government action to
maintain order as well as provide a population with individuals of strong
character to serve in the armed forces and administration.
wellbeing not only for the individual, but also encourages healthy government
and government societal interactions as well!
today. Come again next week as we discuss the Bible’s benefit to local and
national societies. I welcome your comments and questions.
discussion that is encouraging, propels the further search of Scripture and
raises interesting and thought provoking Biblically related questions. You may
feel free to disagree with me in a constructive manner using appropriate
language.
are profane, pornographic, libelous or I do not consider them constructive or
consistent with the policy stated above. By posting you no longer own your
comments and you are granting me an unrestricted worldwide license to use your
comments.
Pastor’s opinions on church activities that might contribute to well-being
Welcome back! I am glad you are here. This is a third in a series
of blogs discussing surveys performed by Teleios of pastors who graduated from
conservative seminaries (Masters, Denver and Westminster). The first two surveys
covered pastors’ adherence to biblical teaching and the influence of societal
pressure on their beliefs posted on Apr 8, 2015 and May 13, 2015, respectively.
Today is the third topic regarding what aspects of church life influence the wellbeing
of attendees?
frequently studied in recent years as a general indicator of an individual’s
mental and physical health.1-5 Although variously defined, wellbeing
might be considered as is a person’s emotional and cognitive evaluations of
their lives, including happiness, peace, fulfillment and life satisfaction.6
A number of factors may contribute to wellbeing including mental, physical and
financial prosperity, socialization, marriage and a positive relationship with
God.1,2,7-13
attendance also has been demonstrated to be associated with improved wellbeing
not only as a general parameter, but also with increasing frequency of attendance.1,2
Potential causes of this finding are not specifically known. Therefore, we
surveyed pastors to learn what they perceive as contributes to wellbeing in
their church. Teleios sent the survey to 976 pastors of whom 105 (11%)
responded.
study found that overwhelmingly pastors believed the experiences of their
congregation as positive to very positive, in all typical areas of church life.
(Please see table for partial results). Those activities that showed the
greatest ‘very positive’ responses were generally spiritual in nature
including: praise, prayer, sermons, hearing the gospel and baptisms. Those that
demonstrated the lowest ‘very positive’ answers were liturgical readings,
amount of time spent at church, social structure within the church, Sunday
school and children’s programs. Consequently, items not specifically discussed
in Scripture, and potentially more rigid in design, potentially might aide wellbeing
less although necessary they may be necessary at some level.
would church attendance help wellbeing? We do not know precisely, but potential
causes could be from subordination of self-interests to those of a greater
being (so personal problems are considered less onerous), social support,
adoption of healthy practices through church emphasis on respect for the body,
relief from anxiety through prayer and the discipline of gratitude.14-21
the spiritually based activities, may contribute to wellbeing. These factors
that help explain findings from prior studies that have shown church attendance
having a positive influence on wellbeing.
investigation of how the Bible might benefit personal wellbeing.
Table: Percent of Bible believing pastors
indicating that a church activity
would have a very positive response on
wellbeing
Responses | Percent | |
Praise (including musical worship) | 58 | 55% |
Prayer | 59 | 56% |
Liturgical readings | 6 | 6% |
Sermons | 75 | 71% |
Hearing the gospel explained | 67 | 64% |
Amount of church responsibility by members | 32 | 30% |
Baptismal services | 59 | 56% |
Celebration of communion | 49 | 47% |
Amount of time spent at church weekly | 18 | 17% |
Socializing with other worshipers | 42 | 40% |
Social structure within your church | 21 | 20% |
Children’s programs | 31 | 30% |
Small groups | 41 | 39% |
Sunday school | 23 | 22% |
question – please visit our website at https://teleiosgrant.com/#anchorpoll
http://teleiosblog.blogspot.com/
https://www.facebook.com/TeleiosResearch/
@TeleiosResearch
1.
MacIlvaine et
al. (2014). Association of strength of community service to personal
well-being. Community Ment Health J, 50: 577-82.
2.
