Culturally relevant and Biblically faithful. Those continue to be two of my biggest concerns and prayer requests for ministry no matter where I am. To be relevant is to be sharing truth while talking about things people want to listen to. Often that means by getting their attention, you have to change their direction. Man, that is tough. But that is God’s call on His church, you and me.
To be Biblically faithful is easy. Stick to the Bible. If God says it, do it, share it, be it and live it no matter the consequences. I have heard for years people say something like this: the message never changes BUT the methods have to change. There it is…. Culturally relevant and Biblically faithful….God’s call on this pastor and the church I serve as well as every believer in the world. Are we willing to do what it takes to be relevant and faithful to His word?
Then he said, "Go into the world. Go everywhere and announce the Message of God's good news to one and all. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized is saved; whoever refuses to believe is damned.” Mark 16:15-16 (MSG)
“And here is how to measure it—the greatest love is shown when people lay down their lives for their friends.” John 15:13 (NLT)
Stick with me. At Christmas time we will do so many things to reach people for Jesus. We will give until we have nothing left. We will buy a gift to say we appreciate someone. And other things will happen and be planned along the way. The New Year is almost the same. You have resolutions and commitments all to do our best and to share all we can, but the problem is we as humans often get wrapped up in our own worlds and forget the world around us that needs Jesus.
I am reading Ed Stetzer’s book “Planting New Churches in a Postmodern Age” and I continue to hear how we have to seek relevance and seek the Lord. Ed talks about being a missionary. I live in a Christian nation. Do we need missionaries? He talks about having a changed view that sees people where they are not where we want them to be. Can we get into their world rather than expect them to crawl into ours?
Dear church, being church doesn’t make us relevant nor faithful to God’s word. Being relevant in the culture we live in and faithful to the Word of God will lead us to be His church. This Christmas season lets see that our destiny is to reach a community of people who don’t necessarily know they need Jesus. May everything we do have some piece of it that points people to Jesus. That is relevance and this is being faithful to the Bible.
To be Biblically faithful is easy. Stick to the Bible. If God says it, do it, share it, be it and live it no matter the consequences. I have heard for years people say something like this: the message never changes BUT the methods have to change. There it is…. Culturally relevant and Biblically faithful….God’s call on this pastor and the church I serve as well as every believer in the world. Are we willing to do what it takes to be relevant and faithful to His word?
Then he said, "Go into the world. Go everywhere and announce the Message of God's good news to one and all. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized is saved; whoever refuses to believe is damned.” Mark 16:15-16 (MSG)
“And here is how to measure it—the greatest love is shown when people lay down their lives for their friends.” John 15:13 (NLT)
Stick with me. At Christmas time we will do so many things to reach people for Jesus. We will give until we have nothing left. We will buy a gift to say we appreciate someone. And other things will happen and be planned along the way. The New Year is almost the same. You have resolutions and commitments all to do our best and to share all we can, but the problem is we as humans often get wrapped up in our own worlds and forget the world around us that needs Jesus.
I am reading Ed Stetzer’s book “Planting New Churches in a Postmodern Age” and I continue to hear how we have to seek relevance and seek the Lord. Ed talks about being a missionary. I live in a Christian nation. Do we need missionaries? He talks about having a changed view that sees people where they are not where we want them to be. Can we get into their world rather than expect them to crawl into ours?
Dear church, being church doesn’t make us relevant nor faithful to God’s word. Being relevant in the culture we live in and faithful to the Word of God will lead us to be His church. This Christmas season lets see that our destiny is to reach a community of people who don’t necessarily know they need Jesus. May everything we do have some piece of it that points people to Jesus. That is relevance and this is being faithful to the Bible.
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