I'm blessed with the incredible opportunity of being in the local public schools in my area from time to time. I consider it an incredible opportunity because I get to rub shoulders with lots of people who don't serve Christ, never attend church, and in some cases have very little dealings with folks who are believers at all.
When it comes to dealing with unbelievers, I've come to an interesting conclusion: Churches & Christians wanting to be "culturally relevant" need to look no further than Galatians 5:22-23:
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."
Show these 9 items above in your life and you will have no problem connecting, talking, meeting and even attracting unbelievers. Who doesn't love being around someone kind? Who doesn't admire someone who exercises self control? Who doesn't appreciate patience in someone else? What could possibly be more culturally relevant than showing the Fruit of the Spirit?
I don't believe churches are struggling today because they lack cultural relevance - I think many churches are irrelevant because they lack the Fruit of the Spirit. If you don't believe me - go work as a waiter at a local restaurant on a Sunday afternoon. I have actually been a waiter in a couple different restaurants in my day - and Sunday's clientele was roundly disliked by most all of the wait staff because of, you guessed it, church people. Pompous, arrogant, demanding only begins to describe the attitude that we got from most church people on Sunday. Some of these folks had the unmitigated gall to act this way, then leave a tract with a lousy tip (usually just change). When this happened I always did my best to swing by the tables of my co-workers and snatch up the tract before they saw it because I knew it would only serve to harden them against the gospel of Jesus Christ.
I realize that many church attenders aren't Biblically saved and therefore are unable to produce fruit. But for the many others who are saved - we must challenge ourselves to reflect Jesus Christ with every breath we take.
As Paul finished saying in Galatians: Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
amen!
ReplyDeletethe church is only relevant if her people live as aliens and strangers in this world.
That is a great thought! Fruitfulness is always relevant. It seems someone should have figured that out by now, maybe we're too busy trying to figure out how to be relevant.
ReplyDeletenail....head....you hit it square on!
ReplyDeleteAmen! What people in the world are really looking for are the fruits of the Spirit (which are not of this world), not more of the same 'ol familiar. If we want them to desire God, we must model the nature and character of God. When we do not, it looks like proof that they don't need God.
ReplyDelete