MacIlvaine et
al. (2013). Association of strength of religious adherence to quality of life
measures. Complement Ther Clin Pract, 19: 251-5.
3.
Stewart et
al. (2013). Review of clinical medicine and religious practice. J Relig Health,
52: 91-106.
4.
Cotton et al. (1999). Exploring the relationships among
spiritual well-being, quality of life, and psychological adjustment in women
with breast cancer. Psychooncology,8:429-38.
5.
Reed (1987). Spirituality and well-being in terminally ill hospitalized
adults. Res Nurs Health, 10:335-44.
6.
Diener et al. (2003). Personality, culture, and subjective
well-being: Emotional and cognitive evaluations of life. Annu Rev Psychol, 54:
403-25.
7.
Diener et al. (2010). Wealth and happiness across the world:
material prosperity predicts life evaluation, whereas psychosocial prosperity
predicts positive feeling. J Pers Social Psychol, 99:52-61.
8.
Penedo et al. (2005). Exercise and well-being: a review of
mental and physical health benefits associated with physical activity. Curr
Opin Psychiatry, 18: 189-93.
9.
Horwitz (1996). Becoming married and mental health: A
longitudinal study of a cohort of young adults. J Marr Fam, 58:895-907.
10.
Marks et al. (1998). Marital status continuity and change
among young and midlife adults longitudinal effects on psychological
well-being. J Fam Issues, 19:652-86.
11.
Lillard et al. (1995). ‘Til death do us part: Marital disruption and
mortality. Am J Sociol, 100:1131-56.
12.
Lipnicki et al. (2013). Risk factors for late-life cognitive decline and
variation with age and sex in the Sydney memory and ageing study, PLoS ONE, 8.
13.
Schneider
et al. (2014). Relationship status and health: Does the use of different
relationship indicators matter? Glob
Public Health, 9:528-37.
14.
Levin (1994). Religion and health: Is there an association,
is it valid, and is it causal? Soc Sci Med, 38: 1475–82.
15.
Krause (2010). Church-based emotional support and
self-forgiveness in late life. Rev Relig Res, 52:72-89.
16.
van Olphen et al. (2003). Religious involvement, social
support, and health among African-American women on the east side of Detroit. J
Gen Intern Med, 18: 549-57.
17.
Davis et al. (1994). The urban church and cancer control: a
source of social influence in minority communities. Public Health Rep, 109:
500–6.
18.
Eng et al. (1991). Networking between agencies and black
churches: The lay health advisor model. Pre Hum Serv, 10:123–46.
19.
Whooley et al. (2002). Religious involvement and cigarette
smoking in young adults: the CARDIA study. Arch Intern Med, 162: 1604–10.
20.
Stanley et al. (2011). Older adults’ preferences for
religion/spirituality in treatment for anxiety and depression. Aging Ment
Health, 15: 334-43.
21.
Inzlicht et al. (2010). Reflecting on God: religious primes
can reduce neurophysiological response to errors. Psychol Sci, 21: 1184-90.
The
purpose of the comment section is to promote discussion that is encouraging,
propels the further search of Scripture and raises interesting and thought provoking
Biblically related questions. You may feel free to disagree with me in a
constructive manner using appropriate language.
I reserve
the right to remove your comments if they are profane, pornographic, libelous
or I do not consider them constructive or consistent with the policy
stated above. By posting you no longer own your comments and you are granting
me an unrestricted worldwide license to use your comments.
Pastors on church activities that might contribute to wellbeing
in a series of blogs discussing surveys performed by Teleios of pastors who
graduated from conservative seminaries (Masters, Denver and Westminster). The
first two surveys covered pastors’ adherence to biblical teaching and the
influence of societal pressure on their beliefs posted on Apr 8, 2015 and May
13, 2015, respectively. Today is the third topic regarding what aspects of
church life influence the wellbeing of attendees?
frequently studied in recent years as a general indicator of an individual’s
mental and physical health (1-5). Although variously defined, wellbeing might
be considered as is a person’s emotional and cognitive evaluations of their
lives, including happiness, peace, fulfillment and life satisfaction (6). A
number of factors may contribute to wellbeing including mental, physical and
financial prosperity, socialization, marriage and a positive relationship with
God (1,2,7-13).
attendance also has been demonstrated to be associated with improved wellbeing
not only as a general parameter, but also with increasing frequency of
attendance (1,2). Potential causes of this finding are not specifically known.
