Culturally Relevant
Since Adam and Eve mankind has been trying to be culturally relevant to God whether they knew it or not. That's what Adam and Eve were doing when they chose to commit the first sin. They wanted to relate to God - to be on His level - by eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And that's what those guys were doing in Genesis 11 when they built the Tower of Babel - trying to get on God's level by reaching the heavens and making a name for themselves. And the Pharisees were doing it in their rules and regulations that were an attempt to mimic and build on and be better than the law God had written with His own hand on tablets of stone. And the Athenians in Acts 17 were doing it by creating a shrine to the Unknown God - trying to cover all their bases so that no gods would be offended and so they could somehow find relationship with them, including the God they knew they did not know. Mankind has always tried to relate to God or get on His level because mankind thinks it will have some sort of control in that position. God has control from His position, right? And, as we see from the Bible and from the history of the world, mankind never achieves cultural relevance to God. It isn't possible. And so mankind seeks control in the world and attempts to become culturally relevant in it by doing things to gain power and acceptance and position.
So when today's institutional church says it is trying to be culturally relevant to reach the post-modern generation that is turned off by the way believers DO church, is it really another attempt by mankind to conform mankind to God - to make believers and the 'unchurched' culturally relevant to God? Or is it an attempt to make God culturally relevant to the world? Or, because neither of those are really possible, is it an attempt to be culturally relevant in the world to gain power, acceptance and position for the the institution of church? Perhaps. I don't really know. But I'm blogging about this because my heart is concerned with the focus on cultural relevance as it might get God's people a bit off of their focus on God and on to themselves as it attempts to DO CHURCH to reach the post-modern generation rather than encourage and equip each other to BE CHURCH - to BE THE BODY - to BE CHRIST to reach the post-modern generation with the message of life in Christ. I know my focus has made a shift in recent years to see that DOING CHURCH is not what I'm supposed to be about and when I think about and grab hold of a concept such as cultural relevance, I begin to lose sight of what my true calling is in Christ.
In Christ's last days on earth, His word to His disciples - and to us - was to go into the world and make disciples of all nations, reaching them with the message of the gospel of salvation by grace through faith in Him who loved us and gave Himself up for us operating through the power and work of the Holy Spirit. He taught in Matthew 5 that we are salt and light to this world. And Paul expanded on that by telling us in Ephesians 5 that we are light in Him and so we should imitate Him and live a life of love. Spirit tells my heart that living a life of love that allows the light of Christ to shine through the cracks and holes of who I am as a human in this world is really my calling. The way I DO church is irrelevant to the message of salvation. Institutional church is merely a building that should be a place of opportunity for THE CHURCH - all believers - to express praise, to pray and bless each other, and to be encouraged and equipped to go into their worlds and be His light of love. It doesn't need to be culturally relevant to anyone but the believers who enter in on a regular basis to celebrate Him. And the relevant culture of believers is Jesus - nothing more, nothing less.
I think that Paul's days in Athens are a great picture of what Jesus would want His followers to do in the culture of our worlds in order to reach our generation with the message of the gospel. Acts 17 says that Paul was in Athens and was distressed by all of the idols. So he talked to the church people - the Jews. And he talked to the followers - the God fearing Greeks. And then he talked to the world - he went to the marketplace and engaged in conversation and debate with the philosophers sitting among the shrines to the many gods. He gained information and insight into what was driving this city and these people to idols. Paul explained what he did to the Corinthians in I Corinthians 9: 19 Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
Paul became culturally relevant to the Athenians - not by the way he dressed or the music he listened to or the programs he advocated or by being a well-trained and entertaining speaker or by worshiping idols along with the Athenians. He did it by entering the culture as a follower of Christ, seeking God's passion for their need for salvation, and then learning what he could so that he could take the gospel message to them in a way that directly met that need with faithfulness to biblical truth that would lead to a counter cultural lifestyle. He didn't invite them to come to temple and hear the latest talking head or some great new worship music or see an awesome play or attend a great class while wearing jeans and t-shirt because the temple had relaxed its dress code since the culture was no longer into togas. He did what Jesus did - he walked in the world, saw their need for God, had compassion on them, met their physical needs when necessary, and gave them the truth that would meet their spiritual need. After some became believers and when Paul was leaving the area, he hooked them up to a local group of believers so they could gather with them to celebrate God and His work, pray, bless, and be encouraged and equipped to live that counter cultural lifestyle that set them apart from the culture of their world.
I'm not on a soapbox against institutional church or the vision and mission of some of those institutions to be culturally relevant to reach a lost and dying generation. I'm simply saying that I must always go back to the bibilical truth of the message of salvation that is brought from a heart of compassion seeking to meet people where they are to show them that Christ is what they need. And in this generation - and every generation throughout history - living like that is most definitely counter cultural but also most definitely what displays the love and light of Christ. And that is what BEING the CHURCH is all about. And if you gather with a group of believers that are all focused on that, then your gathering is culturally relevant. And God will be at work in His mysterious ways as you run hard after Father's heart, walk in the ways of Jesus, and surrender to the power of Spirit.
