![]() We could spend our time trying to make people think we’re funny, witty, cool, and up-to-date with all the latest technology. This self-centered theology may be socially relevant, but is eternally irrelevant. ![]() In their theology, it seems God exists to bring happiness to man, rather than man existing to bring glory to God. After all, that’s the relevant message people want to hear. The Bible, to many, is simply a guide to what they need to do to have God make them more happy. The Bible is being treated, by many, as a practical self-help guide to life. They are eloquent, they are cool, they are popular, and they have essentially “emptied of its power.” They have crafted and customized a palatable and relevant message for the people, instead of helping the people to change their perspective and understand the timeless relevancy of the gospel. In an effort to be relevant, many have changed the message and are now preaching a completely irrelevant message. In other words, when the messenger becomes what’s relevant, the message becomes irrelevant. The worldly minded will always see the message of the cross as foolish and will always see Christians as fools! When we try to make ourselves seem wise, cool, hip, and eloquent – we miss the whole point! Paul said that he was not sent to preach the gospel “with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power” (1 Corinthians 1:17). He simply preached the gospel,įor since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men (1 Corinthians 1:21-25). He didn’t try to make the message hip, cool, or wise. Yet, Paul did not change the message to suit the people. In other words, they saw the message and the messengers as being completely (and laughably) irrelevant. Paul said the wise men, the scribes, and the debaters of his age considered “the word of the cross” to be foolishness (1 Corinthians 1:18-20). The Christians of Paul’s day struggled to help the world see the relevancy of the gospel, just as we struggle to help them see it today. We must understand it is not the job of Christians to make the gospel relevant, but to help the world see the relevancy of the gospel! Mirriam-Webster defines Relevant as, “having significant and demonstrable bearing on the matter at hand.” Certainly, that should define the message we preach it should always have bearing on the matter at hand.īut, isn’t the message we are supposed to be preaching the gospel? The gospel of Jesus Christ was relevant in the First Century and is just as relevant in the Twenty-First Century. So, should we endeavor and strive for greater relevance in a hope to retain and gain people in our pews? Obviously, the opposite of relevant would be irrelevant I don’t think we need irrelevant sermons and lessons. ![]() As it pertains to Christianity, and specifically preaching, a term I hear more and more is, “relevant.” I am constantly hearing, “Congregations need to keep their preaching and teaching relevant, if they want to grow.” I certainly don’t disagree with that sentiment.
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