Therefore, we surveyed pastors to learn what they perceive as contributes to
wellbeing in their church. Teleios sent the survey to 976 pastors of whom 105
(11%) responded.
study found that overwhelmingly pastors believed the experiences of their
congregation as positive to very positive, in all typical areas of church life.
(Please see table for partial results). Those activities that showed the
greatest ‘very positive’ responses were generally spiritual in nature
including: praise, prayer, sermons, hearing the gospel and baptisms. Those that
demonstrated the lowest ‘very positive’ answers were liturgical readings,
amount of time spent at church, social structure within the church, Sunday
school and children’s programs. Consequently, items not specifically discussed
in Scripture, and potentially more rigid in design, potentially might aide wellbeing
less although necessary they may be necessary at some level.
would church attendance help wellbeing? We do not know precisely, but potential
causes could be from subordination of self-interests to those of a greater
being (so personal problems are considered less onerous), social support,
adoption of healthy practices through church emphasis on respect for the body,
relief from anxiety through prayer and the discipline of gratitude (14-21).
and especially the spiritually based activities, may contribute to wellbeing.
These factors that help explain findings from prior studies that have shown
church attendance having a positive influence on wellbeing.
continue our investigation of how the Bible might benefit personal wellbeing.
Percent of Bible believing pastors indicating that a church activity would have
a very positive response on wellbeing
Responses | Percent | |
Praise (including musical worship) | 58 | 55% |
Prayer | 59 | 56% |
Liturgical readings | 6 | 6% |
Sermons | 75 | 71% |
Hearing the gospel explained | 67 | 64% |
Amount of church responsibility by members | 32 | 30% |
Baptismal services | 59 | 56% |
Celebration of communion | 49 | 47% |
Amount of time spent at church weekly | 18 | 17% |
Socializing with other worshipers | 42 | 40% |
Social structure within your church | 21 | 20% |
Children’s programs | 31 | 30% |
Small groups | 41 | 39% |
Sunday school | 23 | 22% |
latest poll question – please visit our website at https://teleiosgrant.com/#anchorpoll
Stewart
- MacIlvaine
WR, Nelson LA, Stewart JA, et al. (2014). Association of strength of community
service to personal well-being. Community
Ment Health J, 50: 577-82. - MacIlvaine
WR, Nelson LA, Stewart JA, et al. (2013). Association of strength of religious adherence
to quality of life measures. Complement
Ther Clin Pract, 19: 251-5. - Stewart
WC, Adams MP, Stewart JA, et al. (2013). Review of clinical medicine and
religious practice. J Relig Health, 52:
91-106. - Cotton S, Levine
E, Fitzpatrick C, et al. (1999). Exploring the relationships among spiritual
well-being, quality of life, and psychological adjustment in women with breast
cancer. Psychooncology,8:429-38. - Reed P. (1987).
Spirituality and well-being in terminally ill hospitalized adults. Res Nurs Health, 10:335-44. - Diener E, Oishi
S, Lucas RE (2003). Personality, culture, and subjective well-being: Emotional
and cognitive evaluations of life. Annu
Rev Psychol, 54: 403-25. - Diener E, Ng W, Harter J, et al. (2010). Wealth and happiness across the world: material
prosperity predicts life evaluation, whereas psychosocial prosperity predicts
positive feeling. J Pers Social Psychol, 99:52-61. - Penedo FJ, Dahn
JR (2005). Exercise and well-being: a review of mental and physical health
benefits associated with physical activity. Curr
Opin Psychiatry, 18: 189-93. - Horwitz AV
(1996). Becoming married and mental health: A longitudinal study of a cohort of
young adults. J Marr Fam, 58:895-907. - Marks NF,
Lambert JD (1998). Marital status continuity and change among young and midlife
adults longitudinal effects on psychological well-being. J Fam Issues, 19:652-86. - Lillard LA, Waite LJ (1995). ‘Til death do us part: Marital disruption and
mortality. Am J Sociol, 100:1131-56. - Lipnicki DM, Sachdev PS, Crawford J, et al. (2013). Risk factors for late-life cognitive decline
and variation with age and sex in the Sydney memory and ageing study, PLoS ONE, 8. - Schneider B, Rapp I, Klein T, et al. (2014). Relationship
status and health: Does the use of different relationship indicators
matter? Glob Public Health, 9:528-37. - Levin JS (1994).
