I was thinking about relevancy last night and the question popped in my head “is the church irrelevant?” I think the answer is yes, I mean no, I mean maybe, I suppose it could be.

The message of the gospel is in no way irrelevant. A lot of people are still in their sin and still need a Saviour. God still loves them and has a way for them. Christ still came to seek and save the lost so yes the gospel is still very relevant. But the question is not “Is the Gospel Irrelevant?” the question is “are we irrelevant?” Yes the first sentence said the church and now I say we but they are the same thing after all you and I are the church.

Let me break it down this way. If I were to go into a foreign land to be a missionary and brought all my western ideals, clothes, food, and music then I would be irrelevant to that culture. Relevant is defined as “closely connected or appropriate to the matter at hand.” So if I do not take the time to learn about those I am going to minister to then I am irrelevant pretty simple huh.

The same goes with those around us. If we do not take the time to learn about them, their likes and dislikes, their wants and needs, the sports teams they like, the movies they enjoy or anything else then I am irrelevant to them. I have nothing in common with them as far as they are concerned and I am not connected to the matter at hand.

Don’t get me wrong we should not be part of the world but nonetheless it is those in the world we are to minister to. When Jesus came to minister He became a man. He got hungry, tired, maybe even had a pimple (I am not being funny for humor sake) but He actually experienced life like you and I have but never sinned.

Paul says that he has become all things to all men so that some might be saved. That does not mean he took part in their sin but there is so much more to life than sin. There is music, and movies, and food, and mountain climbing, and rooting for the Cowboys. There are things that we can find commonality on. Paul used their own poets to prove points.

Jesus says in John 17:18 that we are being sent into the world. Once we we accept Christ we belong to a new world (the kingdom of God) and then Jesus sends us back into the world we came from to be His ambassadors. Read Romans 12:2 and John 17 to get the full picture.

So to answer the question of are we irrelevant I would have to say I don’t know are you?

Just a thought,

Mike