It is no secret that many view the church today as irrelevant to life in the twenty-first century. Fewer people attend worship services. The number of people who state they have no religious affiliation continues to grow. The values and morals traditionally taught by the church are dismissed by a large percentage of our population, including many within the church. Our nation is spiraling downward in many respects, and it does not appear the church has any answers. If we try to give biblical answers to those problems the response is often to shout us down.
Why has the church lost its ability to influence society? Why do so many see us as irrelevant? No doubt, there are many reasons. One is that, for many people, their view of the church and its teachings are based on what they see on television. If the only thing I knew about the church and the teachings of Jesus was what I saw on TV I probably wouldn't believe any of it either. The false teachings heard on many of these shows (I can't call them worship services) and the flamboyant lifestyles enjoyed by the ministers would quickly turn me off. Somehow I could not make the connection between what is seen and taught there and the life Jesus lived and taught.
Another reason might be that the church has tried so hard to be relevant that we became irrelevant in the process. Somehow we equated relevance with showmanship. We thought if we brought in smoke machines, rock music, huge video screens, and wore jeans with holes in them we would connect with the younger crowd. Rather than providing a worship service we wanted to be entertaining.
In Jim and Casper Go to Church: Frank Conversation about Faith, Churches, and Well-Meaning Christians the Christian Jim takes Casper, an atheist, to visit some of the largest and best known churches in America. They talk with some of the leaders and attend their worship services. After attending the church they debrief the experience. Nothing Casper experiences convinces him the Christian message is true. He is not impressed with the services and most of the messages. They all come up short of what he thought they should be if people truly believed the message of Christianity.
Perhaps the reason many view the church as irrelevant is that we have abandoned our mission. Before Christ ascended into heaven He told us that we were to evangelize the world, leading people to faith in Christ and helping them grow as disciples. Rather than doing that we have instead attacked those with whom we disagree, built great monuments to ourselves in which to "worship God," pursued political alliances to advance our agenda, and compromised the Gospel so as not to alienate people.
As I travel the countryside I see many small buildings boarded up that once housed churches. They closed as people sought something more than what these small churches could offer. Whenever I see these buildings I often think of the lives changed in those simple churches where the Gospel was proclaimed and people experienced true community. No comforts. No frills. Often, just a piano in the corner and a preacher behind a simple, wooden pulpit proclaiming the message of hope found in the Gospels. And people responded turning their lives over to Jesus Christ.
If the church wants to become relevant once again it must return to the mission God has given it. We don't need to be entertained; we need to worship. We don't need the Gospel changed to not alienate people; we need it preached without compromise so that people's lives can be changed. We don't need wealth, prestige, and political power to do the work God has given us; we need the power of the Holy Spirit permeating our lives and our churches. If we have that we won't need to worry about being relevant.
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