Should the Church be Relevant?

Let me express right at the beginning that this blog post is by no means meant to cover all aspects of the subject of relevance in the church. I believe that this is an important subject that lends itself toward much discussion and healthy debate. However, I wanted to write out some of the thoughts I have been having most recently on this subject. Feel free to comment or e-mail me any thoughts/questions for further discussion.

Relevance has been a buzz word in churches for at least the past decade; if not longer. Churches and christians all over the country seem to either run toward it; wanting to engage the culture by any means possible, or away from it; desiring to uphold the truth of God's Word at any cost. It seems that the thing most churches find difficult is balance when it comes to those two extremes. If you were to ask any Gospel believing church in America if they desire to engage the culture and stay true to the Word of God, they would undoubtedly respond with a resounding yes!

Yet, not many of them know how to do both well at the same time. The apostle Paul seemed to have this figured out, and if you read 1 Corinthians 9:19-23, you'll see exactly how. I would highly recommend reading that passage before reading further in this post.

I want to gear in specifically on verses 22 &23:

"To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings." 1 Corinthians 9:22-23 (ESV)

There was no question that Paul advocated relevance in ministry. There was no doubt that Paul would change things about his ministry strategy in order to engage the culture he found himself in. The question that we must ask ourselves is why? Why be relevant? Paul's answer was "for the sake of the gospel." He was intentional about making sure nothing hindered the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The ONLY reason that Paul sought to be relevant was in order that the gospel might be proclaimed.

To those who say we do not need to be relevant, I must ask: "why would you not do everything you can to reach as many people as you can?" Paul did.

To those who want to be relevant in order to "create churches that unchurched people love to attend" I must ask: "At what cost? How much of the Gospel must you sacrifice in order to make unbelievers 'like' you more?"

I want to be cautious here because I do believe that there are people on both sides of the spectrum who are sincere in their faith and want to find a healthy balance. I am not accusing the former of not caring for people and I am not accusing the latter of false teaching; although sometimes those things are true. I am simply calling for a Biblical relevance in the midst of a crooked and sinful generation.

I must say, churches that sacrifice truth for relevance bother me more than churches who sacrifice relevance for truth. Because at the end of the day, nothing can be more relevant to lost people than the good news of salvation. I do still recognize the need for relevance in order to reach the most people.

You want to create a church that unchurched people love to attend? Proclaim the Gospel clearly "that you may share with them in it's blessings." Paul didn't support relevance to make the church cool, or the gospel more palatable. He supported it in order to make the gospel clear and understandable. I fear that churches are subconsciously looking to relevance to make up for God's 'mistake' of an offensive Gospel. But the Gospel is meant to be offensive (1 Corinthians 1:18; Matthew 10:34; John 6:60-62). It's meant to offend us to the core in order for us to recognize our sin and need of a Savior. In order for us to be willing to count the cost, take up our cross and follow the risen Christ.

It seems to me that too many churches have become so focused on being relevant that their goal is to simply see unbelievers walk through their church doors and be entertained. That is just simply not our calling. Please show me one time where Jesus ever asked us to make sure that people like us or think we are cool. You can't, because He didn't.

In no way, shape or form am I implying that we should stop trying to be relevant. I simply intend to cause you to contemplate why we strive to be relevant. What's the end game? Will you be satisfied with more people in the doors of your church? We cannot desire relevance for the sake of being relevant. We must desire relevance for the sake of the gospel, with the goal being to rejoice with them.

When you plan church services, are you trying to dress-up the gospel or declare it? Is relevance simply an avenue for saturating your world with the gospel or has it become the way you do church?

Closing Thoughts

As a youth pastor and member of the creative team at South Shore, I am not advocating that we stop having fun in our church services, or that we put crosses on everything we do to make sure it's not too worldly. I wholeheartedly believe that the church should not get stuck in the past or be reluctant to change. We need to be the least judgmental people on the planet and get our congregations off their soap boxes and into real-life discipleship. We must have an incarnational approach to ministry; where we go to the people instead of asking them to come to us.

The moment we desire relevance over Gospel Proclamation is the moment we stop being The Church.