Religion and health: Is there an association, is it valid, and is it causal? Soc Sci Med, 38: 1475–82. - Krause N (2010).
Church-Based Emotional Support And Self-Forgiveness in Late Life. Rev Relig Res, 52:72-89. - van Olphen J,
Schulz A, Israel B, et al. (2003). Religious involvement, social support, and
health among African-American women on the east side of Detroit. J Gen Intern Med, 18: 549-57. - Davis DT,
Bustamante A, Brown CP, et al. (1994). The urban church and cancer control: a
source of social influence in minority communities. Public Health Rep, 109: 500–6. - Eng E, Hatch JW
(1991). Networking between agencies and black churches: The lay health advisor
model. Pre Hum Serv, 10:123–46. - Whooley MA, Boyd
AL, Gardin JM, et al. (2002). Religious involvement and cigarette smoking in
young adults: the CARDIA study. Arch
Intern Med, 162: 1604–10. - Stanley MA, Bush
AL, Camp ME, et al. (2011). Older adults’ preferences for religion/spirituality
in treatment for anxiety and depression. Aging
Ment Health, 15: 334-43. - Inzlicht M,
Tullett AM (2010). Reflecting on God: religious primes can reduce
neurophysiological response to errors. Psychol
Sci, 21: 1184-90.
purpose of the comment section is to promote discussion that is encouraging,
propels the further search of Scripture and raises interesting and thought
provoking Biblically related questions. You may feel free to disagree with me
in a constructive manner using appropriate language.
reserve the right to remove your comments if they are profane, pornographic,
libelous or I do not consider them constructive or consistent with
the policy stated above. By posting you no longer own your comments and
you are granting me an unrestricted worldwide license to use your comments.
Serving Others
actually may benefit our own wellbeing!
let’s examine ways in which the Bible helps us with our daily life and
wellbeing. Last week we explored how adherence to basic Christian principles of
daily living such as prayer, praise, fellowship, receiving Biblical teaching
and outreach (Acts 2:42-47) can be a tool we use to enhance personal wellbeing.
let’s focus on one aspect of these principles, personal service. Teleios recently
evaluated the effect of personal service on wellbeing at Grace Community Church
(MacIlvaine WR, Nelson LA, Stewart JA, Stewart WC. Association of strength of community service to personal
wellbeing. Community
Ment Health J 2014;50:577-582). We surveyed 309 adults in two services on one Sunday.
showed that individuals who routinely participated in a community or church-based
service program, compared to those who did not, had better wellbeing scores in contentment,
peace, joy, purpose and community acceptance. Wow! Who wouldn’t want that? Additionally, people who
served had a better global wellbeing score (average of seven questions
together) than those who did not serve.
the study showed
the benefit of service might occur with as little as just one hour a week
helping others! The benefit was even greater
when people served up to 6 hours per week. In addition, the perceived benefit of the service did not depend on
the type of service, whether in the church or in non-church sponsored community
service.
leads us to ask why personal service would help wellbeing. We don’t know this
answer for certain but there are several potentials:
Serving
others provides us with a sense of purpose.
Serving
provides a comfort that our lives are useful.
When
we serve we realize we are being obedient and living consistently with God’s desires.
Serving
takes our eyes off ourselves so we don’t focus just on our problems, but also on
assisting others.
raises the question; do all types of community service impact wellbeing
equally? In other words, does
spiritual service have as much impact as service that is purely social?
