I really love the magazine Relevant. It shows how our faith is relevant to our culture and asks tough questions that many people deal with and wonder what our faith has to say.
What do we have to say about the wealth of so many people - when so many others go without?
What do we have to say about premarital sex? Or what about all the sex that is on TV and the radio?
What do we have to say about war?
The sad truth is that many people do not find churches that they have visited (or perhaps even regularly attend) to be relevant to their daily lives.
If you look at Google's definitions of "relevant" you will find:
The question of relevance for our churches is - does it have any bearing on my life? Does it have any evidence that proves a point that I need in my life?
The interesting thing about this struggle with the relevance of the church - is that at the same time people are struggling with the relevance of the church - there is a great surge towards spiritual matters and social concern.
There are certainly many books written on this topic, but the question I am left with is - what does this mean for our church?
God certainly is relevant to people's lives. But it seems it is our reflection of him that has confused the issue.
I have no doubt that the church of 2100 will look very different than the church of today. But what I am not sure of is what that will look like.
There are many people at Our Lord's working to make our church into a place that does have a bearing on people's day to day lives. I am certain that we will need to change to get where God wants us to go. However, we really cannot see where we are headed. It is kind of scary. Sometimes I wonder if we should just give up.
But the good news is God is in control. He will shape us and lead us into a community that is relevant to the world. If we can only stay open to his leading.
Please feel free to comment. I would love to hear your thoughts!
In Christ,
Lori