Could I Possibly BE More Relevant?

Conservative. It’s a word that I always would have used to describe myself. Politically conservative, theologically conservative, whatever conservative . . . so perhaps I never had much credibility with the "cool" crowd, those who were always on to the latest and most hip "thing" in life. Perhaps now that I'm marrying a guy with a tattoo and an earring I can up my standing some. Seriously, though, I've discovered something as I've grown older: I'm just not that different from everyone else out there. What do I mean by this? And why is it that things are creeping into the church in the name of relevance?

When I go to college, I look just like everyone else. True, my chest and stomach are decently covered at all times and my jeans are more loose than most, but I pretty well fit in with the typical college crowd (especially when I ditch the geeky backpack that I use to carry my laptop and million pound load of books). I work in an environment where employees can dress casually. I fit in there too. I never leave the house without some makeup. I change my hair color every couple of months, and my hair is cut short in the now-popular "inverted bob" style. All in all, I highly doubt anyone at school would look at me and think, "Man, what planet is she from?" or "Dude, look at the way she dresses--is she from Little House on the Prairie?"

I listen to secular music all the time, but I am discriminating about what goes in my ear-gates. I watch a lot of movies and shows on television, but I am very careful about what goes in my eye-gates. I have a facebook account, frequent my Google Chat and AIM accounts, and speak like a normal person in the 21st century. I'll scream at the Terp's game on Saturday (albeit without the cursing) and then go out to Starbucks for coffee afterward. Sound normal? I think so.

Why is it, then, that I keep getting blasted with the phrase, "YOU NEED TO BE CULTURALLY RELEVANT" ?!? How could I possibly BE more relevant without sinning? To be completely honest with you, I'm not trying to be relevant and normal, I just am. In all sincerity, I have enough trouble being conformed to the image of God without worrying about fitting in with the world. It's easy to be a part of the world, it's seeking after God whole-heartedly that is so difficult.

If I hear another sermon on cultural relevance, I think that I am going to scream. People ARE culturally relevant. Instead of doing all in our power to look, smell, and be like the world, we need to be more concerned with being "in the world, but not of the world." The Bible teaches that anyone who loves the world does not love God, that it is impossible to love both. Loving the world comes naturally to us because we are sinners. Seeking after God and loving Him with all of our hearts, souls, minds, and strength takes a lot of prayer and work.

My first priority in life is MY SOUL. I am responsible for working out my own salvation with fear and trembling. I personally believe that IF I am doing my duty and molding my own life after Christ's, then witnessing to others and being a godly example will flow from that. Yes, I'll still need to work and pray about it, but I do think that it is a natural progression from personal holiness to personal evangelism.

The church is set apart. Different. The Bride of Christ. Why are men trying to conform the church to the world to make men more comfortable? The unsaved are supposed to feel somewhat uncomfortable when they come into church. They are supposed to see that THIS is DIFFERENT, that something is GOING ON here. Sermons tailored to make sinners feel "at home" are more doing a disservice to them, in my opinion, because the word of God (foolishness to those who do not believe) is supposed to point them to Christ. If they walk away from hearing the Word preached thinking that they are "cool" with God because He just loves everyone and has wonderful plans for their lives, then they are walking further down the path to hell. Hell, the word that so many are shying away from. Perhaps it is called "the bad place" or not spoken of at all. Sinners need to KNOW, so why worry about offending them. The Gospel IS offensive to those who are not saved. When the Word of God is preached, the Gospel and the saving work of Christ should be CLEAR. Forget being culturally relevant. Preach the Word and trust God to do the rest.

Another thing that truly bothers me is a growing fad to use foul language and crude/ribald stories/jokes from the pulpit. I shudder to think of what happened to Nadab and Abihu in the Bible when they offered strange fire before the Lord. Everything in the Bible teaches that God is serious about the way that He is worshipped. Using things that He has deemed unholy and joking about that which He calls sin should NOT be used to draw people to Christ. I do not care how "culturally relevant" it may be, it is wrong. Do you want your sons and daughters speaking dirty words? Would you like them telling and laughing at lewd descriptions or stories? I think not. Why is it that these things are all of a sudden acceptable when coming from a pulpit? Is it because the preacher is drawing large numbers of people to his church? So what?! Who cares? We should be more concerned about the glory of God and what pleases Him. This is truly offensive. I would walk out of any sermon like those described above, and I would never choose use such language myself. I would not even consider marrying a man who spoke like that. Why is it that these things are okay? I've heard the argument that we can take some good things from preachers like this and then leave the bad. Does the end justify the means? No.

It's getting late and I have classes tomorrow, so I am going to draw this to a close. The whole cultural relevance thing is really starting to get on my nerves. It's like a CD that is stuck on the same track and keeps repeating the same two seconds over and over and over again. AAHH!! Why can we not just focus on the important things: the glory of God, our own salvation and sanctification, and winning sinners to Christ? I believe that God will bless those who follow Him, and I think that we should keep our eyes on him, not on the numbers (or lack thereof) in our pews. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto you. The end never justifies the means, and using "cultural relevance" and foul language is not the way to evangelize a lost world. They need to see a difference, to see the light of Christ in a fallen world. We should not put the dimmer on our candles so that we blend in better with the darkness. Let your light so shine before men--brighter and brighter and brighter. Do not risk putting out your light by covering it up to blur the line between saint and sinner. Seek God and put your trust in Him.