Comments on: How Do You Define Relevant?

By: Jason Faber

Jason Faber — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 18:00:07 +0000

I love this comment from Ross…"…although I can't custom tailor every teaching to each person during a talk." This minor comment is precisely where Christ-centered ministries born out of a specific "passion/calling" is effective for communicating the Gospel. Why, because people can relate and connect to common interest or passion. This to me is being relevant. We need more ministries shaped by a passion or calling, for example Holy Yoga — http://www.holyyoga.net

By: Jim

Jim — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 23:38:22 +0000

trying so hard to be relevant that it makes you irrelevant…God's word is relevant, we only need to do our parts to carry on that relevance.

By: Ross_Hesseltine

Ross_Hesseltine — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 23:22:18 +0000

I think Dave said it best in that it is different to different people. My ministry is different to different people, although I can't custom tailor every teaching to each person during a talk. I can get to know that person and really connect with them and knowing their needs, I can talk to them and be relevant. I wouldn't talk to my buddy that doesn't like sports about my NCAA tourney brackets, it's not relevant. Just as I wouldn't talk to you, Justin, about knowing Jesus and having a personal relationship with God, because you know those things.

By: Justin Wise

Justin Wise — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 21:24:00 +0000

And we have a winner! Sheesh. "Please sir, may I have anothah?"

By: Justin Wise

Justin Wise — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 21:23:38 +0000

You are hilarious.

By: Paul Stewart

Paul Stewart — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 20:49:34 +0000

a "relevant" church will help people make sense of following Jesus in this time in history, in their specific cultural context, translating the scriptures from their first century setting into our post-Christian context.

The center is always Christ. Our job is to incarnate his teachings and his way of life in a way that is set apart and distinguishable from the world, yet visible within the world.

I love the way Donald Miller put it in Blue Like Jazz…

"A friend of mine, a young pastor who recently started a church, talks to me from time to time about the new face of church in America – about the postmodern church. He says the new church will be different from the old one, that we will be relevant to culture and human struggle. I don’t think any church has ever been relevant to culture, to the human struggle, unless it believed in Jesus and the power of His gospel. If the supposed new church believes in trendy music and cool Web pages, then it is not relevant to culture either. It is just another tool of Satan to get people to be passionate about nothing." -Donald Miller Blue Like Jazz (p111)

By: Seth

Seth — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 19:54:42 +0000

I think relevant simply means that it matters to people. The gospel matters and is deeply meaningful, but often times Christians aren't. The most meaningful thing that matters in any kind of "relevant" way to people's life is love. If anything is loving, then I see it by definition as relevant.

I think there's plenty of counterfeit relevance out there that simply creates illusion of popularity by having current knowledge of whatever is latest and greatest in the world. Those who possess this knowledge are "in" and those who don't are "out." But seems far from the gospel.

I don't think church should play the game of trying to keep pace with what's popular when we have the most relevant and deeply meaningful resource at our disposal… love.

It seems like if churches want to be relevant, the only thing that would count is faith expressing itself through love.

If U2, Twitter, Facebook, pop culture references, and the latest slang allow faith to be expressed through love, then great. (To be fair, I'm a pastor that uses all of that stuff) However, more often than not they can cover up our gaping insufficiency to authentically love others. I've yet to see anyone's life changed because of a killer tweet. But love seems to impact people every single time.

So in terms of employing the cool tools to allow love to penetrate hearts, I may employ the former so long as it enhances and does not become a counterfeit substitution for the latter.

By: Dave Eickelberg

Dave Eickelberg — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 19:03:42 +0000

Touche.

I have no idea if I spelled that right.

In case you couldn't figure it out…it is pronounced "Too-Shay."

By: Justin Wise

Justin Wise — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 19:01:25 +0000

I think Jesus is most certainly enough; I would say you use those tools (Twitter + MTV + iPhones) inasmuch as they help people hear about Jesus (although MTV is questionable).

They must be leveraged for the Kingdom, not for the sake of the tool itself.

By: Justin Wise

Justin Wise — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 18:56:59 +0000

I like this. A book I am reading says: "If you are in a church that is TRYING to be postmodern, they do not understand the postmodern culture." I think relevance trends the same way. And that it's relational. I think that's what EVD was saying in the first comment.