Focusing,
So when today's institutional church says it is trying to be culturally relevant to reach the post-modern generation that is turned off by the way believers DO church, is it really another attempt by mankind to conform mankind to God - to make believers and the 'unchurched' culturally relevant to God? Or is it an attempt to make God culturally relevant to the world? Or, because neither of those are really possible, is it an attempt to be culturally relevant in the world to gain power, acceptance and position for the the institution of church? Perhaps. I don't really know. But I'm blogging about this because my heart is concerned with the focus on cultural relevance as it might get God's people a bit off of their focus on God and on to themselves as it attempts to DO CHURCH to reach the post-modern generation rather than encourage and equip each other to BE CHURCH - to BE THE BODY - to BE CHRIST to reach the post-modern generation with the message of life in Christ. I know my focus has made a shift in recent years to see that DOING CHURCH is not what I'm supposed to be about and when I think about and grab hold of a concept such as cultural relevance, I begin to lose sight of what my true calling is in Christ.
In Christ's last days on earth, His word to His disciples - and to us - was to go into the world and make disciples of all nations, reaching them with the message of the gospel of salvation by grace through faith in Him who loved us and gave Himself up for us operating through the power and work of the Holy Spirit. He taught in Matthew 5 that we are salt and light to this world. And Paul expanded on that by telling us in Ephesians 5 that we are light in Him and so we should imitate Him and live a life of love. Spirit tells my heart that living a life of love that allows the light of Christ to shine through the cracks and holes of who I am as a human in this world is really my calling. The way I DO church is irrelevant to the message of salvation. Institutional church is merely a building that should be a place of opportunity for THE CHURCH - all believers - to express praise, to pray and bless each other, and to be encouraged and equipped to go into their worlds and be His light of love. It doesn't need to be culturally relevant to anyone but the believers who enter in on a regular basis to celebrate Him. And the relevant culture of believers is Jesus - nothing more, nothing less.
I think that Paul's days in Athens are a great picture of what Jesus would want His followers to do in the culture of our worlds in order to reach our generation with the message of the gospel. Acts 17 says that Paul was in Athens and was distressed by all of the idols. So he talked to the church people - the Jews. And he talked to the followers - the God fearing Greeks. And then he talked to the world - he went to the marketplace and engaged in conversation and debate with the philosophers sitting among the shrines to the many gods. He gained information and insight into what was driving this city and these people to idols. Paul explained what he did to the Corinthians in I Corinthians 9: 19 Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
Paul became culturally relevant to the Athenians - not by the way he dressed or the music he listened to or the programs he advocated or by being a well-trained and entertaining speaker or by worshiping idols along with the Athenians. He did it by entering the culture as a follower of Christ, seeking God's passion for their need for salvation, and then learning what he could so that he could take the gospel message to them in a way that directly met that need with faithfulness to biblical truth that would lead to a counter cultural lifestyle. He didn't invite them to come to temple and hear the latest talking head or some great new worship music or see an awesome play or attend a great class while wearing jeans and t-shirt because the temple had relaxed its dress code since the culture was no longer into togas. He did what Jesus did - he walked in the world, saw their need for God, had compassion on them, met their physical needs when necessary, and gave them the truth that would meet their spiritual need. After some became believers and when Paul was leaving the area, he hooked them up to a local group of believers so they could gather with them to celebrate God and His work, pray, bless, and be encouraged and equipped to live that counter cultural lifestyle that set them apart from the culture of their world.
I'm not on a soapbox against institutional church or the vision and mission of some of those institutions to be culturally relevant to reach a lost and dying generation. I'm simply saying that I must always go back to the bibilical truth of the message of salvation that is brought from a heart of compassion seeking to meet people where they are to show them that Christ is what they need. And in this generation - and every generation throughout history - living like that is most definitely counter cultural but also most definitely what displays the love and light of Christ. And that is what BEING the CHURCH is all about. And if you gather with a group of believers that are all focused on that, then your gathering is culturally relevant. And God will be at work in His mysterious ways as you run hard after Father's heart, walk in the ways of Jesus, and surrender to the power of Spirit.
Focusing,
Amy
Acts 17:24 "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. 27 God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 28 'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'
Romans 11:33-36 Have you ever come on anything quite like this extravagant generosity of God, this deep, deep wisdom? It's way over our heads. We'll never figure it out. Is there anyone around who can explain God? Anyone smart enough to tell him what to do? Anyone who has done him such a huge favor that God has to ask his advice? Everything comes from him; Everything happens through him; Everything ends up in him. Always glory! Always praise! Yes. Yes. Yes. 12:1-2 So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. (The Message)
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