Joseph Ellis
English 1121
Professor Penner
2/21/20
Word Count: 724
The Discourse Community of Christianity
Christianity, one of the oldest religions is supported by Christians all over. They believe in making Jesus Christ their central focus in their own personal and corporate lives. At first, I didn’t know Christians were known for replicating Jesus’s life, but they actively walked in God’s will. Christians also refer to God as father, since he taught them Christians destination and destiny is to enter God’s Kingdom. The kingdom is a major subject in the New Testament and it’s a unique goal for Christians to reach. To gain more knowledge about Christianity I researched about the religion online and I interviewed a family member who is a heavy follower of Christ.
While researching this religion I realized that Christians worshiped Jesus Christ because he sacrificed his own life for the people’s sins. They praise him through music, speech, and with scriptures from the bible. A bible is the Christian book that holds scriptures and it explains how Christians should communicate with one another plus it consists of the Old and New Testaments. The bible is also the account of God’s action in the world, and his purpose with all creation
Christians also communicate through prayer, meditation, and worship.
Christians not only communicate with speech with their mouths, they also communicate something deeper which is with their heart. Christians mainly use the English language to communicate with one another. Christians do the majority of their communicating in churches with one another. Christians try to interact with the outside world by enlightening others that are not Christian about the beliefs of the religion. But Christianity is often rejected and mocked by the outside world, which is why Christians use churches as sanctuaries. Which then leads to churches being used to fight culture by continually pointing to god. So, you could say Christians communicate well with the outside world, they just may have different opinions or beliefs on certain subjects.
Christians believe that even after mistakes God will love you, because Christianity is all about forgiveness and loving others. According to a Christ worshiper, to be considered a full time Christian you must attend and participate in services frequently in churches. Churches are where Christians come to praise God with others. To become a member of this Christian discourse community you have to have a friendship and belief in Jesus Christ himself. You may also have to realize that everyone has sinned and cannot live up to God’s standard of Holiness, understand that the penalty of our sin is death, and to accept God’s gift which was his son Jesus Christ who died in our place so we could be spared from hell.
The Christian discourse community seems like it’s an easy one to join and practice. I learned that Christians even believe that it’s “okay” to change your beliefs. Christians never judge anyone, which is refreshing to hear, since most people are judgmental. Christians also believe there is life after an early death and that spiritual experiences in this life will give us an idea of what eternal life will be like. When doing research about Christ followers something that surprised me was that they are monotheistic. Which means that they believe in only one god instead of believing in multiple gods like other religions. That detail confused me while doing research because even though they only believe in one god, that god consists of three parts which are, the father god, the son of god (Jesus), and the Holy spirit. The way I first perceived Christianity changed a little while researching this discourse community. That’s because even after making mistakes in life God and other Christians still love you, and won’t judge you because of the things you did in the past. At first, I didn’t realize how forgiving Christians were but after doing research I have realized why Christianity is one of the most popular religions to date.
Work Cited:
• “Living Stream Ministry.” THE GOAL OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE, Witness Lee, 2014, www.ministrysamples.org/excerpts/THE-GOAL-OF-THE-CHRISTIAN-LIFE.HTML.
• Leveille, Kimara. Personal Interview. Feb 2020
• “Religions – Christianity: The Basics of Christian Beliefs.” BBC, BBC, 14 Aug. 2009, www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/beliefs/basics_1.shtml.
This is an interesting look at a faith as a DC. Really well-researched! Question: What group of Christians did you interview? Just as in other religions, there are different groups of Christians, and they often conflict with each other because of their interpretation of their religion.