01 August 2010
HOW TO STAY RELEVANT
08/05/10 10 Filed in: OUTREACH
You’ve heard the story of the new pastor who stood up on his first Sunday and declared, “It’s my goal to bring this church into the twentieth century!’ Someone interrupted, “Don’t you mean twenty-first century?” The pastor replied, “We’ll take it one century at a time.”
Churches can get stuck in a rut of irrelevance. The number one reason why Americans do not attend church in the 21st century is it is, according to the un-churched, irrelevant. The typical comments include, “It’s a waste of time.” “The church just isn’t pertinent to my life today.” “I have more important things to do.” “It doesn’t make any difference in my life.”
I grew up in an environment where the church valued tradition over relevance. We sang centuries-old songs, sat on centuries-old furniture with a strange name (pews) and used centuries-old languages (Old English and Latin). And I wondered if the issues we discussed were ever important. I had a desire for God, but the boredom tended to squelch it. When I finally turned to God in college (outside of my traditional church) I became passionate about spiritual relevance.
Clearly God is relevant. The Bible is relevant, and the Gospel is the most relevant news in the world. So here’s the question, how can we as churches (and followers) stay relevant?
Thom Rainer says one of the top questions churches need to ask is: Are you addressing the real issues of real lives?
How can we address real issues and remain relevant? Read More...
Churches can get stuck in a rut of irrelevance. The number one reason why Americans do not attend church in the 21st century is it is, according to the un-churched, irrelevant. The typical comments include, “It’s a waste of time.” “The church just isn’t pertinent to my life today.” “I have more important things to do.” “It doesn’t make any difference in my life.”
I grew up in an environment where the church valued tradition over relevance. We sang centuries-old songs, sat on centuries-old furniture with a strange name (pews) and used centuries-old languages (Old English and Latin). And I wondered if the issues we discussed were ever important. I had a desire for God, but the boredom tended to squelch it. When I finally turned to God in college (outside of my traditional church) I became passionate about spiritual relevance.
Clearly God is relevant. The Bible is relevant, and the Gospel is the most relevant news in the world. So here’s the question, how can we as churches (and followers) stay relevant?
Thom Rainer says one of the top questions churches need to ask is: Are you addressing the real issues of real lives?
How can we address real issues and remain relevant? Read More...